Same, the current version of Central Station is far nicer than the original proposal. Not a fan of the Berger proposal as most of us were rooting for Hines but either way if they do issue a new RFP hopefully the new proposals will lead to something better like it did with Central Station.

I agree, I want them to reissue RFP because at this point They won't finish in time for the Superbowl. Hopefully patience will pay off.

X phx
 

[QUOTE=CrestedSaguaro;9179389]Found a really good drone video of X Society (still ugly IMHO). Has some really good views of Downtown Phoenix and you can see many of our current developments in the background.

How butt ugly is X Phoenix especially with that square concrete element at the top? Looks like a building they are starting to demo and have started at the top.

[QUOTE=phoenixwillrise;9181713]We all know that it wasn't a beautiful building in the first place all the renderings before construction indicated that much.

[QUOTE=phoenixwillrise;9181713]Great video, the building meh, Denver definitely got the nicer X properties with X Denver and X Denver 3.

I don't hate X Phoenix, I actually like how unique it looks. I can see why people don't like it but I feel like our skyline needs more character and color. That is why I appreciate projects like the Link Phx project and even the Stewart even though I am not a fan of the design.

I like the colors of the buildings as well, but I wish instead of just having panels that are the color green it would be great if the city would push developers to be more green like other cities taking the lead in green buildings. Maybe our climate is too extreme for it but buildings covered in vegetation like Singapore would make these bland buildings look so much more unique and have a better quality. Not to mention the benefits to reducing emissions. You would think the city with such bad air quality would be trying to do so much more than just planting some trees. Look at how good the Optima buildings can look for example.

I think it can be done in Phoenix. Just look at some of the Optima projects.

I still have my fingers crossed for an eventual Optima DTPHX!

Downtown might not be nice enough for Optima but I wish they would

Maybe something north of camelback

North of Camelback? I can't see that getting approved.

I would be really nice though to see a signature Optima that's 30+ stories downtown or Midtown.

I’d like to see optima take over one of those parcels surrounding Deck Park. An out-of-the-way four-story wood condo isn’t going to sell but luxury units in that area have. Would also be a better fit for optima’s more suburban designs.

Those green panels will be gone when Phase II happens. that is why that portion of the building doesn't have windows, the Phase II tower will tie in at that location. The garage has a lot of green mesh panels as well if you look at rendering. That entire amenity deck (tower actually floats over it) will be covered in landscape and numerous trees. That amenity/pool deck will also have a bar/restaurant with a commercial kitchen open to the public.

Optima is amazing, but not very cost effective for most projects and can really only be condos. Those buildings do produce a lot of benefits, lower energy, air filtration, etc., but they use water like crazy and those decks since they are not very deep with soil, are technically almost aquaponic systems and constantly pumping water into those planters, so not exactly the most sustainable, but I still think they are awesome. That is why it costs about $750/month HOA fees for a 1bed condo unit because it costs so much to maintain.

You can get smaller 1 bed units at least at the Optima Camelview with HOAs much cheaper than that. The fees vary unit to unit tho because of the different size outdoor designs for the patios.

It’s also interesting looking at some of their taller buildings in Illinois as what could work great in Downtown or even Tempe.

You are right that most of the green buildings are more expensive to build.

You are probably right, I almost bought a unit, but couldn't swallow the 650-800 HOA fee that some of the units I liked had, but I wanted a large patio/terrace if I was going to have a unit at Optima.

I spoke with a friend of mine that also works for WF. He confirmed that they are not renewing their lease and the plan is to lease out the tower instead of selling it off. Interesting that Wells Fargo would want to hang onto the tower.

I’m confused. If WF owns the tower, why would they choose not to “renew” the lease? Probably could’ve been worded better, that’s all. The reason I bring up is I always I thought WF didn’t own the tower outright but I’m probably wrong here too lol

Owner Name: FIRST INTERSTATE BANK OF AZ NA

There are probably multiple leases involved between different arms within wf now that I think about it but the poster probably just meant they are cancelling some agreement to have the office there.

It appears that the west coast operations of First Interstate Bank was acquired by Wells Fargo back in 1996. The remainder of First Interstate Bank became First Interstate BancSystem which is headquartered in Billings and has locations primarily in the northwestern states, but nothing near AZ.

So I can only think that maybe the parcel was never changed on the assessor site? But I do believe it's currently owned by Wells.

Wiki Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_...9%20m)%20tall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Interstate_Bancorp"]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Interstate_Bancorp[/URL]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_...ate_BancSystem