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Tag Archives: Glassworks District

Below are listed the articles tagged Glassworks District
  • 02 / Feb
    2009

BS Exclusive: Take A Tour Of The ZirMed Towers

ZirMed Gateway Towers Penthouse & Roof Deck

ZirMed Towers Penthouse & Roof Deck



The ZirMed Towers aren’t planned to open until this summer, but considerable progress is being made towards completing the building.  The glass curtain wall is set to be finished by the end of February and, once the building is water-tight, interior spaces can be fit up for the mixed-use project.  The first floors of offices could be open as soon as late March or April.  With the building currently showing several level of completeness, we went inside the structure to check out the views from the top level penthouse and see just what’s in store for the building and the surrounding Glassworks area.


We luckily made it through just before Ice Storm 2009 rolled through town and we snapped quite a few photos.  Leading the tour, Ken Brown of City Properties Group helped portray an image of what the finished product might look like.  Starting at the top penthouse level stunned us the panoramic views and offered a bird’s eye view of surrounding blocks and what might be in store for future development.


The rest of the block on which the ZirMed Towers will be developed incrementally after the towers are complete.  Initial plans call for a landscaped courtyard at the interior of the block, sidewalk retail along Market Street and a 285-car parking garage.  Tentative plans call for another tower at the opposite corner of the block that could potentially house a hotel.  Ken Brown notes that City Properties Group, led by Bill Weyland, keeps it’s plans flexible and able to respond to changing market conditions, so the master plan for the block is still a work in progress.  The real estate group has amassed a substantial amount of property in the Glassworks District, most of it surface level parking lots, and plans to eventually transform it all with future development.


In time, City Properties Group plans an expansive and vibrant neighborhood stretching south along Ninth Street that will significantlyenlarge the existing Glassworks district.  Redeveloping a district is a challenge Ken likens to a game of “urban chess.”  A small one-story building on the corner of Market and 8th Streets will eventually be torn down, but finding homes for existing tenants and shifting spaces around is a time-consuming process.


Looking down from the Penthouse roof terrace, it’s hard to imagine a sea of cars suddenly transformed into a dynamic urban environment, but looking beyond at the rest of the city, we are easily distracted.  Check out the rest after the click below.





Go inside and tour the ZirMed Gateway Towers after the click.

  • 15 / Jan
    2009

Snapshot: ZirMed Towers Nearly Covered In Glass

ZirMed Gateway Towers

ZirMed Gateway Towers



Work at the ZirMed Gateway Towers on the corner of ninth Street and Market Street continues to progress.  The glass curtain wall has almost reached  the top of the north tower and are more than half-way up the taller, south tower.  The tower crane has also disappeared since the building topped out in late November.  The building was designed to act as a gateway to the central business district and the growing Glassworks district with its highly visible location.


The mixed-use 10 and 12 story towers, connected by a common lobby, are also marketing about 30,000 of its 140,000 total square feet.  The available office space is going for $18 to $24 per square foot depending on options.  The ZirMed corporation will occupy the rest of the commercial space with their headquarters.  On the ground floor, 12,000 square feet of retail space will bring much needed sidewalk activity to the area.  Last we heard, Jarfi’s will be moving their catering operations to the building.


And of course, at the very top of the structure, 20 condos will have some of the best views of the city and the river behind floor-to-ceiling windows.  The ZirMed Towers also sit atop underground parking.  There are 22 spaces under the building and 285 more planned in a garage.





Click through for a couple more photos.

  • 12 / Dec
    2008

ZirMed Gateway Towers Terminate 9th Street

Terminated Vista on Ninth Street

Terminated Vista on Ninth Street



One of our favorite urban design techniques is the terminated vista.  It’s that rare occurrence where a road’s view ends on a focal point, often a church or a monument.  It’s difficult to achieve in a grid where streets tend not to dead-end, and near impossible in the suburbs.  There’s a newly terminated vista in downtown, though.


If you travel north on Ninth Street / Roy Wilkins Avenue, you will see that a bend in the road allows the new ZirMed Gateway Towers to stand tall at the focal point of the tree-lined street.  Now that the towers have topped off, we can see the full effect of the building keeping watch over the street.


