Piles are literally driven into the ground. Caissons are a hole drilled into the ground and then filled with concrete. Same purpose though in the sense that they both support weight. 
jlblues wrote:Sure they weren't talking about piles?Grover wrote:^ I recently read a book about the development of Boston's Back Bay. Homes there have dozens of caissons underneath them, something like one every 2.5-3ft under all external and internal load-bearing walls. A home 25x75 feet could have as many as 100 of them depending on the internal configuration.
Sounds painful.
-RBB
Old Post Office across the street is resting on hundreds (if not thousands) of 130+ year-old WOODEN piles. I hope the Orkin Man stops by occasionally.
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Wood? wow. I was very surprised by the inordinate amount of caissons as well. If you look carefully at the rendering you can see the outriggers going the total height of the building in the renderings. I'm assuming they are going with a core+outrigger configuration. There look to be 5-6 outriggers facing outward towards the OPO. I guess they are going to do a lot for the core, because I could only see 18-20 outriggers max on a building like this. I'm also not a structural engineer, in case anyone failed to notice 
.
Edit: The caissons drilled thusfar appear to be following the alignment of the outriggers in the rendering.
.Edit: The caissons drilled thusfar appear to be following the alignment of the outriggers in the rendering.
These pics were taken from the Chemical Building, aka the Alexa, during the loft tour on Saturday. I am going to take pics from the Garage Mahal tomorrow or Tuesday.
Awesome pictures, I love to see new construction activity going on downtown. Hopefully this is just the beginning.
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^Me too. I can't wait to see the giant cranes on site. This will be a great race between the Skyhouse to see which is opened first.
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considering that skyhouse is bigger and hasn't broken ground yet (nor is the site even fully cleared)...i would go with the roberts tower. you could take guesses on the park pac versus the tower, since it breaks ground on wednesday.
Great pictures.
I would hate to be a sleeping guest on the south side of the Mayfair during all of that construction.
I would hate to be a sleeping guest on the south side of the Mayfair during all of that construction.
Some of those pics would make great, fake 'tilt-shift' photos!
Little toys downtown!
Little toys downtown!
I wonder if the guys that work on those drills think it is a boring job?
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TGE-ATW wrote:I wonder if the guys that work on those drills think it is a boring job?
Wocka-wocka!
Talking with other developers about this project on the Loft Tour was interesting. Almost uniformly, whenever I mentioned the Roberts Tower and the fact that foundations were going in, all I got in response were chuckles and smirks. I would dismiss it as disinformation by a competitor, except that the Roberts Tower doesn't really have any competitors. It is a different product in a whole different price range.
Well, I believe they're in the a similar league as the other to-be built towers that include SkyHouse and CitySide @ ParkPacific.jlblues wrote:Talking with other developers about this project on the Loft Tour was interesting. Almost uniformly, whenever I mentioned the Roberts Tower and the fact that foundations were going in, all I got in response were chuckles and smirks. I would dismiss it as disinformation by a competitor, except that the Roberts Tower doesn't really have any competitors. It is a different product in a whole different price range.
^I didn't stop by their sales office on the Loft Tour (was it open?), but I was under the impression that the RT was significantly more expensive than those. I have heard $400+/SF thrown around. Anyone get any prices on this project?
BTW, their website is fairly slick, but you'd think they'd have some layouts on there, you know, considering the foundation is going in and all.
Edit:
From Aug. 8, 2007
BTW, their website is fairly slick, but you'd think they'd have some layouts on there, you know, considering the foundation is going in and all.
Edit:
From Aug. 8, 2007
I guess we have different definitions of "very soon".RBrosSis wrote:Floor plans will be available on the website very soon. Efforts have been put in place to support this new construction project to the fullest. While the project is admittedly off to a slow start, changes will become more evident in the immediate future.
^ When I went to the Metropolis wine event at the SkyHouse office, the saleswoman indicated prices started at about $300/SF. Not sure what the range was although given your data, the Roberts Tower may be a bit tonier.
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innov8ion wrote:^ When I went to the Metropolis wine event at the SkyHouse office, the saleswoman indicated prices started at about $300/SF. Not sure what the range was although given your data, the Roberts Tower may be a bit tonier.
I'm guessing that the Roberts boys have already sold a bunch of them that we don't even know about yet.
