SEATTLE | 888 Second Avenue | FT | 28 FLOORS

[chris08876]

77-story tower planned for downtown Seattle

Real estate developer Greg Smith said he plans to build the tallest skyscraper in downtown Seattle on a site where the famous Metropolitan Grill steakhouse operates.

At 77 stories, it would be one floor taller than Seattle's tallest building, Columbia Center.

Smith, CEO of Urban Visions, a privately held Seattle real estate development and brokerage company, said he has applied to the city for a master-use permit to build the skyscraper.

Construction won't start anytime soon. It can take a year or more to get the city's OK. Then a developer has to line up financing and wait for the market to ripen before starting to build. Smith thinks the time is right to start getting the city's approval, but said, “We are not in a rush. It's a long process.”

Smith is working with his brother, Mickey Smith, a principal at Martin Smith Inc., on the project. Martin Smith Inc. is a real estate investment and management company.

The tower is planned for most of the block between Second and Third avenues and Marion and Columbia streets. The Smiths and some co-investors have owned the property for years. Greg Smith declined to name the friends and family that own the property, though Jim Rowe, president of Consolidated Restaurants, which owns the Metropolitan Grill, said Consolidated is part of the group that owns that building.

Rowe and Greg Smith said the Met, a 30-year-old steakhouse, will be part of the new tower. Rowe said his company’s goal is to preserve the Met “as one of Seattle’s longstanding iconic restaurants” in the same location.

Other businesses on the development site are a Vision Quest fitness club at Second and Columbia, and multiple restaurants in a food court at Third and Marion.

The development site does not include the southeast corner of the block, where Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union operates.

Greg Smith said the plan is to have a podium at the base of the tower with retail. Above that options include office space with a hotel, topped by residential. Or “We might do all residential with a hotel,” Greg Smith said.

Excluding parking, the tower would total 1.7 million square feet.

This is the third high-rise proposed for the neighborhood. The other two are Daniels Real Estate’s 43-story Fifth + Columbia office and hotel project and Schnitzer West’s 37-story Madison Centre office tower at Fifth and Madison.

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http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1679817
http://m.bizjournals.com/seattle/new...or.html?r=full

[supertallchaser]

this is great news for seattle

[tyleraf]

Nice Seattle! Now the 3rd west coast city getting a super tall! Now if only SD would get their act together...

[scalziand]

Greg Smith said the plan is to have a podium at the base of the tower with retail. Above that options include office space with a hotel, topped by residential. Or “We might do all residential with a hotel,” Greg Smith said.

As far as I'm aware, the maximum amount of office space is limited by zoning, but residential is unlimited, hence the residential component. I think I saw this in one of the other Seattle threads.

[mhays]

This is in our very very limited area of unlimited heights. But commercial space (hotel, office, etc.) has a floor area ratio limit. With roughly one acre, they can use a variety of bonuses to get up to...I think...a FAR of 20? Housing can be in addition to that.

[shakman]

Very excited for this development to happen in Seattle. However I cannot find where it says this tower will be 300+ m tall.

[TallBob]

I've heard the developer isn't that experienced in this big scale stuff! I hope they succeed. I lived in Seattle in the mid-80's till '91, and remember "CAP" and all the height restriction bullshit! Anyway, good for Seattle!

[Onn]

Great news for Seattle! Its a city with much success and well deserving of a new tallest building!

Urban Visions Envisions Tallest Skyscraper In Seattle



Seattle Curbed
Sean Keeley
6 December 2013

Currently, the tallest building in Seattle is the 76-story Columbia Center, which rises 937 feet high. Urban Visions and CEO Greg Smith think it's time to top that. Smith told PSBJ that he plans to build the tallest skyscraper in downtown Seattle at Second Avenue and Marion Street, currently home to the Marion Building & Metropolitan Grill steakhouse. The iconic Seattle restaurant will be preserved as part of the tower. The project, which would come out to roughly 1.7M square feet, is currently in the application phase, so we've got a ways to go before it goes up.

http://seattle.curbed.com/archives/2...in-seattle.php

The now seemingly dead proposal for the 82 story "Emerald City Tower" in Seattle from 2008. (Donald Trump is that you?)


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=162627


http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2494/3...1edc54571e.jpg

[supertallchaser]

Originally Posted by shakman

Very excited for this development to happen in Seattle. However I cannot find where it says this tower will be 300+ m tall.

well it makes sense columbia center is 294.7 meters tall and this tower will be one floor taller so we can only assume it will exceed 300m but whos not to say it wont also have a spire?

[mhays]

Residential floors are typically 2-3 feet shorter than office floors.

The other tower wasn't Trump. It was another developer, who said he'd like to partner with someone else such as Trump.

[summersm343]

Developer doesn't seem to have much experience...at least not enough to pull off a Supertall.

[urbanlife]

I would love to see something like this happen, based on the developer being a bit green behind the ears with supertall buildings, I wouldn't hold my breath on this one. At this moment I think Portland has a better chance at getting a new tallest building than Seattle does getting one that breaks the 300m mark any time soon....though I do think Seattle will one day see a new tallest in our lifetime.

I will say, I have been really impressed with how much Seattle has grown, and while I prefer to live in Portland, I always love getting up to Seattle to enjoy a big northwest city which I will say is hands down much more beautiful that NYC (I say that from my own experience here in NYC, it is no where as breathtaking as the northwest.)

[antinimby]

Chicago Spire part deux?

[JiminyCricket II]

Here's the first mock-up from Genslers:

[tyleraf]

Wow! I love the design. I sure hope it gets built. It would be a new icon for Seattle for sure.

[Onn]

Whoa, that design is wonderful! Kind of like an ice-sculpture. Gensler has a good track record, I would easily trust them to come up with a great design. It's about time Settle had a new tallest, thereby joining LA and San Francisco.

[Zapatan]

Definitely looks over 400 meters, would do wonders for an already pretty cool skyline

[JiminyCricket II]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

Definitely looks over 400 meters, would do wonders for an already pretty cool skyline

I think so too. How it towers over Columbia, and it sits on a quite a bit lower elevation than Columbia, it's got to be up there.

My only complaint IF it gets built would be that a nice prewar building would be demolished. If they made it to this design though, I might forgive them.

[TallBob]

Nice tower, but it must be 100 meters taller than Columbia Center. Might have some FAA issues.

[JiminyCricket II]

View from over Elliott Bay, gives a perspective of the height: