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I can't wait to see what Mudede has to say about it. He likes shapes not found in nature, right?

Maybe if we had 100 more of these we might see the prices come down (not only in the towers themselves, but in the homes in the suburbs that were given up for homes in those towers).

We might see safety on our downtown streets.

We might see the type of density that will allow us to consider REAL transportation sollutions.

We might be able to slow out-of-control growth pushing into our neighborhoods - and preserve their unique Seattle style, flavor and authenticity.

We might be able to slow out-of-control growth pushing into our sprawling suburbs - and preserve the majestic open space and forest lands that offer our citizens environmental wonders unrivaled worldwide.

We might see energy usage and pollution per capita drop as more and more of our enlightened residents are housed in LEED certified homes in areas where infrastructure is in place, adequate and efficient.

We might see our public safety and emergency services dollars go further as the new development polices itself - yet pays a king's ransom in property taxes.

The benefits go on and on. And some hate it because it's too "opulent"??!! Go ruin someone else's city you whiny, jealous, self-loathing twits! If you don't like it - don't live there.

The thing is that Seattle actually has a tremendous amount of affordable condos. Now there not 2000 sqft luxury units with breathtaking views, and roll-up windows, but they are nice and livable. Many can still be had for less then 200k. Hell the average Seattleite household that is good with money can pretty easily afford up to about 300k.

I do have a soft spot for Wigland, but I'll save my bitching and moaning if they try to take down the Alaska Bldg, the Securities Bldg, the Hogue, or the Seattle Tower--not filling in empty parking lots.

I hear this comment often as "Oh! It's just a phallic symbol." I used to accept it (this was many years ago) as some sort of valid (if unclear criticism). But then one day I wondered "So what?" Why is creating (even if it is overt and explicit, as in most cases it is not) a phallic symbol a bad thing?

But I agree with the above poster about smarmy marketing words. And I'll raise that icky factor by pointing to the ugly marketing material they always post on the side of these buildings. I can't imagine who they are trying to appeal to.

This whole mindset is epitomized by the "new homes saturday" section of the PI. Those articles make me want to take a hot shower, and get an enema. They're so Donald Trump-ish; seemingly written for the insecure middle-class dweeb who wants desparately to be considered "cool"

Where am I going to buy my wigs???

That's right, I'm limited by my resources, and I understand that "The right to own property" means I have the ability to buy property, not that it's guaranteed to be available at a price I can pay.

I chuckle walking past the subsidized housing on 2nd Ave, where arbitrarily-selected folks get permanently below-market rents. We waste a ton of money pretending to solve a symptom (inability to afford housing) of the problem (lack of job options due to lack of experience, life skills, education).

And no, I'm not talking about 3 month transition housing for homeless folks trying to get off the street. These are just permanently subsidized for the same occupant.

After I chuckle, I realize that's my money, and I still can't afford a house.

Seriously, do developers do ANY research before picking their locations?

Gomez, with all due respect, do you get out much? People in other cities would love to have our version of "guttertrash".

I've always thought Seattle was a disneyland version of a big city (i.e. even our "bad" neighborhoods aren't all that scary.) and nowhere is that more true than downtown.

Look around - all the "lower class" places in downtown are leaving. Almost all the pawn shops, adult booksktores, and scary "delis" are gone. I, for one, think that's too bad. It's getting more and more like a mall down there.

Once you lose the wig store, you know the neighborhood is gentrified.

Whether or not there are worse places, you think an elitist type would find walking along those stretches at all enjoyable? If that's Disneyland, then I shudder to think what the rest of Anaheim looks like.

That was the point, that the area surrounding the pads isn't very friendly, not that this area of town is worse than Compton, CA.

Well, apparently plenty, since half of the units have already been sold.

I have a hard time seeing the downside here. Tall buildings, downtown housing, rich people . . .all good for a city.

The entire time I've lived here, I've worked downtown, and I've worked day, swing and graveyard shifts. I lived in Belltown (4th between Virgina and Lenora) for several years, the west slope of Capitol Hill after that. I ride the bus to Beacon Hill (the 36 via that "horrible" third avenue) every workday. Don't try to pull any "street creds" on me.

The Newmark was arguably the first big "upscale" project in that area. Despite a crappy design, and awful construction, it's a popular building with affluent tenants.

Before the Newmark, when that entire block was an abandoned Penney's store, and First Avenue was full of bars, pawn shops, flophouses, wig stores, etc, your point might have had some validity. But wealthy people have been moving downtown for at least 20 years. Wealthy people have lived on First Hill (arguably just as "bad") since Seattle was founded.

Here's the secret: There's plenty of people with money who don't care about their surroundings. There's plenty of people with money who just live there and drive everywhere. And there's plenty of people with money who want that "urban" experience.

As for the rabble that loiters around that block, we'll see how long they stick around after they've met my team of footmen and the business end of my diamond tipped cane! The whores can stick around though. A man needs his entertainment!

The boys at the club will be delighted to hear that the common folk are at last being driven out of Seattle!

I share kinaidos' outrage (however grammatically challenged its expression). For the life of me, I don't see why Seattle's design review board (or whatever you call it) doesn't reject any design that features sexual imagery. I mean, if they're not here to safeguard us from sexually suggestive buildings, then what the heck are they here to safeguard us from?! Also, for the life of me, I can't understand why The Stranger's news staff doesn't have some representation on this board since they seem to have an uncanny talent for recognizing phallic symbols.

