The Vue

[monsoon]

Me too.

... and yes, I remember being scared as crap during Hugo.  I had heard that it did break some windows downtown but didn't know it was that bad.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It was. People were not allowed back onto Tryon, College St, etc until the glass had been cleaned up and they had checked every single remaining window to make sure it was not going to fall off. It was quite odd to see the towers with plywood sides while waiting for new glass to be ordered.

[Lady Celeste]

A tadbit off the subject of tunnelform.....

I had the pleasure of discussing property at the Vue with a Ms Parsons. She is a class act and her presentation from what she could tell me was a class act. This building will definitely be sold out well before completion if Ms Parsons is indicative of all the sales associates for the Vue.

[monsoon]

I agree. They have a monopoly on living in the sky right now in Charlotte. I predict these units (especially above 25 floors) are going to appreciate like lake property. The only thing that would change this would be a sharp interest rate rise.

[SmellyCat]

I thought lake property has been flat, not appreciating. My brother just picked up a lakefront condo for a song a few months ago.

[MZT]

I thought lake property has been flat, not appreciating.  My brother just picked up a lakefront condo for a song a few months ago.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I've met a few other folks who bought "hot" condos at Lake Wylie and now can't get them rented to cover cost. Gotta be careful listening to those salespeople...

[monsoon]

I was referring to lake front property on Lake Norman. When people are tearing down fairly new 4000 sq/ft houses to build 12,000 sq ft houses, it is a very tight market.

[Larryfla]

I looked up the website and saw that a one bedroom condo would be around 7-800 square feet and cost starting at around $170K. Approximately how much annual property tax would one typically have to pay for a small condo like this?

[dxartist]

I looked up the website and saw that a one bedroom condo would be around 7-800 square feet and cost starting at around $170K.

Edited August 14, 2005 by dxartist

[Nomanizan]

I just got off the phone with a sales rep. They are scheduling appointments for presentations!!!!

[skylinedrive]

My wife and I have set up an appointment as well. I was talking to a civil engineer and he said that one thing to investigate is how much steel will be going into this building. The Tunnel Form concrete structure is a lot stiffer and therefore will sway more. He said that if you were on the top floor in that building to expect it to sway back and forth about 6 ft on a normal day...even more on a windy day. If it were a steel strucuture it would sway much less as those have more give and take.

So it sounds like you make a trade off: you get less noise from your neighbors...but if you are high up then you might get motion sickness all the time.

[dubone]

isn't building sway a little like earth rotation.... i thought it was barely noticeable? has anyone ever been in a high rise with sway like that? i can't imagine there'd be any scrapers if it felt like a roller coaster.

[Rickydavisfan21]

yea generally you can't feel it, if you got motion sickness it is probably more of a pyschological thing mixed with a small fear of heights

[monsoon]

According to one website, the Charlotte and Meckenburg combine rate for 2004/05 was 1.1767 per $100.  So that would put you at about $2000 if my calculations are correct for just the hard numbers. Metro, Alt, A2, dubone anyone..your thoughts?

http://www.realestate-charlotte.com/Proper...age_208967.html

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's a little bit higher than that. And the downtown loop is in a special tax district where there is an addon tax. For the price mentioned, I would budget about $200/month for property taxes. However property taxes are deductable from state and federal tax so the bite isn't quite as bad.

[ElricSeven]

My wife and I have set up an appointment as well. I was talking to a civil engineer and he said that one thing to investigate is how much steel will be going into this building. The Tunnel Form concrete structure is a lot stiffer and therefore will sway more. He said that if you were on the top floor in that building to expect it to sway back and forth about 6 ft on a normal day...even more on a windy day. If it were a steel strucuture it would sway much less as those have more give and take.

So it sounds like you make a trade off: you get less noise from your neighbors...but if you are high up then you might get motion sickness all the time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Something a lot stiffer should sway less, but be more brittle and likely to plasticly deform (i.e., fail) at lower loads. More "sway" of flex is better if it is indicative of a lower breakpoint, like the flexing of an aluminum airplane's wings. Of course in a building you don't want too much flex or you might slide off the potty at one of your more vulnerable moments.

I'd be interested at what your civil engineering friend says in reply, because my engineering degrees are in a different field.

[SmellyCat]

My wife and I have set up an appointment as well. I was talking to a civil engineer and he said that one thing to investigate is how much steel will be going into this building. The Tunnel Form concrete structure is a lot stiffer and therefore will sway more. He said that if you were on the top floor in that building to expect it to sway back and forth about 6 ft on a normal day...even more on a windy day. If it were a steel strucuture it would sway much less as those have more give and take.

