Cosmo Seattle

Amsterdam: population density and space utilization

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 18:36:00 +0000

speaking of small urban living, here's a clever user of space in the city center of Amsterdam:

in spite of high population density in the Netherlands (or perhaps because of it?) dogs are quite welcome in most restaurants and other public places (with the exception of museums). naturally, there would be dog accommodations in the primary mode of transportation (bikes):

and finally, a peculiar storage trend seems to have emerged over years of gentrification and apartment renovations. it is not uncommon to find the top floor of an apartment stack (typically the 5th floor) sectioned for use as storage rooms for each of the 4 apartments below. with the best views and less street noise, the top floor is an unusual sacrifice for storage. nevertheless, its relegation to sub-standard living space, makes for some interesting uses--here, a top floor space for bike maintenance:

the Pico Dwelling

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:50:00 +0000

King5's Evening Magazine did a video piece on Steve Sauer's 182-square-foot condo. Interesting tidbit revealed in the video: this full-featured condo was originally a storage room.

A mutual friend, lets call him Grig, supposes that this Beijing architect has outdone the Pico Dwelling with a mobile, egg-shaped house:

SeattleSavvy blog

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:38:00 +0000

There's a new urban blog in town, SeattleSavvy.com. Lots of content and easy to use. Like most downtown blogs, it has a list of condo buildings with requisite outline of features and local context. The added bit is a one-click history of units sold (or for sale) for the building. Retrieving sales history for a building address is also possible at Redfin.com, but it is quite handy to have the sales data without leaving the site.

Pico-Dwelling, by Steve Sauer

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 08:57:00 +0000

Pico-dwelling = small living space. Seven years in the making, Steve Sauer's very small condo had its first review yesterday, in the Northwest Living section of the Seattle Times:

...Sauer's 182-square-foot Seattle condo shows the value of a good fit, from the soaking tub built into the entry floor to the "video lounge" tucked beneath the "cafe area." Sauer shopped Ikea for many of his home's furnishings, such as a little table, and used tabletops to fashion cabinet fronts. [full article by Rebecca Teagarden and images by Benjamin Benschneider].

A generally solitary guy full of quirk and circumstance, Steve has a talent for design and materials. Whether designing bikes, airplanes, or furniture, his aesthetic is equal parts minimalism and clever (often quirky) optimization of form qua function. Take his internet domain name as an example, www.oixio.com. A palindrome, the word OIXIO is perfectly symmetrical. It can be read the same way backwards, forwards, and even upside down.

The pico-dwelling is similarly symmetrical, but in the aggregate of millions of design decisions that optimize space, form, materials, function, and Steve's favorite, the uber-cool factor.

Denny Triangle

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:57:00 +0000

The Seattle Times reports on the occupancy rate of recently completed (or near complete) buildings in the neighborhood. Notable items include West 8th - 0% leased, 1918 8th - 5% leased, and Olive 8 Condos - 25% closed.

Aspira

Location: Terry Avenue and Stewart Street

Developer: Urban Partners, Los Angeles

Height: 37 stories

What's in it: 231 apartments, ground-floor retail.

What's at street level: Nothing so far.

Completion: Scheduled for Feb. 2010

How it's faring: Leasing hasn't begun yet; developer says he's "cautiously optimistic."

The Olivian

Location: Eighth Avenue and Olive Way

Developer: Hanover Co., Houston

Height: 27 stories

What's in it: 224 apartments; ground-floor retail.

What's at street level: Nothing so far.

Completion: May 2009

How it's faring: Six months after opening, about 100 of 224 apartments are leased.

Olive 8

Location: Eighth Avenue and Olive Way

Developer: R.C. Hedreen, Seattle

Height: 39 stories

What's in it: 346-room Hyatt Hotel on lower 17 floors; 229 condos in top 22 floors.

What's at street level: Urbane restaurant

Completion: Hotel opened in January; condo sales began closing in April.

How it's faring: Fewer than one-quarter of condos have closed. About 80 percent had presold in 2006 and 2007.

818 Stewart

Location: Ninth Avenue and Stewart Street

Developer: Schnitzer West, Seattle

Height: 14 stories

What's in it: 238,000 square feet of office space; ground-floor retail.

What's at street level: Watermark Credit Union branch, Dilettante Mocha Café.

Completion: Fall 2008

How it's faring: Office space about 60 percent leased. Largest tenants include Avanade, Accenture, First American Title Insurance, Schnitzer West.

