Do you have any reason to believe they won't continue the veneer up to the second retail floor?

it looks like the upper/2nd retail level sports the standard 'novare' concrete finish of inset line patterns and inset rounds - the same finish as twelve and metropolitan.

also, they've started framing windows on the 2nd level.

Who knows if it's final, but the initial renderings show the veneer only on the first floor: http://www.viewpointmidtownmile.com/...enderings.html

The spaces look great in the rendering, but the absense of the better texture on the second floor is made-up for by the quality of the retail facade build-outs. If the tenants don't design their second floor faces in such a striking fashion, the concrete's going to look very bare when contrasted with the first-floor finish.

Viewpoint tower crane is taking itself down today
 

It is strangely sad to see a crane come down, but fascinating nonetheless. You can watch it on the Viewpoint webcam...

Thanks for the update Markets, this project sure seems to have gone up fast.

Funny how these projects go. It seems to take forever to get the foundations poured, and the parking decks are also slow to form and pour. But once the tower plates start to rise, progress is very rapid. I enjoy the whole process, so it's always kind of a letdown when the cranes come down. That said, I think Viewpoint is a beautiful building, and (like 1180) seems to have a different appearance at every time of day and in every kind of light. Thanks, Novare!

Crane is about half way down. Neat to watch.

Horizontal boom was removed this morning...
 

The tower crane's horizontal boom was removed this morning by a portable crane. You can "watch" it on the Viewpoint webcam between 9:59am and 11:26am. All that is left is to remove the remaining tower sections. I think Viewpoint has turned out to be a beautiful building.

View from Piedmont Park (1/7/08)
 

Makes one hell of an impact... :tup:

http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/phot...31062_5126.jpg

I have been keeping up with your posts about Viewpoint, but I am a first time poster.

I was walking around Viewpoint earlier today so I popped into their sales office to ask a few questions. The sidewalk in the front of the building should be completed and open within the next week or two, they are around 50% sold, and occupancy should begin by June at the latest...

Thanks gtbc, that's good news on the sidewalk access. My walk to lunch has been a real pain in the behind since they fenced it off.

Still mourning the loss of McCrays!

Speaking of which, has anyone heard anything new on who will occupy the retail space? I seem to recall saying some months back that they would be announced in a matter of days.

50% sold...that's great news! :tup:

Unfortunately, I think gtbc was given some bad info. I exchanged emails with a Viewpoint realtor today who told me that they are only 33% sold. Also, the estimated move in date is June 1. Still no word on retail occupants.

any ideas about a night lighting scheme?? I've been looking on the webcam, but I haven't seen it light up at all...

Free HOA
 

Did anyone get any details on free HOA that Viewpoint may have offered in contracts? I heard that a law recently passed forbidding lenders to offer free HOA, and I'm certain that Viewpoint has this in quite a few, if not all of their contracts.

How many is "quite a few"?

You can still offer free HOA but it has to be deducted off the sale price, so I'm sure they still have room to maneuver.

I know of one prominent lender that writes Freddie paper that can still accept HOA prepayments as seller concessions and not seller contributions.

They seemed to have the wave somewhat lit up this morning but not sure that's the final lighting. If so, very underwhelming. Somehow I imagined the wave lit from within. This wasn't the case--it was dimly lit from outside.

I noticed that last night. I am pretty sure it is not the final lighting as none of the other outside lighting was turned on (ie the lights around the pool and dog walk). If that is the final lighting then they shouldn't even bother.

I also noticed that Tuesday between 6:00 and 7:00 they were testing the fire alarm in Viewpoint. That generally means a certificate of occupancy or at least a Temporary Certificate of Occupancy should follow soon.

I like this building, and didn't realize it would actually stand out somewhat. It is in what I call the "Novare Block", since the entire 7th & Peachtree intersection is Nover buildings, or at least 3 outta 4 are. I wonder how long it'll be before the other 2 towers are built, and if so, they should be cut in half, make Viewpoint the epicenter of the Trilogy project.

Pics from inside
 

Well, I've read your thread on how the construction of this building has proceeded. My best friend is putting down an offer today for a 2bd, 2bth unit. Looking around, it looks like he might be able to wait and get a better deal, but he is really specific about what he wants, and the rates are low enough for him to pull the trigger now.

