i love open doors

It was Friday night, around 11:15 and I had planned on going to bed early and skipping the party at the Pacific Electric Building in Downtown. Yes, it would be nice to see friends and check out the building in all it's newfound glory but I had a long week and early Saturday morning so staying in was in my best interest. Until Phil and Eric called. They had been at a Holiday Party earlier in the evening, were ready to go and willing to pick me up. Enough said. Armed with a camera to take some pictures of the skyline from the rooftop we headed off on a glorious adventure.

We arrived and immediately made our way up to the rooftop via a circuitous route. We tend to do things the hard way sometimes. We strolled through and didn't see any familiar faces so we decided to check out the rest of the building, mainly the 8th floor lounge and 9th floor rotunda area. Eric and I had been in the building previously - before the conversion a few years ago and as they were wrapping up construction earlier this year. We were eager to see what had happened to the old Jonathan Club ballroom as we had heard that the room would be divided up into penthouse units. Just as we were marveling at the rotunda area Phil spotted an open door. Eric and I followed and what we found was pretty much what we were looking for. The penthouse unit, which closely resembled the original ballroom sans all the intricate details. Needless to say I snapped a whole bunch of pictures while we investigated every nook and cranny and awaited George and his clan to show up.

Shortly thereafter the rooftop part of the party was closed down and moved to the lounge area on the 2nd floor. We left Geo and comrades there as all they really cared about was drinking. P, E, and I were pooped from our adventure and needed some shut eye.

After our little exploration I checked out the Pacific Electric Lofts website and noticed that they claim the 9th floor Jonathan Club Ballroom is supposed to be turned into a fine dining establishment. I'm confused. From what I saw it looks like a Penthouse. While you're over on the website check out the floor plans for the 9th floor. The big area in the lower left hand corner is the unit(s) we were in. It's an amazing space although we noted that the kitchen was kinda blah and we got a bit of vertigo standing in front of the big windows. Also, what in the hell do you do with 30 foot high ceilings???

x

Comments

[jim]

cool pictures. i opted for the go-to-bed-early thing. (which i guess should not surprise anyone.)

[adrienne]

so cool! thanks for the pictures. I was at that party too but am sorry that I missed you guys. I went to take a took at the interiors too but got distracted.

[Brady Westwater]

The original plan was for a restaurant in that space but between the fire department and the lenders - it was a no go. Hence - it is now lofts.

[nh311]

i live at PE lofts and just wanted to let you know that most of the retailers are coming in after the residents. the building's only been occupied for 6 months now, and many businesses are wary of the neighborhood. the 1st floor should be fully occupied in 12-18 months...the process is full of complications.

As for the fine dining restaurant planned for the original ballroom, that plan was nixed...they would require an exterior elevator (instead of entering the secure residential space) which i guess was a daunting task...AND residents were against the unknown foot-traffic. though they look like lofts now, that space is actually not convertable to lofts for the forseeable future...now, the ballroom is available for special events. i hope that answers your questions.