The perspective allows for a heightened architectural effect and helps to close off the “infinite view” of a really long, straight, linear street with no end.  For a view looking from inside the tower back down Ninth Street, you may want to check out these photos from the 8th floor.





Terminated Vista on Ninth Street

Terminated Vista on Ninth Street

  • 24 / Nov
    2008

Topping Off At The Zirmed Gateway Towers

Zirmed Gateway Towers Top Out

Zirmed Gateway Towers Top Out



A ceremony was held this morning at the construction site of the Zirmed Gateway Towers where the top floor was poured marking the end of vertical construction on the site.  Our photos are from sunny but cold last Friday (today’s photos are a little dreary), but they show the building in all its glory.  The 12-story $25-million facility will house ZirMed Inc. on the first 8 floors and will include condos on the upper floors.


The Zirmed Gateway Towers reflect the growth of the business behind them: the company has grown 456% in the last five years and has employs over 220 up from 40 just four years ago.  The company will begin moving into their new building next March.  The project was developed and designed by City Properties Group, but the mayor wants a little credit, too:


“Zirmed is a homegrown company that is expanding rapidly…and when it needed a signature building downtown to call its own, the city was glad to step up and help with items like improving the sidewalks and offering New Market Tax Credits to help the financing”


Meanwhile, we get to watch the glass curtain creep up the concrete skeleton for the next couple months.  Already, there are some nice reflections of the Glassworks (also by City Properties Group) on the Market Street curtain wall (photo after the click).  Now that the towers are at full height, expect the tower crane to disappear in the next week or two as construction continues on the facade and interior.


In honor of the day’s special events, we’re taking a look back at out construction updates of the Zirmed Towers.  You can find them here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here.  Yeah, we love the Zirmed Gateway Towers.  We’ve also dug out several photos of the tower site before construction and during its early construction days.  There’ll be many more updates to come as well, this thing’s not done yet.



Zirmed Gateway Towers

Zirmed Gateway Towers





More photos after the click. Bonus pre-construction photos as well.

  • 17 / Oct
    2008

Special Report: Inside The ZirMed Tower

South & Southeast View From The ZirMed Tower

South & Southeast View From The ZirMed Tower



As the ZirMed Gateway Tower inches ever skyward with a topping-out ceremony looming nearer, a Broken Sidewalk tipster sends us a few views from inside the tower.  These photos were taken on the 8th floor (shown on the building after the click) and show some of the views of the newest high-rise offices in town.  The top floors of the tower will feature modern condos with floor-to-ceiling glass, balconies, and, as you can see, some of the finest views of the city.  Keep your tips and photos coming to the Broken Sidewalk tip-line or directly to tips@brokensidewalk.com.



North & East View From The ZirMed Tower

North & East View From The ZirMed Tower





The outside progress of the tower after the click.

  • 17 / Sep
    2008

Snapshot: ZirMed Tower Gets Glassed


ZirMed Tower Construction Update

ZirMed Tower Construction Update



The ZirMed Tower under construction on the corner of Market Street and Ninth Street across from the Glassworks has begun to show its glass curtain wall facade.  Nearly half of the ground floor of the building has already been fitted with its blue tinted glazing and the upper floors are being prepped to receive curtain walls soon.  The building by City Properties Group should really begin to show itself as it is transformed from a series of concrete pancakes into the blue gateway-tower it is meant to be.






ZirMed Tower Construction Update

ZirMed Tower Construction Update

  • 25 / Aug
    2008

Snapshot: ZirMed Towers Get Curtain Wall Structures

ZirMed Towers Construction

ZirMed Towers Construction


The ZirMed Towers on the corner of 9th Street and Market Street are undergoing installation of their curtain wall system.  Crews are beginning on the lowest floors and working up, revealing its only a matter of time before the concrete skeleton gets shrouded in glass.  Take a look back at previous construction updates here, here, here, and here.



Don’t forget to click through for more photos and a rendering.

  • 09 / Jul
    2008

Snapshot: ZirMed Tower Update


Here’s your updated construction photo of the ZirMed Gateway Towers at the corner of Market Street and 9th Street.


Click through to see the other side of the building.

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