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Mon. October 15, 2007, 07:29am PDT
2007 Tour of Urban Living ~ The Roberson
After 21 months of construction The Roberson is showing itself to be formidable in the downtown condo market competition. Though visitors this weekend had to remove their shoes airport-style or dawn little baby blue booties it was fun to see inside the new place. Here's a quick list of my likes and dislikes:
Likes
- the building fits in well with it's partially brick facade
- "work/live" units will offer great options for local small business owners and will make good use of Court "D" behind the building
- the interior (but open air) courtyard will offer residents a nice respite from life outside and breaks up the building nicely
- love the floor to ceiling windows on units facing east
- available on-site parking and in-home appointments from the attached Serenity Spa
- care taken to dampen interior and exterior sound (e.g. air space between units, double sheetrock, etc)
- Pantages floor plan has a great layout and was the favorite of the units we saw even though it wasn't a finished model
- Heating and cooling uses an efficient heat/cool exchange system (again, a little help Steve?)
- actual power and cable plugs on mantles where cardboard flat panel TVs are suggested to sit
Dislikes
- Long, bland hallways connect units around the interior courtyard -- hopefully the HOA will allow some decoration, potted plants, something to break things up a bit
- Planters on the ledges above the courtyard, even something like a climbing vine would help soften that space, murals in the walled archways would also make it feel far more special
- the view of the Vintage Y right next door for units on the south side (which they hide in the model with drawn shades) -- fortunately, the brick work on that building makes it tolerable
- awful tile back splash in the Pantages floor plan kitchen (was this in other units?)
- plush carpeting in the elevator is a huge mistake -- remember how much it rains here
Friends Angela, Steve, wife Sarah and I enjoyed this year's Tour of Urban Living together and will review them together here on KFnet this week. Feel free to join in anytime with your comments below!
Comments (8) | To Top
10/15/2007 @ 10:57am
I commend the city for trying to design buildings as urban living, but as one blogger noted not every neighborhood wants or needs them. We still need open space and buffers between business districts and neighborhoods. One size does not fit all. If the city pushes this one size fits all concept into neighborhoods there will be an uproar. Like Jazzbones and the youth club downtown, you get what you wish for. You can not select which businesses set up shop for every urban center. Do some analysis and get feedback from the residents who live in these centers to see if it is working. Don't blanket the entire city with such a concept.
by Marco
10/15/2007 @ 2:41pm
I actually really liked the kitchen tile, although I cannot understand the stone counter-top thing, but I agree on the carpet (but, then I don't like any kind of carpet, it's unhygienic and I find it very unaesthetic. And carpet in stairs? No way.) The bathroom tile is seriously horrid, though - it reminds me of something my friend's parents had in the eighties (says the girl wearing legwarmers.) But the courtyard is awesome, and I love the brick.
by Anna
10/15/2007 @ 2:49pm
One of the only things I didn't like about these units was the beige carpet - I tend to agree with Anna that it seems unhygienic. But the entire wall of windows overlooking St. Helens? Amazing. And I loved the courtyard; I too hope to see plants and maybe benches on that corridor.
Did you get a chance to tour the renovated Walker building next door? Only the first floor was finished, but they did some incredible work restoring that building back to its glory days.
by kweeket
10/15/2007 @ 5:13pm
kweeket: I'll have my thoughts up about the Walker Wednesday. Sneak peek: very nice.
Anna: yea, good call on the carpet. Plus, if you think about it, wood floors with those floor to ceiling windows would make those rooms shine and feel huge.
by KevinFreitas
10/15/2007 @ 9:06pm
The Roberson is perhaps the best building built in downtown Tacoma in the last 50 years.
Residential above retail. Work-live units in the "alley." Should add alot of life into the area when it is fully occupied. Much better than what is happening now when people drive in from out of town to park and work in downtown Tacoma.
by Erik B.
10/16/2007 @ 7:44am
I agree w/Kevin's post....wood flooring is preferable to carpeting. I live at Pacific Tower (the stepchild of downtown living) and just installed laminate flooring (I know, I know...it's NOT wood) in anticipation of putting my unit on the market, and is made an amazing difference in the spaciousness of my condo. I do worry about noise though. So far my neighbor hasn't complained.
by M Kellogg
10/16/2007 @ 8:02am
M: Are you staying in town? If so, do you have your sights on a house or another condo?
by KevinFreitas
10/17/2007 @ 8:19am
Okay I’ll chime in now.
Likes:
- I love the fact that when they came to a corner where windows were concerned the actually went to the trouble of installing corner windows and didn’t just sheetrock the corner
- The huge windows were amazing
- The last unit we looked at had an amazing duel entrance to its balcony
(I think this is one of the units they should have shown) the bathroom in this unit was very appealing with a separate shower and tub units. Sarah and I agreed on this feature
- The outside facade and architecture appealed to me very much
- The entry hallway to the units was very wide and inviting
- I had a chance to meet the contractor and he seemed knowledgeable and generally concerned how the units came across
- It seems like they really paid attention to noise issues with double sheet rocking walls and ceilings and double wall with airspace between shared walls
Dislikes: There are more than most but this stems from my background as a handyman and carpenter; I also used to work for one the Northwest top builders. And also I compare what I would get should I be willing or able to pay the prices they are asking for these condos.
- I may get booed here but the courtyard did not appeal to me at all. It was bland and uninviting. If this is a key feature of selling then they should have spent more time prepping it for the event. It really had no appeal to me.
- No light in the shower area. But I did hear that they are working this issue.
- The hallways leading to the units were drab drab drab, did I mention drab? It felt like I was in a Hotel 8 (color makes a huge difference) use it!
- Where is the wood flooring? If you spent so much time on soundproofing then wood flooring shouldn’t make much difference in sound transfer it would have been a nice touch and really opened up the area
- Cost ratio, am I getting enough for my 300-400 thousand dollars? NO Mind you that this is coming from a person that is currently looking to change my living style and I’m looking at all options including downtown condo living
by Steve