Nick Benjamin, the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos.’ executive director for the Power & Light District, said Two Light leasing began nine months ago and 20 percent of the 296 studio through two-bedroom units have been rented thus far.
“It’s really picked up recently, with four or five units being leased each week now,” Benjamin said.
Therefore, Benjamin expects Two Light to lease up at the same clip as 315-unit One Light, which was 80 percent leased when it opened and hit full occupancy five months later.
“Our plan is to start construction of Three Light within a few months of completion of Two Light,” Benjamin said.
“Since the One Light groundbreaking, the downtown population has grown from 21,000 to 26,000, and we are rapidly on our way to 33,000 by the end of 2019.
Urban planners say typically 30K-35K is the critical mass point for drawing broader range of retailers. And sustained street life w/out depending on events.
I thought about this yesterday because I had a long lunch and just kind of wondered around. Two light does look much better in person than it photographs. Looking north I really like everything.
I was tempted to post here but didn't want to restart the cordish wall debate. Yet here we are.
StrangerThings wrote:Is anyone still afraid the "Cordish wall" will ruin the skyline looking north after seeing these pictures? I've never had any concerns but the second picture down is just verification for me on top of renderings. Yes, we will likely loose view of the H&R building as well as the Hilton President.
I think the only negative I find about 1-4 light is the fact that the Hilton will loose their southern view completely. It was bound to happen at some point I suppose.
I think about it only from a selfish point of view. I mean yea, it will make the skyline far less interesting from the south. Light 2 actually makes it more interesting adding something post 1960 to the east side of the skyline, but once the other towers go up, you will have a wall there blocking many buildings to the north and giving the skyline much less depth. But the towers are a positive for downtown and that’s what matters. The city just needs to highly encourage Cordish to mix up the designs of three and four light. If they are very different, they could look very nice. If they are a continuation of the same glass wall and they all have the huge “LIGHT” signs on them, it won’t look good at all from a skyline perspective and the signs will look downright tacky.
You have to hope that there will be additional towers built just south of 670 at some point though which will change things again.
StrangerThings wrote:Is anyone still afraid the "Cordish wall" will ruin the skyline looking north after seeing these pictures? I've never had any concerns but the second picture down is just verification for me on top of renderings. Yes, we will likely loose view of the H&R building as well as the Hilton President.
I think the only negative I find about 1-4 light is the fact that the Hilton will loose their southern view completely. It was bound to happen at some point I suppose.
I think about it only from a selfish point of view. I mean yea, it will make the skyline far less interesting from the south. Light 2 actually makes it more interesting adding something post 1960 to the east side of the skyline, but once the other towers go up, you will have a wall there blocking many buildings to the north and giving the skyline much less depth. But the towers are a positive for downtown and that’s what matters. The city just needs to highly encourage Cordish to mix up the designs of three and four light. If they are very different, they could look very nice. If they are a continuation of the same glass wall and they all have the huge “LIGHT” signs on them, it won’t look good at all from a skyline perspective and the signs will look downright tacky.
You have to hope that there will be additional towers built just south of 670 at some point though which will change things again.
100% this.
2 light looks great right now. I'm so worried who what they're going to keep doing though, and it sounds like we're getting more of the same.
StrangerThings wrote:Wish I could share the latest. Regardless, the renderings you have seen will at least remain in regards to footprint. The exterior elements and design will change slightly but nothing drastic compared to renderings released to the public.
I think these pictures make it easier to visualize the final product with a bit of creative thinking.
A new tall (30-40) story office tower on Grand north of the Sprint Center would help a lot. Let's hope Copaken can pull something off, but I have my doubts.
Yep, Grand St north of 12th street is a general eyesore....lol. Zero landscaping, 1970's planter pots full of nothing but dirt, busted up sidewalks, no trees, etc. I rarely walk on grand because it's just not an inviting, walkable blvd. Perplexing the city hasn't tried to make it more pedestrian friendly.
KC_JAYHAWK wrote:A new tall (30-40) story office tower on Grand north of the Sprint Center would help a lot. Let's hope Copaken can pull something off, but I have my doubts.
I'm convinced they're basically squatting on that property and holding out for someone to come along and overpay as it's value just keeps going up. That parking lot is an eye sore, can't wait for something to go there.
Copaken? Vapor renderings and press releases that go no where?
Nahhh, you must be speaking of a different company.
KC_JAYHAWK wrote:Yep, Grand St north of 12th street is a general eyesore....lol. Zero landscaping, 1970's planter pots full of nothing but dirt, busted up sidewalks, no trees, etc. I rarely walk on grand because it's just not an inviting, walkable blvd. Perplexing the city hasn't tried to make it more pedestrian friendly.
blame the parks department, who spent $100K on planning only to discover said plan would cost an astronomical figure to implement. i guess you could also blame mariner kemper, who dangled private funds in front of them all only to withdraw the offer after getting frustrated with the lack of progress.
then there's the property owners, who haven't been very good stewards of their face to the boulevard...