1918 Eighth

Location: Eighth Avenue and Virginia Street

Developer: Schnitzer West, Seattle

Height: 36 stories

What's in it: 660,000 square feet of office space; ground-floor retail.

What's at street level: Specialty's Café & Bakery to open in spring.

Completion: Scheduled for Nov. 30.

How it's faring: More than 95 percent of office space unleased. Only announced tenant is law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro (21,000 square feet).

West 8th

Location: Eighth Avenue and Westlake Avenue

Developer: Touchstone, Seattle

Height: 28 stories

What's in it: 492,000 square feet of office space; ground-floor retail; child-care center.

What's at street level: Mistral Kitchen restaurant under construction.

Completion: July 2009

How it's faring: Office space all unleased.

2201 Westlake/Enso

Location: Westlake Avenue and Denny Way

Developer: Vulcan Real Estate, Seattle

Height: 19-story condo tower (Enso); 12-story office tower (2201 Westlake)

What's in it: 135 condos; 300,000 square feet of office space; ground-floor retail.

What's at street level: Nothing so far.

Completion: July 2009

How it's faring: Global health non-profit PATH moving into 113,000 square feet of office space in January; remainder unleased. Condo prices cut and closings postponed indefinitely. Vulcan says more than half of condos are pre-sold, but it wants to make sure enough closings actually will happen to meet guidelines of giant mortgage underwriter Fannie Mae.

Enzo update: according to a buyer's report on urbnilvn, Enzo announced they will begin closing condos next month.

Source: Seattle Times (full article)

Mayor MacGinn

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:08:00 +0000

The Slog reports that our new Mayor has requested a platform change, from PCs to Macs. Apparently he's a Mac and the other guy is a PC. A bicycle commuter AND a Mac guy. Cool.

["It is in part a way to stick with the technology we were most comfortable with during the campaign, and in our personal experience," Pickus said.]

Full article is here.

Schnitzer tower for sale?

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:49:00 +0000

More big towers fall. In today's Seattle Times an article titled: Proposed Seattle high-rise now faces foreclosure. This is the $900 million twin tower project that NY-based Multi Capital Group planned for 5th Ave, between Virginia and Stuart.

Apparently the developers are walking away from parcels meant for the Heron and Pagoda towers. Seems they can’t come up with $13.7 million to save the project, which according to the Seattle Times is “among the most ambitious Seattle skyscraper proposals to surface during the recent real-estate boom.”

Meanwhile, a couple weeks ago the Stranger did a piece on another of Seattle’s favorite developers. Apparently, "Schnitzer West's Dan Ivanoff declined repeated requests for comment." But rumor has it that [rumor] the biggest among Schnitzer’s office towers, 1918 8th Ave, is up for sale [/rumor].
According to the Stranger article, Schnitzer has "zero tenants" in 1918 8th (the big ass office building next to Cosmo), and 35% of 818 has yet to be leased.

The article also cites a number of Schnitzer condos with lagging sales.

-Gallery in Belltown - "deposits...on fewer than half of 233 condos"
-Brix Condos on Capitol Hill - "fewer than half have sold "
-Equinox on Eastlake - "signed contracts for fewer than 30 percent"

I wonder if Schnitzer would be interested in a short sell on 1918... sure would be a nice space for an urban farmer's market, or perhaps even a roof-deck skateboard park.

Image sources: Heron and Pagoda - Seattle Condo Blog Denny Triangle - the Stranger

seattle sunset (sort of) - time lapse

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:52:00 +0000

source

Housing Levy Renewal SPECIAL MEETING

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:11:00 +0000

This one looks interesting. There will be a Special meeting of the Seattle City Council Housing Levy Renewal Committee on Friday, April 24, 2009 at 2:00 p.m.

Agenda:

1. Welcome and Chair’s Report

2. Rental Market in the City of Seattle
Presenter: Mike Scott, Dupre Scott Apartment Advisors, Inc
( 30 minutes)
DISCUSSION

3. Homeownership Market in the City of Seattle
Presenter: Matthew Gardner, Principal, Gardner Johnson LLC
( 30 minutes)
DISCUSSION

4. Housing Needs in the City of Seattle
Presenter: Diana Canzoneri, Demographer, Seattle Planning Commission Staff
( 20 minutes)
DISCUSSION

5. Home Foreclosures in the City of Seattle
Presenter: Mark Ellerbrook, Office of Housing
( 10 minutes)
DISCUSSION

6. Housing Financing Resources
Presenters: Bill Rumpf & Rick Hooper, Office of Housing
( 20 minutes)
DISCUSSION

7. Public Comment

Committee Members:

Richard J. McIver, Chair
Paul C. Elliott, Legislative Assistant
Jan Drago, Member
Yvonne Newson, Legislative Assistant
Bruce Harrell, Member
Myisha Chambers, Legislative Assistant
Nick Licata, Member
Richard Conlin, Member
Sally Clark, Member
Tim Burgess, Member
Jean Godden, Member
Tom Rasmussen, Member

Flyer.

