KCRag Forum

2 light has balconies facing interstate on the higher floors

KCPowercat wrote:2 light has balconies facing interstate on the higher floors

shorter Juliette balconies as I recall.

I used to know someone who lived in this building in NYC on or around the 30th floor. The balconies were not that wide, and they had glass panels as the barricade. You felt very vulnerable being out on it. He said he never really saw anyone using their balconies because of the queasy factor. I once watched a fireworks show from it, and the entire time I felt like I was going to fall. He said it had a less threatening feel when he sat out there at night. However, because he was so high up, if it was fairly windy at all, it was not that pleasant.

http://www.riverbankapts.com/

Street level view of the building.

http://tinyurl.com/y8vptkxe

I have been in other tall apartment buildings with balconies and if they had non-glass barricades the experience wasn't as scary, because having a solid barricade gave one more a sense of safety. Another thing that helps at these heights is if the balcony/patio area was set back further from the edge or partially into the apartment itself. I guess I mean deeper, so that you can still enjoy being outside but not feel you could accidently topple over the edge.

I recall being in his apartment during a gathering and the majority of people wouldn't go out on the balcony at all. He said he never allowed anyone on it if they were drinking.

I like the texture of the exterior of this residential tower.

http://tinyurl.com/ybavzh7y

When living at the View I had large balconies on both sides of the building and seldom used either. There was always a constant wind, and one had the peculiar sensation of being a fly on a window. Having floor to ceiling wall to wall windows, the views were actually better from indoors due to the pixel glass eliminating glare. Only used the balcony for sunset dinners for guests, firework viewing or air shows. Once had a heavy glass dining table top lifted by the wind, half of its shattered remains ended up on Admiral Blvd. Where I live now has balcony inset into the building, and thus sheltered and more private. I use this much more.

Balconies are a big selling perk for condos. I use mine regularly but have worked from home last couple years. Have noticed others either use theirs very often or rarely at all. Might be different for hirise apts but if an apt owner plans to eventually go condo, the larger the balconies the better. I would not buy a hirise condo unit w/out one, might not be the case for most but if buyers have options of buildings with and w/out, would think those with balcony would move better.

Two light has full balconies on higher floors facing 670

I think you hit the nail on the head.

The bumped in patio sounds like the most popular but it clearly reduces the space available inside and makes the design more complex, costing more.

So you get in response the hanging balcony design that feels much more dangerous. Add the trend towards putting glass walls on all three sides and it's no wonder they're not popular.

I like that cube building example Fang posted because it seems to be the best of both designs. It looks like the tower uses the bump outs to gain space for each unit and provide solid patios at the same time. Just having a real floor would dramatically change the feel of it.

If you are high income, and can afford a really big apartment, having a balcony inset into the apartment doesn't seem like a big loss of space because you have enough space anyway.

Hirise external balconies are very common in every major city. Would hate to see KC developers avoid them out of impressions of 'fear' by some. Could see developers use as an excuse to go cheaper and KC 'settles'. You do want the balcony walls to near chestline for tallish person though (mine is) but also glass or thin slots so that you can see through when sitting down.

.

Ground breaking of Two March 2016
Completion June 2018

Ground breaking of Three Sep 2018
So completion Jan 2021

So Cordish can build two entire towers in less time that it has taken to paint the Grand bike lanes

We should get details on this project pretty soon right?

earthling wrote:It takes a driving force to change developers plans and it may have to come from downtown associations to gain any traction. Speak out to them if you want a change of Cordish plans. They haven't presented any final plans with any detail for Three, just high level renderings, so it may not be too late to influence. Or if complacent with a massive wall of monotony, that's what we'll get.

December 10th and still no rendering? I'm getting kinda antsy after seeing new renderings for whats getting built in st louis. Any word on when the public will get to see 3 or 4?

maybe strangerthings could give us a hint

pretty sure someone high up there told me three would be announced once they start moving people into two light. two light was not open for the homes tour this weekend -- just the leasing office on main -- so it may be a bit longer.

So we are looking at a summer 2018 announcement? Sounds like they are behind schedule ("construction on three light will start before two light is finished")

Too bad Two Light wasn't completed enough for homes tour, that could've grabbed a few signups. But isn't there a Spring tour as well?

Seems few are concerned (as I am) that Three Light may look like Two Light so if there isn't a push for mixing things up, no need to put out a rendering if it's just a matter of copy/paste. It's the cheapest way to go afterall even though they could get economies of scale by using building designs/materials from another Cordish tower in other city and breakup the repetition.

There's enough downtown momentum to expect developers to raise the bar with unique buildings but if no on cares, copy/paste is what we deserve.

the citywide homes tour has a spring and fall event
not sure about the downtown-specific homes tour

Three can't be *exactly* the same because Walnut to Grand is a steeper grade than Main to Walnut and they're reversed, Grand is in the draw.

The question is will they redo the garage entrances so they don't have one on the streetcar line. My hope is they have the garage access off Truman and Walnut and put a nice retail space fronting Main. That wouldn't change the overall tower look but it would help with ground level at least.

Is the timeline still to build 4 once 3 is close to being done? I would think that all the demand would lead to bigger buildings and faster start times.