Pagoda and Heron Twin Towers

Alec Carlin with Hummingbird Advisors of Seattle informed us that last nights design review meeting with the Department of Planning and Development went well and is moving to the next stage. Mr. Carlin said concerns were addressed by Escala and that he’s interested in working with them on the project. In the meantime, DPD and Carlin will be moving towards the Master Use Permit (MUP) and recommendation process.

If you’ve yet to hear about the new project, preliminary plans for the 45-story twin tower, high-end hotel, condo, office and deluxe retail development will be located at 1913 5th Avenue (between Escala and Westin Hotel). Architect Ishmael Leyva from New York has been chosen for design to bring a new edge to Seattle. Ishmael was also 1 of 5 architects who designed the Time Warner Center in NY which has a center atrium similar to plans for the new Seattle project that will separate the two towers.

The Pagoda Tower (northern) is planned to have a distinct difference with 9-floors of hotel rooms including hotel ballrooms, meeting rooms, pool and spa.

The Heron Tower (southern) is planned to be all condos. Both 550′ towers are planned to be topped with an arboretum, roof garden and recreation facilities.

Completion is expected to be in 2011 and Alec feels that the market will support more condos at that time. We’ll all be able to make a better guess at the projects success when we hear more about estimated prices (which have yet to be determined).