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  #1  
Old Posted Feb 16, 2012, 12:31 PM
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SEATTLE | Amazon development (3 towers) | FT | FLOORS

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...tml?prmid=4939

Amazon to buy Denny Triangle property; plans 3 big office towers
In one of Seattle's biggest real-estate deals in years, Amazon.com has agreed to buy three blocks
from Clise Properties and plans to build a 1 million-square-foot office tower on each.






By Eric Pryne
Feb 15, 2012

Quote:
In one of Seattle's biggest real-estate deals in years, fast-growing Amazon.com has agreed to buy three blocks in Seattle's Denny Triangle — and preliminary paperwork has been filed with the city to build a 1 million-square-foot office tower on each of them. The three contiguous blocks Amazon is buying are bounded roughly by Westlake Avenue, Sixth Avenue and Blanchard Street. Most of the property is parking lots; but other users include the King Cat Theater, Toyota of Seattle and the Sixth Avenue Inn motel.

Seneca Group, a Seattle real-estate advisory firm working with Clise and Amazon, filed papers with Seattle's Department of Planning and Development on Wednesday for "development of an approximately 1 million-square-foot office building with accessory parking" on each of the three blocks. "This would be world-class," Clise said of the development. "It jibes with what our vision has always been."

If built, the three buildings would contain nearly twice as much office space as the Columbia Center, Seattle's tallest building. They also would more than double Amazon's already substantial footprint on downtown's northern edge. Zoning approved in 2006 allows towers as tall as 500 feet on the blocks. The parcels make up a big chunk of a 13-acre collection of Denny Triangle properties that Clise put up for sale in 2007, attracting international attention. The family, which began accumulating the parcels in the 1920s, said it envisioned a master-planned community on the scale of New York's Rockefeller Center.

Bryan Stevens, a spokesman for the city's Department of Planning and Development, said the paperwork for the office towers filed Wednesday includes no details — just the property addresses and one-line descriptions of the proposals. A "pre-submittal conference" with planners is Feb. 23, he said, and the applicant may provide more details then.
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  #2  
Old Posted Feb 16, 2012, 4:44 PM
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It's a 500' zone. To fit a million sf on each block, they'd use all of that. (Actually, Seattle projects always use all of their allowed height, due to fairly short height limits.) Figure 36 floors or so each.

This would roughly double Amazon's presence in/near Downtown Seattle to the six million sf range.

Amazon is like a gift from jebus for this city. Hiring massive numbers of people, filling a lot of existing buildings as well as new ones. Big shot in the arm.
     
     
  #3  
Old Posted Feb 16, 2012, 5:29 PM
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Any possibility whatsoever that, in light of their impact on the city to date, that they could get a height exemption ?
     
     
  #4  
Old Posted Feb 16, 2012, 5:41 PM
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excellent news! But they should combine at least two of the towers to make Seattle's new tallest.

I believe there's also another 200 meter building proposed as well. The skyline could look real awesome real soon (not that it already doesn't)
     
     
  #5  
Old Posted Feb 16, 2012, 7:23 PM
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Great news!
     
     
  #6  
Old Posted Feb 16, 2012, 8:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Dale View Post
Any possibility whatsoever that, in light of their impact on the city to date, that they could get a height exemption ?
Probably. I don't know the intricacies of our zoning code, but there are bonus provisions sprinkled around. Less for offices though.

Also, it's sometimes possible to horse-trade at the Council/Mayor level, maybe trading more height on one or two buildings for less height on the remainder, building a public park, and/or building other amenities such as a school or community center.
     
     
  #7  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2012, 5:59 AM
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http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ket-by-7-.html

Amazon’s Plans for New Towers May Swell Seattle Market by 7%

February 17, 2012
By Hui-yong Yu

Quote:

Amazon.com Inc. plans to build three commercial towers in Seattle, potentially increasing the city’s downtown office space by 7 percent, based on the company’s preliminary development plans and figures from CBRE Group Inc.