Location: Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are held in Council Chambers on the 2nd floor of City Hall, 600 Fourth Avenue, Seattle, Washington

How will they spend our $146,000,000? -- Green Spaces Levy

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 21:46:00 +0000

An invitation from the Seattle Parks Department:

Thank you for your interest in Seattle Parks. Seattle voters overwhelmingly passed the 2008 Parks and Green Spaces Levy on Nov. 4, 2008. Come hear about this new levy and learn about the park projects in your neighborhood.

Parks is hosting four open houses throughout the city in May and we encourage you to come.

All meetings will be from 7 - 8:30 p.m.
Monday, May 4 at Rainier Community Center
Wednesday, May 6 at West Seattle Golf Course
Tuesday, May 12 at Green Lake Community Center
Wednesday May 13 at Parks Administration Building

Here's the flyer with additional information.

Olive 8 opens Tuesday!

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:39:00 +0000

With the sidewalk clear and the automatic doors operating, I walked in to take a peak. The fella with the red hard-hat informed me that it was not yet open, but would be on Tuesday. I took this quick photo of the hotel lobby before departing.

Congratulations and good luck to all our brothers and sisters who pre-bought and plan to call o8 their home!

Denny Triangle Neighborhood Meeting

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 01:55:00 +0000

Denny Triangle Neighborhood Association Meeting

DATE: Thursday, January 22nd
TIME: 3:00pm – 4:15pm
PLACE: Tower Bldg, 1809 7th Ave
4th Floor Conference Rm - #403

AGENDA:

I. Welcome & introductions
II. Introduce Chair and Vice Chairs for 2009
III. Washington State Convention Center Expansion - Presentation
IV. New Business/Announcements

http://www.dennytriangle.org/

Gov Gregoire, tear that wall down!

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:38:00 +0000

After decades of voting down public transportation solutions and after nearly a decade of bumbling the Monorail project--with a loss of $300m--we sit on the precipice of the single most important transportation decision this city will make in decades to come--the viaduct replacement. Not surprisingly, Seattle's transportation neurosis is peaking with this decision and we seem as ill-equipped as ever to do the right thing.

In a Seattle Times column nearly two years ago, Bill Weis, Professor of Management at Seattle University, summarized our neurosis by recounting nearly 40 years of missed opportunities, misguided urban visions, and bungled attempts at carrying out voter sentiment.

"We've squandered our chances in the past by failing to build the excellent Forward Thrust mass-transit system in 1970; by blotching the Westlake Mall site; by backing away from a green space linking the city center to South Lake Union (Seattle Commons); by erecting professional sports venues instead of high-density residential campuses; by being permanently scarred by an interstate highway that should never have seen the west side of Lake Washington; by repeatedly voting on, rather than building, an intracity monorail; and by standing by while the central city developed willy-nilly at the capriciousness of builders instead of by the design of farsighted urban planners."

With this record it's no wonder that we are still debating among all bad options. In an earlier Seattle PI column (December 2006) Professor Weis provides a clear argument for why any replacement strategy is the wrong approach, if the goal is a vibrant city center. According to Professor Weis, socially, culturally, and economically vibrant cities are facilitated by three factors: "population density, effective mass transit and inviting public spaces." And further, that "throughways work against, and may even preclude, the presence of each of those keys to urban vigor."

Noting that Vancouver has "three times the population density of Seattle and 3-½ times the population" and that they have neither an inner-city throughway nor the traffic problems we have, Weis proposes rerouting, especially commercial traffic, to surface streets--at "Denny Way to the north and Spokane Street to the south."

I am still very much an advocate of eliminating the downtown throughway completely, rather than replacing it. However, if we must replace the Viaduct, I would prefer the least offensive (and most expensive) option, the board bypass tunnel solution, along with surface and transit improvements, proposed by Larry Phillips in today's Seattle Times.

