(Photos from Nyhus Communications, LLC.)
Four Seasons's open house took place on last Thursday. I was curious if the completed project would really live up to the Four Seasons brand and whopping price tags so I decided to check out their open house. I drove up to the entrance and was greeted by courteous hotel staff dressed in finely pressed Four Seasons attire ready to park the car, open the front doors, and provide you with the courtesy they would any hotel guest.
The hotel itself has a modern, civilized, warm and northwestern feel to it. Lobby walls are covered with limestone and volcanic basalt stone with fossils. Tastfully done but not flashy. The hotel also hosts the Art Restaurant and Lounge (which is led by the aptly named Seattle chef, Kerry Sear who was most recently running Cascadia). On this particular night, the lounge was busy and full of well-heeled clientele.
By the way, if you are thinking of pampering yourself or have a out of town guest visiting in the future, the room rates range from $365/night to $5,000/night for the president suite. Average hotel room size is well over 525 square feet. 16 different pieces of art from Seattle Art Museum have been reproduced for these hotel rooms.
Ok, back to the condo offering. The open house was held in unit #1101, an approximately 4,000 square foot home. Almost floor-to-ceilings windows line two sides of the living room. Views of the Puget Sound can be seen from the entryway. The Sound views were incredible.
Four Seasons has a U-shaped layout. It seems to me that the architect tried to have efficient placements of windows to optimize as much view they can get from each home. On the one hand, this is providing homebuyers with what they are looking for, views. At the same time, it gives homeowners less privacy since everyone can actually look into everyone else's homes. I would imagine that homebuyers considering this building would appreciate a little bit more privacy. I suppose you can go with the light curtain approach and draw them when you really want the view and aren't concerned about nosey neighbors.
Homeowner dues for these 36 homes are approximately $1/sqft. Again, not exactly your typical price point. For those dues, you get access to the outdoor pool (overlooking the sound), spa, fitness center, real business center, condo concierge, valet parking, room service, and other goodies. There are 10 remaining units available with prices ranging from $2M to $16M. The sales center suggests a price increase is planned within the next two weeks -- possibly by as high as 3%. Granted, Four Seasons buyers aren't exactly hard up for cash but a price increase in light of the global crisis does seem kind of odd.
Neverthless, the hotel does live up to its reputation. Everything about this building seems to scream quality and service, which is probably one of the biggest reasons for anyone considering this property.