The largest Internet retailer, based in Seattle, agreed to buy three contiguous blocks from Clise Properties Inc. and has options to buy additional “significant” sites nearby, said Chairman Al Clise, the fourth-generation head of the family- owned developer. He declined to disclose terms of the sale, scheduled to be completed later this year. It would be Amazon’s first land purchase.

“Amazon wants to plan for their future,” Clise said in a telephone interview yesterday. “The amount of new jobs and infrastructure and economic development this will provide is just amazing.”

Seattle’s downtown office market of 42.7 million square feet (3.97 square meters) is “one of the strongest-performing” in the U.S., CBRE said in a fourth-quarter report.

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http://www.techflash.com/seattle/201...l-seattle.html

Amazon's big property deal: Seattle landowner Al Clise talks




Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)
February 16

Quote:
The online retailer has filed preliminary plans with the city of Seattle to build three office towers of 1million square feet each. Each tower would include parking and sit on its own block. Seattle architecture firm NBBJ will design the project.

Amazon won’t need any zoning variances to build the enormous towers, Clise said. Current zoning allows buildings up to 500 feet in height and containing a million square feet or more on the parcels that Amazon is purchasing, he said.
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  #8  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2012, 7:48 AM
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Good news Seattle! I did'nt realize Amazon had that may employees. How many are in Seattle?
     
     
  #9  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2012, 3:51 PM
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^ They don't disclose how many employees are in Seattle. The company as a whole is over 56K. A significant portion of those folks are in Seattle.
     
     
  #10  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2012, 9:33 PM
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That is awesome news for Seattle. I love it...

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  #11  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2012, 11:12 PM
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This could be really great if the buildings are designed well but I just fear they won't stand out if they're only 500 feet high.

But there is a 660 footer planned for STL aswell I believe, give it a few years, Seattle already looks damn good
     
     
  #12  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2012, 5:51 PM
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Looks like the plan is 37 stories each:
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/b...ernatives.html

That seems to be the typical height in Seattle these days where value is maximized based on land/construction costs.
     
     
  #13  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2012, 6:17 PM
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3300 parking spots is a lot. That seems like a reasonable amount for the square footage being proposed, but that's still going to be a nightmare for the area's streets to absorb.
     
     
  #14  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2012, 9:19 PM
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Downtown Seattle office buildings are generally 1 parking space per 1000 sf. That's one for every four or five workers. It's a good balance in my opinion. These towers would eliminate maybe 300 units of existing parking, which normally isn't considered but is sometimes.

Living nearby will be a good option. Lots of housing is going up or planned. Directly across the street, 654 units are underway in two towers on a half-block. Another tower just started a block west of that. Several other towers and woodframes are planned within a few blocks, and few hundred more units are underway. Developers will be lining up, some going beforehand, and others starting when Amazon does.
     
     
  #15  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2012, 1:18 AM
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Quote:
These initial draft designs likely will be tweaked before the March 27 public early design review meeting — another step in the approval process.
About 4 weeks until then.
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  #16  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2012, 2:46 AM
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Exciting news indeed for Seattle. I look forward to seeing what the proposals and renderings will look like.
     
     
  #17  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2012, 2:48 AM
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Seattle needs 'THAT' building (if you know what I mean). trump was gonna build one, which was going to be the tallest in the city. I think it's on hold now.
     
     
  #18  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2012, 6:27 AM
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I hope the developers can get a variance or a waver for maybe 1 or 2 of the sites so that the height restrictions can possibly be changed. Like to see one of the towers 650'+. But good news anyway.
     
     
  #19  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2012, 10:00 PM
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(3) 500ft towers in that area (especially with floor plates to get them to 1M sf each) will make them more than noticeable. Added to that the fact that Amazon can build them as-of-right, anybody who thinks they are going to push the city just to build taller for the sake of building taller is dreaming.

I'm hoping for something really interesting from NBBJ. Their Seattle office rarely disappoints and this is their home turf.
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  #20  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2012, 11:36 PM
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Emphasis on the THREE. Three 500 footers are for a city like Seattle, the equivalence to TEN thousand footers at the Dubai Marina. I'd be fine with two 400-500 footers, and one 600-700 footer. In this three tower development, there needs to be a GREAT equalizer, NOT three equal buildings.
     
     
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