Slog - Comments on Re: PI Credulous on Conversions

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:09:57 -0800

What can you possibly mean by "no character"? That building is gawgeous. Maybe you meant to type "no faux-gothic cake batter smeared all over the outside in a pathetic attempt to emulate the already imitative apartment houses of Boston and New York."

Comment by snacky

snacky — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:26:05 -0800

I don't understand - what is misleading?

I think the lady doth protest too much.

Comment by soultaco

soultaco — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:30:09 -0800

Agggh. Every time I walk by that building in the morning I want to puke all over its hideous Crayola-box exterior. And if that wasn't bad enough, you forgot the unbelievably lame tagline on the promo materials:

"THE CITY IS YOUR GAME OF TAG. THIS IS BASE."

Good Lord.

Comment by catnextdoor

catnextdoor — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:39:23 -0800

Speaking of their tag line, my friends and I made up a new game where we remix up the words, add new ones but make sure it has the same "ag" and "ase" ending. Such as (a few favorites)

"The shroud of Turin is a burlap bag, this is Jesus' Face."

"This city is a burlap bag, this is your face"

"The city is a speedy fag, get in the race"

"This building is about to sag, grab the mace"

there are many, many more. I suggest you and your friends play it too!

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:40:24 -0800

All your Baseline is belong to Guitar Player II.

Comment by correction

correction — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:54:36 -0800

The building itself is really attractive -- it's the new paint job that ruined it. They had no idea what they were doing.

Comment by golob

golob — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:08:57 -0800

Uh. Even before the paint job, that building looked like it belonged in the Brezhnev-era soviet union. Now, with garish colors smeared across its hideous design.....

Comment by Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:17:40 -0800

I thought that building looked kind of cute and quiant in a 1965 sort of way. Now it just looks like shit.

Comment by some deaths take forever

some deaths take forever — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:41:48 -0800

That building is like the really plain woman who applies too much makeup (and in garish hues) to compensate for her self-perceived plainness.

I love it.

Comment by Used to live there

Used to live there — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:22:40 -0800

Good lord I miss my old apt
It was great for a single self-supporting gay college student like me. Lived there for over 2 years... affordable rent, good managers, great neighbors (including Ms Silver, who really is on of the sweetest people you could ever meet). But then Gintz group came in, started their construction right away, killing building power and water whenever it suited them, entering units to cut holes in the wall and 'check the piping', all the while giving the current tenants a " Final plans for the property have not yet been decided please direct all questions to the property managers voicemail..." song and dance. Three months into the property renovations (which, FYI were totally cosmetic, you can still see the cracks in the foundation from the last earth quake) we all got our 'pay 350-400 grand or get the hell out' notices.

The whole thing just F#$%*&ing sucked...

Now the building is an eyesore, though an aptly named eyesore, whenever I look at it I get a bad sense or vertigo.

Their desperate attempts to make the building look brand new are pathetic, their marketing slogan is a joke, and it wouldn't surprise me if they end up soaking the cost of empty units for a long time to come. Anyone stupid enough to buy one of those units without both a close inspection of the city's State-of-the-Property report (required by law) and hiring their own inspector/property appraiser before hand deserves what they get.

Enough of my ranting...

Comment by cite

cite — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:28:23 -0800

Don't blame the building for that paint job! I love 60's modernism, even a humble example like that one. I hope they repaint it.

Comment by Unless it's got gables it's lame...

Unless it's got gables it's lame... — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:14:56 -0800

My girlfriend and I moved here from LA because we were tired of all the modernism. It's corny and cliched. We only like the really old buidlings which have been redone, or the new buildings which have cool stuff like gables and stainless steel appliances. We think all these 60's buildings should be demolished because they aren't bungalows.

One of our favorite things to do is to get up early on Saturday morning and read the "new homes" section of the P-I while having coffee at Starbucks. It really speaks to us. They, like the stranger, really hate the modernism also. That's why we read the stranger - it reminds us of "New homes Saturday" in the P-I, LOL

Comment by trying hard

trying hard — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 07:51:20 -0800

....

Did I miss something?

Comment by J.R.

J.R. — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 09:37:37 -0800

The oddly-named Vertigo is a harmless 1960s building in a good location (2 blocks off Broadway). The "renovation" seems pretty minor--they don't even seem to have replaced the windows, which is usually high up on the list even for lazy developers. The garish new paint job is both jarring and amusing. There should be decent views from some top floor units. But, really, would you pay $400K to live in that joint?

Comment by Serene

Serene — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 13:06:15 -0800

It's times like these that make me question my love of the 'hood. I won't leave, but I haven't been kicked out of my apartment to be turned into condos. Yet.

Comment by Inkredulous Kyle

Inkredulous Kyle — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:07:46 -0800

Right after they trimmed the shit out of the trees and brought the lifts in and began painting, I was walking home from the QFC after an early morning breakfast food run and came across an old acquaintance I remembered from working on Broadway some years before. After saying hi, I asked what she thought of the paint job they had begun on the building. She let on that she didn't like it. She told me that she had lived there for the past 15 years and didn't know what she was going to do now that they were converting the units to condos. She explained that someone on the site asked her recently how she liked the colors and she told him she hated it. "It's giving me vertigo." she joked. So the next day she bumps into the same guy who tells her, "We liked what you had to say about the colors so much we decided to name the condos 'Vertigo.'" How terrible, I thought. A week or so later, sure enough, a giant placard announcing 'Life is a game of tag, this is your base - VERTIGO.' I lost it. Now I make a game of rewording their tagline to see if I can come up with anything LAMER! How about 'Life in the city is like sex with a hag. It's good that you're chaste.'?