On Thursday last week there were trucks spotted at the corner of 106th Ave. and NE 8th St., taking what seemed to be core samples from the earth below on the unoccupied property. Core samples are typically a first step when a developer is looking to build onto new land.
This is obviously a very desirable corner, being a block away from The Bellevue Collection, coupled with the recent reports that the developer Touchstone may create a development for a hotel, office space, and retail right across the street from that corner.
Who owns that parcel? It’s been empty for years – so long that I don’t recall what use to be there.
Could they be taking samples for the future Touchstone project that is across the street since the two sites most likely have the same soil makeup? Maybe they don’t want to dig up the parking lot just to get a core sample. They probably already know what the soil is like under Washington Square Tower 1 so this might give them a range of possible soil compositions… But that is just a big guess. I hope something is moving in there.
I love your undercover work and consistent updates on what is happening downtown. I always feel “in the know”! 😉
Thanks Michael!
Sterling Realty Organization owns that property.
They also own properties next to it
Barns & Noble
The old Underhills
The two story building along 8th
http://www.sterlingrealty.com/propphotos.asp
Wow, Sterling could really do some damage if they ever developed all of those parcels. Didn’t know all of those buildings where owned by the same person/company.
Agree frausy, somebody is sleeping at the wheel 😉 Also known as playing it safe.
They’ll be playing it safe for awhile. I thought I read somewhere that Underhills is being renovated to accommodate the growth of Mars Hills church.
The Topolino’s Pizza building! We will be around for several more years! The vacant lot owned by Sterling has undergone several tests. A dry cleaner located on the northeast corner many many years ago had fluid seep across the street.EPA issues & the high costs associated with the clean up have contributed the slow development of this property-even when the economy was humming a few years ago.
BellevueJohn – Core samples must be done on the site where a building will be built. If the core samples on the SRO property are for the Touchstone site across the street it would be to determine if there was a plume of solvents that had migrated under NE 8th, which could be a possibility.
The SRO site used to be a Texaco gas station years ago. It is a prime corner lot.
The building where Topolinos (fantastic pizza, by the way) and the piano store (where we bought our daughter’s piano) will likely be around for a very long time. The building is built like a fortress and depending on what the lease provisions require of the landlord, would be expensive to tear down.