Larry Phillips, King County Councilmember, argues that all the other options are inadequate or half-solutions at best. According to Phillips, "an inadequate replacement that gridlocks the region or continues to wall off our waterfront will punt those problems to future generations." And, "[a] bored tunnel with surface and transit improvements serves the whole region now and positions us to gracefully meet the future."

As mentioned in an earlier post, San Francisco faced a similar dilemma following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. In 1991 they tore down the Embarcadero freeway and opened up water front, creating a vibrant new neighborhood in its place. "Traffic was snarled temporarily, but drivers adjusted in a short time by using alternative routes and public transportation." With the proposed bored tunnel solution, neighborhood disruption (during the years of construction) would be minimized, and the Seattle waterfront would grow significantly.

If we must.

Cosmo & 2200 joint venture

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:11:00 +0000

Please join the first ever Cosmopolitan and 2200 Westlake joint social event on Thursday, December 11, 6:00pm -- Taste wine, enjoy hors d’ourves, and meet neighbors at the Pan Pacific's Lakefront room

The event is free and open to the downtown/South Lake Union community. The purpose of the event is to raise funds and awareness of the Re-Envision Denny Park project. Wine tasting is free and bottles are available for purchase. Proceeds from wine sales will help fund park lighting (Phase 2) of Denny Park revitalization.

1200 Stewart - 500 new residential units

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:50:00 +0000

Fourth Early Design Guidance Meeting:

The proposal is for two, 36-story residential towers (500 units) with 55,000 sq. ft. of commercial/retail at grade. Parking for 800 vehicles will be provided below grade. It is unclear from the DPD bulletin if the project is slated as apartments or condos but, Stroup's blog identifies them as condos available in 2011.

Date: Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Seattle City Hall

From a Cosmo-centric point of view, the new development is a couple blocks to the north-east.

Renderings are from Thoryk Architecture, whose design style is described as "Victorian Contemporary". This is apparently the same firm who designed the famed (and aesthetically out of place) Escala.

yes, we can!

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:02:00 +0000

Sketchy Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:48:00 +0000

so i was sitting in my favorite indie cafe, Motore, the other day and was unknowlingly captured in a the doodlings of a fellow cafe patron. turns out this fella, and others like him, are blogging thier urban-inspired artwork. DJ found the blog version and sent it to me (i'm "guy with laptop" and that's jasper "his dog" sitting next to me--Motore is also her favorite indie cafe, by the way).
GABI CAMPANARIO, is a Spanish artist who draws life around Seattle and publishes the results on his blog, Seattle Sketches. from his new venture, urban sketchers, it appears this way of expiriencing urban culture is not limited to Seattle. in fact, the new blog features sketchers and sketches from many cities around the world -- Europe, Asia, as well as North and South America. very cool stuff! a nice hybrid of new and old media. here's another sketch from CAMPANARIO's blog.

2 land use events, 1 passed and 1 next week

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 22:41:00 +0000

the mercer street conundrum is the land use event that passed already. on Monday, October 6, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Seattle City Hall there was apparently good turnout among citizens to hear councilmember Licata explain his urban aesthetic justification for the future of Mercer street.

The issue is whether the city should spend $43 million to fatten up Mercer street and make it two-way. The event was covered well by the south lake blog, who sums up the arguments as:

Councilmember Nick Licata: South Lake Union development is good, but does it make sense to spend $200M on a plan that will increase traffic congestion?

SDOT's rebuttal: Reconnecting the grid is the best way to support South Lake Union growth and to service surrounding neighborhoods.

I'm with Nick on this one. Like with the ugly viaduct issue, I am always for less motorized traffic through downtown and more opportunities for pedestrian and other ped-oriented transport. Tear down the viaduct and skinny up Mercer street. In both cases, there would be more room and a better ambiance for sidewalk cafes, which are way more important that accommodating increasing numbers of bridge & tunnel people.

the other land use issue is an invitation from Councilmember Tom Rasmussen. It's an "Open House to discuss the findings of a study that explored conservation strategies and possible future land use zoning changes in the Pike/Pine neighborhoods. The event will be this Tuesday evening, October 14th from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. It will be held at Seattle Central Community College in Room BE 1110." Pike/Pine neighborhoods boundaries:

snoozing in the Jordaan

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:00:00 +0000

state of the triangle

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:23:00 +0000

in case you haven't noticed, the denny triangle is beginning to fill out her trousers. there's density galore these days and still more to come! 08 has topped and its blue-rimmed hat is nearly almost complete, olivian seems near topping out(?!), the aspira at 1823 Terry is 6 floors above ground, 818 Stewart is looking nearly habitable, west 8th is topped and about half/most of the floors have concrete and, the 1918 8th elevator shaft has just reached the cosmo roof deck.