So it sounds like you make a trade off: you get less noise from your neighbors...but if you are high up then you might get motion sickness all the time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yikes! I just had a flashback to the days when I worked at a client's office in 2 World Trade on the 73rd floor for an entire winter. The building would constantly sway back and forth and you'd hear these eerie creeking noises, especially on a windy day. I really did get queasy from it.

[dubone]

Of course in a building you don't want too much flex or you might slide off the potty at one of your more vulnerable moments.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

omg i think i'm going to choke from laughing. that one caught me off guard after all this engineering talk.

given that you guys say that the sway at upper floors is really noticeable, does that put these tall resi towers in jeopardy? i think sway for office towers isn't so bad as people are often busy working or moving around, but residential is a lot more relaxation and of course lying in bed (to sleep, that is)... which building sway would hurt.

i also was surprised that solid concrete would mean more sway vs steel, too, but i don't have any engineering degree...

[ezcheese]

i remember watching a special about the sears tower on NGC. some of the people who worked in the building talked about having pens roll off their desks, and hearing that eerie creeking sound.

[Rickydavisfan21]

the sears roebuck tower is 1,454 feet talland 110 stories, the vue will be 50 stories and around 700 feet, wow, I never really thought about that til now, wow, thats a huge height difference, hell BofA is only 871 ft thats is so small in comparison, charlotte we need wachovia to be 1000 ft

[monsoon]

Maybe that particular civil engineer is from NCSU. It doesn't matter what the mix of concrete or steel in the Vue. They will have projected the amount of sway that will be caused by the wind here and will put in design elements that will dampen it. I can imagine the rounded sides of the building are part of that design.

Most larger towers built today have dampening devices to reduce sway. That is if they are tall enough to need it. The John Hancock Tower in Boston for example uses a big block of concrete floating in a bed of oil and computer-controlled hydraulics counter the building's sway. And it is even more interesting if the building is constructed in an active earthquake zone which isn't a problem in Charlotte.

[ilektronik]

The John Hancock Tower in Boston for example uses a big block of concrete floating in a bed of oil and computer-controlled hydraulics counter the building's sway. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

that has to be the coolest thing that I have read all morning

[SmellyCat]

Most larger towers built today have dampening devices to reduce sway.  That is if they are tall enough to need it.    The John Hancock Tower in Boston for example uses a big block of concrete floating in a bed of oil and computer-controlled hydraulics counter the building's sway.  And it is even more interesting if the building is constructed in an active earthquake zone which isn't a problem in Charlotte.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, I remember when the Citicorp Building was built in NYC circa 1976-77...I believe it also uses the tuned mass damper method with the large pool of liquid in the roof area. I recall this was a big deal at the time is was being built.

[Neo]

I worked on the 73rd floor of the AON Center in Chicago for a while and honestly never really felt it sway. You could see some slight ripples in places like the toilet bowl but it really wasn't that noticable unless you were really trying to notice it and even then it was rather hard to notice.

[skylinedrive]

Something a lot stiffer should sway less, but be more brittle and likely to plasticly deform (i.e., fail) at lower loads.  More "sway" of flex is better if it is indicative of a lower breakpoint, like the flexing of an aluminum airplane's wings.  Of course in a building you don't want too much flex or you might slide off the potty at one of your more vulnerable moments.

I'd be interested at what your civil engineering friend says in reply, because my engineering degrees are in a different field.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We had both been drinking when this coversation occured. So its very possible that I didn't hear him right or he didn't say what he meant. I could have it backwords.

monsoon is right that this building will have some type of damping. When I go to the sales center I will be asking them about what they plan to use. I don't want to shell out a lot of money just to end up sliding off the potty.

For anyone that cares this particular Civil Engineer I was talking with is a graduate of USC.

[skylinedrive]

What ever happened to that Italian Restarant that was supposed to open in the space where the Vue Sales Center is now?

[dubone]

What ever happened to that Italian Restarant that was supposed to open in the space where the Vue Sales Center is now?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

good spaghetti...residential skyscraper...goog spaghetti...residential skyscraper....

it is a close call, but i've gotta say, i'm glad to have the vue sales center there .

i'm not sure, though, what happened to the idea. we do need an italian restaurant downtown now that you mention that... i can't think of one off the top of my head.