I agree!! I'm pretty sure anyway.
How do you know it's unique since their are NO FLOOR PLANS OR PRICES???
Sorry, I'm just tired of all this speculation. Come on throw us a bone. I'm not considering buying here just because I don't feel they're not being on the up & Up. Come on...Park Pacific has had their floor plans & prices in place for a year before breaking ground & Skyhouse has for at least 6 months. Something's fishy & it's not the Starkist.
How do you know it's unique since their are NO FLOOR PLANS OR PRICES???
Sorry, I'm just tired of all this speculation. Come on throw us a bone. I'm not considering buying here just because I don't feel they're not being on the up & Up. Come on...Park Pacific has had their floor plans & prices in place for a year before breaking ground & Skyhouse has for at least 6 months. Something's fishy & it's not the Starkist.
innov8ion wrote:Well, I believe they're in the a similar league as the other to-be built towers that include SkyHouse and CitySide @ ParkPacific.jlblues wrote:Talking with other developers about this project on the Loft Tour was interesting. Almost uniformly, whenever I mentioned the Roberts Tower and the fact that foundations were going in, all I got in response were chuckles and smirks. I would dismiss it as disinformation by a competitor, except that the Roberts Tower doesn't really have any competitors. It is a different product in a whole different price range.
The Roberts Brothers are a different type of developer. They don't have the staff like others do, but they also don't have to finance like the others do. They can be frustrating, but they do seem to get the job done eventually.
Some info from the website:
Units start at $350k for a 1 BR. 69 units in 25 stories, so 3 units per floor.
Amenities:
Hotel services and concierge from the "4-Star"
Roberts Mayfair Hotel
"World class" fitness center and spa
Uninformed doorman and 24-hour security
Wireless controls for lights, thermostat and fireplace
Free integrated broadband internet service
Preferred hotel rates for visitors
Valet parking
Designed to achieve LEED Gold certification for green construction standards
My WAG:
Each floor will be somewhere around 7500-8000 SF, so the 3 units combined will probably be about 6000-6500 SF. I would guess that $350k would get you a ~1000 SF 1 BR on a low floor, with the least desirable view, and no balcony. So, $400-$450/SF might not be too far off the mark.
As far as prices and layouts go, they might be able to tell you if you call 1.877.STL.VIEW, but I suspect that it is one of those cases where, if you have to ask...
Units start at $350k for a 1 BR. 69 units in 25 stories, so 3 units per floor.
Amenities:
Hotel services and concierge from the "4-Star"
Roberts Mayfair Hotel"World class" fitness center and spa
Uninformed doorman and 24-hour security
Wireless controls for lights, thermostat and fireplace
Free integrated broadband internet service
Preferred hotel rates for visitors
Valet parking
Designed to achieve LEED Gold certification for green construction standards
My WAG:
Each floor will be somewhere around 7500-8000 SF, so the 3 units combined will probably be about 6000-6500 SF. I would guess that $350k would get you a ~1000 SF 1 BR on a low floor, with the least desirable view, and no balcony. So, $400-$450/SF might not be too far off the mark.
As far as prices and layouts go, they might be able to tell you if you call 1.877.STL.VIEW, but I suspect that it is one of those cases where, if you have to ask...
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jlblues wrote:Some info from the website:
Amenities:
Hotel services and concierge from the "4-Star"
I've never stayed at the Mayfair but a salesperson from work stays their regularly and says the remodeled rooms are very nice and include flat screen TVs, so I don't think it's unrealistic to say it's a "4-Star" hotel.
Right, but doesn't someone have to give you that ranking? You can't just make it up. I don't even think St Louis has a 5 star hotel. Last time I checked, the Clayton Ritz was a 4 star if that gives you an idea of how good a 4 star hotel is.
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stlmike wrote:Right, but doesn't someone have to give you that ranking? You can't just make it up. I don't even think St Louis has a 5 star hotel. Last time I checked, the Clayton Ritz was a 4 star if that gives you an idea of how good a 4 star hotel is.
There are, of course, organization that rate hotels and hand out stars. Outside of that, you are free to give your self as many stars as you like.
If "Joe's Pizzeria" labels itself as "the world's greatest pizza", do you think they were actually awarded that in some sort of competition? Of course not. They made it up.