[photo credit: sellen construction web cam]

there are a couple of new development issues that engaged citizens might want to consider attending. the first, and most exciting is the denny triangle park acquisition meeting, next Wednesday, September 10th, at 6:30 pm. the proposed land to be acquired is the triangular piece bounded by 7th, westlake, and lenora, but the meeting will be held at Cornish College, 1000 Lanora st. parks department folks will give a presentation about the status and gauge community interest in the project.

although the denny triangle neighborhood association will likely be in attendance, i would encourage local residents to attend. this association has been active in the neighborhood for many years, however their interest is strictly commercial and their actions are mostly pro-developer. not surprising given that the chair is (and has been for many years), Lyn Krizanich of Clise Properties, Inc, and the vice-chair is Ed Danyluk of Imperial Parking.

the other project worth mentioning is a DPD design review of Schnizter's final phase in developing the 9th & Virgina block. this is the smallest piece of their office tower arsenal but it's also the last opportunity to make comments and take stock of all the departures from code they have been granted with promises to compensate in the watermark replacement building. for example, the records show some shady (vague, ambiguous, minimal accountability) trading of tower heights, FARs, etc. among the three building proposals. this likely plays into why the watermark replacement will be tiny by comparison to the other two buildings on the block, 818 and 1918. this design proposal is to replace the 5-story Watermark building with an 11-story office building.

the DPD design review is Tuesday, September 23, 5:30pm at City Hall

disputing fair market value

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:46:00 +0000

i had the opportunity to observe a tax assessment appeal and learned a couple things that might be useful to others.

the event was about proving that the fair market value of a condo is less than its assessed value. in this case, assessment was being disputed for a condo purchased in 2008 at a price lower than the 2007 assessed value.

the fellas running the show, lets call them walter and jack, were appointed by the county, and they represented the King County Board of Appeals, which in full has seven members. walter and jack are retired, and their role on the board of appeals is a part time, paid gig.

the assessor representative, lets call her kathy, is a county employee. the board reviews evidence submitted prior to the hearing and then hears oral testimony from both the taxpayer and the assessor's rep about the "true market value" of the property. the board members' role is "to provide an impartial hearing environment that protects each party’s due process rights and results in a fair decision."

walter and jack had obviously been through this process many times, and seemed a bit impatient with the proceedings. the appeal was for 2007 assessments so only 2007 evidence and testimony were permitted. there was a fourth party present, a representative of the property owner. lets call her sharon. sharon knew the appeal process as well, and she made her market-value argument based on MLS sales data. here's where the first important learning moment occurred--MLS data will not be used in deciding this case.

sharon presented the results of her market-value analysis based on comparable 2007 sales derived from MLS data. pretty strait forward stuff, right? wrong. kathy, the assessor's rep blurted out, in the matter-of-fact tone of a seasoned bureaucrat, that the assessor's office does not use the MLS system because MLS does not give them access. in the moment, this banal tidbit did not seem relevant other than to highlight that the assessor's office is, well, frugal.

later, towards the end of the appeal process, walter and jack noted, also in a very matter-of-fact tone, that since neither the assessors office nor the appeals board has access to MLS data (and by access i can only assume they mean FREE access), they instead will use excise tax records to evaluate the arguments.

both the assessor's argument and the board's evaluation of the appeal are based on tax records only! since they don't have access to MLS, they reasoned, the best way to "equalize" the market value data is to only consider data they have access to.

on the one hand, this makes sense if you are looking at an historical trajectory. ultra current sales data are not so important when looking at historical trends. on the other hand, during sharon's testimony, kathy noted on a number of occasions that she had not seen (was not aware of) this or that piece of evidence. in each occasion, she was implicitly stating that because the evidence came from the MLS, it was not relevant. walter (or was it jack?) explained that tax data is sometimes slow to process, so might not have been available for the assessor's analysis.

this logic seems to be that public data is better than private data, and that it is more important to use data that is freely available to everyone than it is to have an accurate analysis. WTF!

here's another troubling observation. to support their assessment, the assessor's market value was based on comparisons that, while in the same building, were categorically mismatched. for example, justifying the assessment of a 1bd/1bath unit, sales data from 2 bd/2 bath units were cited. additionally, the 1bd/1bath unit is in the middle of the building but the majority of comps presented as evidence were corner units.