Anyway, here are some pics he snapped of the views from the 30th floor:

Looking South:
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gtg242x/DSC00470a.jpg

Looking North:
http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gtg242x/DSC00471a.jpg

I may be going back up today as they are negotiating prices and I'll snap some more recent pics of amenities, etc. They just got furniture into the amenities level this past week and it looks amazing. Much larger space than any of the other buildings in Midtown I've been in.

Sweet views - thanks for posting. I walked by there a few evenings ago and liked the the red-lighted trim at the entrance. The lobby looked a bit small, but I guess it's for residents only unlike buildings like Metropolis. Can't wait to see what restaurants and stores end up there. Did they have any hints?

lobby
 

The lobby looks deceptively small from the entrance because it extends laterally behind the retail units. I do really like the water feature behind the concierge desk in the lobby, though.

retail units
 

No concrete info on the retail occupants, however the agent has said more than once that, once they start closing on the residential (June 1), that info would become more apparent. My guess is that they are going to complete the building construction (still doing the interiors of halls, etc. Each unit is being finished as it sells: selection of floor style, wall colors, etc), then the retail will show up soon after that.

If I were a retail company, I wouldn't want to be contractually (publically) obligated to open a store in a non-finished building. Then again, what do I know? :shrug:

Not to mention that they would be starting in an unproven market and a down economy. Its suddenly the worst possible time to try and start an urban retail district. Long term though, I'm very bullish on Midtown retail.

33% sold actually sounds very exciting in today's market! It may take a few years to fill up a building these days but no doubt the developers took that into account.

:tup:

Well, they can add another one to the sold column as my best friend just signed a contract. Someone told me that $200 a sq ft is cost, but I don't know how accurate that is.

When he originally started seriously looking there about a month ago, they said closings would begin June 1, but now they say they are pushing them back to mid-June at the earliest. Don't know what the delay is as everything looks really close to finished inside (at least on the floors I've been on). :shrug:

I agree, and it will fill up over time. I could honostly say that within the next 3 to 5 years easy that this project will probably be be sold out... People will also see it's presence over time and that will also draw people to buy.

Andrea, keep in mind that this tower has over 400 units. Imagine if a developer built 400 houses and only a 33% sold. That developer would probably be out of business.

That is the issue with building condos. Having 400 units come on line all at once is risky. That is why banks before the heyday required developers to have 50% or more pre-sale commitments. I would not want to be Novare right now.

According to midtown alliance website there are two large condo/hotel projects on the blocks north and south of the viewpoint block, so those are likely to spoil the view from a lot of the units.

The floorplans are heavily skewed towards 1 bedrooms units (with one parking space), much like Spire and Metropolis.

$200 per sf is a BARGAIN. I stayed in a condo in Breckenridge, CO that was for sale and going for about $800 per sf and it was 10 years old.

No, the $200 a sqft was the number given for the cost of the building, not the sale value.

does anyone have any information regarding the other 2 "towers" that were part of the proposal a couple years ago? Are there plans in the future to construct the other two or are they stale?

I doubt we'll know much about that until the first building is open and mostly occupied (move-ins are July thru Oct this year). They dropped the prices recently (as much as $75K on larger units) and that's helping sales a lot.

I hope the 2nd & 3rd buildings have roomier floorplans.

People repelling down Viewpoint!!!??
 

Anyone see this today? They had the entire sidewalk and right lane of Peachtree closed today for several hours while people repelled down the front of the Viewpoint tower!!! There was quite a crowd of people watching the spectacle from Gordon Biersch and Spire across the street (me and my dog among them).

There was a sign saying something about Georgia Tech young alumni...wish I had known about it - I probably would have signed up for that!! It looked like a lot of fun! Maybe they'll do it again next year at another new skyscraper! :yes: :yes: I can only hope!

Sure enough, you can see them on the webcam from 3:14 - 4:15pm today (you have to zoom way in though). Wild!

The event was for young alums who raised over $1000. There was a party afterwards on the amenity deck.

Light at the top of the "wave"

http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/8...7030802bf4.jpg
Shot with Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL at 2008-07-03

Anybody heard anything about the retail tenants that will be occupying the street level spaces??? The anticipation is killing me!!!

Think it's time to move this to the Completed Buildings sub-forum?

Definitely completed
 

I still wish we knew who the retail tenants were going to be...I'm guessing Novare is wondering the same thing! :shrug:

Bummer.

~ Kam

complete

I wish they can make more residential towers/buildings like this in New York.

Yeah! Me Too! Large one-bedroom apartments for less than $200,000 -- I'd be moving to NY ASAP.