Downtown Seattle’s newest residential tower awarded Certificate of Occupancy
Seattle, WA – April 20th, 2018 – Local developer Urban Visions and joint venture partner Mitsui Fudosan America announced today that West Edge, their 39-story luxury multifamily project, was awarded its Certificate of Occupancy on April 5th, 2018. This milestone comes after 27 months of construction on what is regarded as one of Seattle’s most anticipated residential towers. The highly desirable location at 1430 2nd Avenue (2nd & Pike) delivers a unique urban experience to downtown Seattle residents, offering 340 new homes adjacent to Pike Place Market, Benaroya Symphony Hall, and the retail shopping district.
Downtown dwellers escape into West Edge through a large, inconspicuous red door along 2nd Avenue. A 24-hour concierge immediately greets residents, while a beautiful glass atrium anchors the relaxing setting with a stunning Japanese maple tree. Inside the building, residents have access to various amenities including two 8th floor outdoor terraces connected by an 85’ high sky bridge, a rooftop fitness center with sweeping views of Elliot Bay, and a 5,000 SF retail space on the 8th floor. Glass floors within this retail space extend out over Pike Street, allowing visitors the ability to float 85’ over Seattle’s most pedestrian populated passage. The thoughtfully laid out residences are also larger than Seattle’s typical apartment dwellings, and most all West Edge homes have a large private balcony and beautiful views of the city and sound. A large pet play and relief area is also located on the eastern outdoor terrace for urban dogs.
The building’s shell and core design is the work of architect Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, of Seattle-based Olson Kundig. He has said about the tower, “This building is intended to be an urban, forward-thinking, dense, exciting place with active public spaces that engage the city streets and Seattle’s downtown culture. I’m most excited about how this building relates to its context – to the pedestrian experience on the lower levels, and to Seattle’s natural landscape and the urban built environment above.”
Urban Visions CEO Greg Smith notes, “A building should be an asset to its community. It should energize the neighborhood. Is the architecture going to make you go, “Wow”? Is the architecture going to fit in and be sympathetic and empathetic to our environment? And will the internal workings of the building make its occupants healthier? The science is there to show that your health is affected by where you work and live. It’s a new frontier in designing buildings that I believe are going to make us healthier mentally and physically. That is how we approached the development of West Edge”.
Urban Visions partnered with Mitsui Fudosan, one of the world’s most renowned real estate investment firms, on West Edge. Sellen Construction, Seattle’s preeminent general contractor, built the tower for Urban Visions.
About Urban Visions
Urban Visions is intensely focused on urban areas as the engines for growth and change and is committed to creating a vital, vibrant, and compelling future for Seattle. The principles underlying this vision are sustainable development, smart growth, increased density, and transformational place-making. With a philosophy of “Build Up, Not Out”, they believe that what’s good for the environment is also good for business. They are a pro-density firm committed to implementing smart, high-performance practices into all of their buildings, and they assemble world class project teams to accomplish this objective. Their buildings are designed with the health and wellness of the occupants in mind. www.urbanvisions.com
About Mitsui Fudosan America
Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc. (MFA) is a real estate investment and development company headquartered in New York City and is the U.S. subsidiary of Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. – Japan’s largest publicly traded real estate company. MFA’s history in the United States dates back to the early 1970s. Since its inception, MFA has acquired and developed numerous office, multifamily and hospitality properties in major markets throughout the U.S. In addition to its significant portfolio of office buildings, MFA recently expanded its development platform, with several office and multifamily development projects launched in New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. www.mfamerica.com
About Olson Kundig
Olson Kundig is a Seattle-based design practice founded on the belief that buildings can act as bridges between culture, nature, and people. With more than 50 years of practice, the firm’s work – museums, cultural centers, mixed-use buildings, residences, commercial and hospitality projects – extends worldwide. Tom Kundig, internationally renowned architect and principal designer of West Edge Tower, has received some of the world’s highest design honors, including a National Design Award in Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum and an Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. www.olsonkundig.com