kathy noted that her comps had differences in square footage, parking stalls, and quality of views, which accounted for their significantly higher sales prices. she indicated that these differences were taken into account and adjusted (apparently by using some secret algorithm) to arrive at comparable "values." the issue of bed/bath configuration, 2 vs 1, and corner vs middle unit locations were completely dismissed.

nevertheless, in summing up her argument, kathy stated that the evidence presented supports the current assessment and therefore the assessor "stands by their assessed market value." these shenanigans give the appearance of simply finding units whose sale prices support the current valuation.

according to the board of appeals website, "when gathering evidence and formulating arguments, it is important to keep in mind that, by law, the Assessor is presumed to be correct. The burden of proof is on you to show that the Assessor’s determination is incorrect." {WAC 458-14-046(4)}.

however, the website says nothing about selective recognition of evidence based on whether or not one has to pay for access. on the contrary, it simply states that "sales of the subject property and/or comparable properties are the foundation of our state’s market value standard. Accordingly, comparable sales typically provide the best indicators of market value. [RCW 84.40.030] This is particularly true for residential properties."

next steps: in consultation with the full board, walter and jack will take a few weeks to evaluate the evidence and arguments presented. if the appeal fails, there is the opportunity for a second round of appeals at the Washington State Board of Tax Appeals.

Denny Triangle -- Park Acquisition

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 21:41:00 +0000

View Larger Map

window treatment

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:38:00 +0000

Fremont Solstice Parade

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:30:00 +0000

the 20th anniversary of Fremont Solstice Parade was a delight. a sunny day tempered by a thin, but pleasant layer of cloud cover. this year there was more nudity than you can shake a stick at, a fully refurbished and widened Fremont bridge, more and better parade shenanigans, and best of all a high-spirited, yet well mannered crowd (both in the parade and on the sidelines) who seemed universally happy to be.

as anyone who has attended before would know, the solstice parade is not so much about artistic talent or precision musical expression, although there was plenty there. and it's not so much about the longest day of the year, although most were also celebrating this point. rather, as unique to the world as the Fremont solstice parade is, it seems to embody at its core the very American spirit of diversity. it's a celebration of difference and a celebration about the freedom to be different--in spite of (or perhaps because of) the very real limits of these ideals.
after the parade, on the walk home, i began to wonder about the culture and spirit of downtown. i've wondered before on this blog about the emerging culture and spirit of Denny Triangle. as the residential population continues to grow, it is good to reflect on the possibilities of what the Denny Triangle culture could be. so far, the biggest influence on our culture seems to be motivated by commercial rather than residential interests. the recent appearance of Denny Triangle banners are seen by some as a brand rather than an identity. not too surprising then, that the Denny Triangle Neighborhood Association, the organization responsible for the banners, is comprised largely (perhaps even exclusively) of local business owners.

for some inspiration to think about a Denny Triangle identity (rather than brand) here is a memento from today's Fremont Solstice Parade:

Fremont Solstice Parade from clifford on Vimeo.

local crane shut down for safety concearns

noreply@blogger.com (Cosmo Seattle) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:23:00 +0000

the seattle pi reports that 2 cranes in seattle and one in the east bay were shut down due to "potential safety problems". one of the suspect cranes is a block away from the cosmo, at 1823 Terry Ave, home of the Aspira apartment building project.

the Aspira crane was cited for structural and electrical problems, which were found because of new inspection requirements introduced in the wake of recent crane incidents in the area.

Aspira Apartments: 1823 Terry Avenue, corner of Stewart & Terry. with 37-stories and 326 units, the first occupancy is anticipated for the fall of 2009.

Cosmo Seattle

Amsterdam: population density and space utilization

the Pico Dwelling

SeattleSavvy blog

Pico-Dwelling, by Steve Sauer

Denny Triangle

Mayor MacGinn

Schnitzer tower for sale?

seattle sunset (sort of) - time lapse

Housing Levy Renewal ***SPECIAL MEETING***

How will they spend our $146,000,000? -- Green Spaces Levy

Olive 8 opens Tuesday!

Denny Triangle Neighborhood Meeting

Gov Gregoire, tear that wall down!

Cosmo & 2200 joint venture

1200 Stewart - 500 new residential units

yes, we can!

Sketchy Seattle

2 land use events, 1 passed and 1 next week

snoozing in the Jordaan

state of the triangle

disputing fair market value

Denny Triangle -- Park Acquisition

window treatment

Fremont Solstice Parade

local crane shut down for safety concearns

Housing Levy Renewal SPECIAL MEETING