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The second largest mixed-use project under construction in the
United States, Lincoln Square has 1.4 million square feet with
a cost of $500 million. The hotel/condo tower is 42 stories and
1,700 parking spaces on five levels, retail space of 310,000 square
feet, including a 16 screen cinema, health club, retail stores,
a bank and several upscale restaurants. The Lincoln Square atrium
features a 65 foot waterfall. The 444 foot tall hotel and condominium
tower is the tallest structure in Bellevue, which opened November,
2005. With high speed elevator systems, 8 state of the art elevators
separated to serve the lower and upper floors of the building and
a separate parking garage and service elevators. Four 3,500 lb.
cab size low-rise elevators @ 1,500 fpm and four 3,500 lb. cab
high-rise elevators @ 1,500 fpm.
Redesigning the buildings after the project had been stalled and
obtaining new building permits, additional modifications to the
layout included relocation of entrances, exits, elevators and stairways.
Designers and contractors faced the challenge of working in subterranean
spaces that had been exposed to the elements for nearly two years.
Water had leaked into all levels of the garage, including utility
services, mechanical and elevator shafts.
The office tower is planned for 29 stories (419 feet), office
space of 525,000 square feet and scheduled for completion in 2007.
The office tower faced two sets of building codes as it was originally
designed under the1997 edition of the Uniform Building Code, but
was redesigned to meet the new 2003 International Building Code
because it was to be built during a later phase. Design began on
a fast-tract schedule, requiring seven separate building permits
for the two towers, four levels of retail space and nearly 1 million
square feet of underground parking.
A pedestrian sky-bridge now connects Lincoln Square and Bellevue
Square, allowing visitors to park their cars at either location
and move easily from one to the other. The orientation of the sky-bridge
and its relationship to the escalators and elevators in the atrium
allow for clear circulation pathways to the street level as well
as the third floor, which houses a cinema and billiards parlor.
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