By the way, for the life of me I can't understand why the religious right doesn't jump on the phallic nature of skyscrapers (forgive the "jump on" pun) as evidence of the moral decay of urban America and the suburbs' and exurbs' and rural areas' moral superiority.

More kinaidos: "It's important to live in a building that says something about you. This one says 'just another rich prick'. Brilliant!"

Brilliant, kinaidos! As in, a brilliant Freudian critique. Interpretation: the male drives to (a) get rich, and (b) live in towers, are merely attempts to compensate for feelings of inadequacy in the size category.

they are gentrifying bushwick in brooklyn, NY....

if you want street-cred, go live there.

or,

if you want to get in on the ground floor on "cheap" real estate that has no where to go but "up" in the next 5 years, develop a condo there.

dont worry. other rich folk already have that idea and currently put up with the indigeneous "guttertrash" while building their condos...

if you dont like brooklyn, you can always move to harlem--developers are building new condos in record time. even with the presence of "guttertrash".

thats called city-livin.

I'll tell you what, Eldridge. If there's any "kind of people" you want to keep out of town, it's those rich people. Once those rich'uns move in, literally there goes the neighborhood. I remember the good, ol' days when Seattle was the kind of crappy place where no snooty, snobbish upper-class prick would want to live. You could drive from Ballard to Capitol Hill in about 10 minutes, and the only thing that got in your way was the occasional squirrel and house pet.

I just wish we could put up a big, ol' sign at the entrance to Seattle: "Welcome to Seattle. Affluence not welcome."

P.S. For the record, I never liked that TV show "Frasier" either. "Good night, Seattle, we love you!?" Come on. I mean, that guy was gay, right?

People who live and work in Seattle will not (and do not) live in these developments.

I'm not saying I'm against these kind of developments, but I think we should be realistic about who is buying into them.

"People who live and work in Seattle will not (and do not) live in these developments."

I think it's very important to keep in mind that most of the people purchasing these condos do not live in Seattle. How do I know this? Simple logic: what upper-crust type would want to be living in a historically crappy place like Seattle to begin with?

What I don't know is who these outsiders are. I think the state attorney general or solicitor general needs to investigate this. For all we know, these people could be cousins of Osama bin Laden or Russian oligarchs or a cabal of media-controlling Zionist bankers. That is, for all we know, they're just a bunch of swarthy, filthy, filthy-rich foreigners.

Just thank God they won't actually be living here and contaminating our pristine downtown!

• When somebody spends a million bucks on a single-family home with a lawn and all in Seattle, they're decent, God-fearing, patriotic Americans contributing to the future of this city.
• When somebody spends a million bucks on a downtown condo in Seattle, they're suspicious outsiders tearing apart the very fabric of this city.

Seattle should only be for Seattleites, and it's just sad to see what's happening to this city.

I guess I should have said, "For the two or three weeks that the Uber-rich bitches are downtown they'll spend at Nordy's what I make in a year! LOL!" considering what passes for discourse around here.

This is meant as parody. Right?

Fearless prediction - a bunch of rich folk will move in, and be horrified to discover they're next to a needle exchange and the heart of Seattle's street drug scene. The hue and cry will go up to clean up the area, a shitload of tax money that could/should be used citywide will be spent because of their power and influence, and the problem will move down the block for a week or three.

Also, this building will likely cast shadows over the Pike Place Market, and drive up the property taxes of neighboring buildings that are better scaled to the existing (and yes, historic) part of the neighborhood - creating yet more pressure on landowers to redevlelop those properties.

Thank god for the owner of the Lusty Lady building - ya gotta love anyone with the balls (and heart) to tell Harbor Properties (and other would-be mega developers) to go fuck themselves.

And, from the look of what they propose, this thing will be just like the Newmark in that it will add ZERO real street traffic or life on that block.

Soupy, I think you misunderstood me. I actually agree with you. Once those foreign-accented rich people "move in" -- or once their servants move some uncomfortable European furniture into their new condos -- they'll pay off the police to clear out all the regular folk that give the downtown its distinctive flavor. Since the rich people will never frequent the downtown themselves, next thing you know, the downtown will be a veritable ghost town.

And all those regular folk who give the downtown its distinctive flavor? They'll start showing up in the neighborhoods, thoroughly ruining the distinctive flavor of the neighborhoods.

You see why I hate rich people. Just look at the havoc they wreak on our society. (Of course, like any red-blooded American, I fully expect to pull myself up by my bootstraps and become rich myself. Which means, I guess, that I aspire in life to become someone that I can really hate.)

makes you wonder...

"makes you wonder..."

Yes, it does. Yes, it does. Very, very suspicious... This just confirms my suspicion that the people moving into these residential high-rises are not just out-of-towners but foreigners. I mean, what real American would want to live in a downtown condo? It's like trying to find a real American who uses the metric system or watches soccer.

More and more, I am convinced that we need to find out who these people are. Now that I think about it, not only should the state attorney general investigate this, but so should the House Un-American Activities Committee. It's really the job of the federal government to protect us from foreigners.

Next thing you know, these people are going to start demanding that our hard-earned tax money that has been earmarked for roads gets diverted to mass transit. I swear if they try that, I'm not going to stand for it. That is nothing short of an assault on the American dream and the American way of life that God has blessed us with.

That offer of a one-way ticket out of Seattle still stands - I just hate to see you suffer so.

If wishes were horses, Density would ride...

Do the residents get room service?