Oregonian reports today that Park Avenue West, the 32 story tower Tom Moyer was building downtown, has been halted for lack of funding. This despite being more than 50% preleased. That'll leave an ugly hole in the middle of downtown. Interesting also that First&Main is pressing onwards, despite being 0% preleased. barfo
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/04/06/daily55.html The commercial RE financing market is as crazy as I've seen it since I've gotten into the business. I can't emphasize what a stunning development it is to basically have your construction loan altered during building when you have credit leases in place.
Considering the economic climate this is not surprising. I'm still excited about this tower. When completed this will, IMO, will be the best high rise in the city. However, I wonder if this will effect the tower's retail: The two-story Nike Town store and another high-end store is slated to be at the base of PAW.
Yeah, so far so good. Still a lot of detail missing, but it sure seems like it will be prettier than the buildings surrounding it. barfo
Although I didn't read the article, I wonder if 50% had actually paid 100% of their money (and if so, is it being refunded fully) or if it's merely their deposits. My boss bought into several of those condos so he could flip them and all he was required to do was put $1,000 down until it was nearly completed. I say this as if the condos were fully 50% paid for he could finish the project- unless he was in a financially advantageous position to take money from people- a favorite game of developers.
I'd guess that while they may have paid little or nothing up front, they did sign a lease, meaning that they are contractually bound to pay the rent for the term of the lease. Which means in normal times, it would have been possible for the landlord to borrow against those future rent payments. However, I'd also bet that, being lawyers, there is a clause in the lease that says if the space isn't delivered to them on schedule, the landlord has breached the lease. So Stoel Rives can probably walk away if they want to. barfo
Yes. 22 stories - it was originally 32. If you were referencing the prior posts about deposits, the 50% leased referred to the office space, not the condos. barfo
1st and Main has the best 'skin' of all the projects in the last 5 years, IMO. And there has been A LOT of projects that went up before the economy fell on its' face. In that regard, it's very Fox Tower-esque. There has been too much clear/green glass on a lot of the new towers. I think they were going for that Vancouver BC look.
One of the great quotes from the short-lived but very enjoyed-by-me Studio 60: Vancouver doesn't look like anything. It doesn't even look like Vancouver. It looks like....Boston, California.
The new design got rid of the 10 floors of condos and added four more floors of office space. It'll only decrease in height from 510' to 480'. As you can see the PAW location in this picture, It'll have a great impact on the skyline. It will also be a full 100' taller than the Fox Tower next door.
