Insignia Towers - Clise Property
Nov 7th, 2007 by Ben_Kakimoto
The old Teatro Zinzanni block between 5th & 6th Avenues and Battery & Bell has been sold to Embassy Development of Vancouver, BC. Though this isn’t exactly earth shattering news, it does express a commitment by Embassy to develop the site.
The proposed development, called Insignia Towers Condominium (website), is big - encompassing two 41-story condominium towers with 643 units. Construction on the first tower is expected to begin next spring with a 2010 completion date. The second tower is expected to start around spring 2009. Each tower will have a lengthy construction timeline - 29 months.
Interesting quote from the developer in the DJC: “Most of the condos will be two-bedroom or two-bedroom with dens. Prices in the first tower will start at $750 a square foot, and are intended to be affordable to downtown workers making a ‘decent wage.’ “
Since when is $750/sf considered affordable. What exactly is a decent wage for downtown workers?
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Nice looking complex. A good way to protect some view - develop the whole block, too bad this could not have been the case at the Cosmo. I thought all the Clise properties were being marketed as a complete package. Appaarently not.
Two bedrooms don’t sell. Good job unloading this beast before attempting to unload those 2’s. I see this pulling a Domain / Expo 62 once underway and presales are lagging.
^ What happened to Domain and Expo 62? Did they stop construction or lower prices dramatically?
What evidence do you have that 2 bedroom condos don’t sell? Ignoring the recent lull, everything I’ve read shows they sell better than any other kind of condo.
And there’s no way all the 13 acres of Clise property were going to sell to one developer. They put them all on the market at the same time, but that’s different.
jcriket..internal sales data and market info. you’re wrong. 1 bedrooms sell the most rapidly and alcove studios -not hotel room studios. read what you want.
Clise is going to 1 developer -its part of the bidding process. My bet would be a UAE fund buying then selling individual parcels possibly.
Domaine / Expo are circulating for sale market. It would be tough to get rents to support the sales price however.
From the Seattle Times Today:
Clise has narrowed the list of potential buyers to four or five “who have the capability of developing the whole property as it ought to be done.”
It is hoped that a sale — if there is one — will come in the first quarter of 2008.
But that’s a big if, [Clise President Richard] Stevenson adds, given the nation’s financial jitters.
He repeats what the company has said all along: “If we don’t get the right price and the right buyer, we won’t sell. We don’t have to.”
Awful and terrible! The architecture doesn’t even fit with the neighborhood! What are we doing with this city?! I thought we were a classy, elegant city! I’m sick of this glass box nonsense. What is this place going to look like in 20 years? Yuck!
I just uploaded another rendering from the Insignia Ads showing the West side. It’s not awe-inspiring, but it’s not bad. The street level appeal isn’t great, it looks like one big behemoth box. It would be more desirable if they designed street level plazas providing open gathering spaces for residents and pedestrians.