In The News: It’s a Wonderful Life at Two Lincoln Tower
By Lauren Foster | May 27, 2018
Photos by Jeff Hobson. Bird’s-eye View: You can see the lake, mountains, and more from the top of the tower.
Glen Stewart and Marylin Chatten’s apartment on the 23rd floor of Two Lincoln Tower looks out on Lake Washington, the Seattle skyline, and, on a clear day, Mount Rainier. In the evenings, they can’t help but walk out on their balcony and take photo after photo of the pink and orange sunsets that envelop their new home in the sky.
But Stewart admires another view from his comfy couch perched high above Downtown Bellevue. Watching Netflix, he sometimes peers down at the traffic curling around the city’s tallest buildings.
“I can actually see the tail lights of the cars in the traffic that I used to sit in,” he said. “It’s a nice little reminder.”
For more than a decade, Stewart and Chatten lived in Issaquah. Their large single-family home in the Issaquah Highlands was “lovely,” they said, but they realized they were driving to Bellevue to do almost everything.
“We would tell people, ‘Everything that we do is in Bellevue.’ We would just go home to sleep. Even our dentist is here. We’re members of the Bellevue Club; we’re members of the Glendale Golf Club; everything we need to play, all our friends, are here,” said Stewart.
Plus, the commute on I-90 was getting too long. Stewart, who runs an executive leadership firm called Marquis Leadership, was spending up to an hour and a half in traffic to get back home after a long day of work in Bellevue. That was the real catalyst for their move into Bellevue — saving time.
They sold their home and started downsizing. They lost about 2,000 square feet (if you count their garage) when they moved into their new 1,731-square-foot apartment. Purging old items and determining their most sentimental treasures became a positive experience.
“Turns out you don’t need 200 coffee mugs,” said Stewart.
Since they moved in October last year, Stewart and Chatten have been enjoying the communal spaces in the building. They love the 14,000 square feet of fitness facilities (that includes the W Hotel’s gym, which they have access to) and the break room.
“We play pool now. We didn’t use to,” said Stewart.
Superior Service
The staff at Two Lincoln Tower know all the residents and make sure they and their guests are taken care of.
They also have fallen in love with the staff that works tirelessly to make them and all the residents feel comfortable. The staff knows every resident by name, will unload Amazon Fresh boxes into fridges, will send flowers if someone is feeling sick — just to name a few thoughtful deeds. Whatever the staff can do to make life at Two Lincoln Tower pleasant — they are all over it.
Now Stewart runs his business out of the WeWork space in the tower that neighbors his new home. He can walk home for lunch in just a few minutes and travel to his favorite restaurants in time for happy hour.
While Stewart and Chatten have less space in their new apartment, they have more time to live an urban life they’ve grown to love.
“(Bellevue) is the center of gravity right now on the Eastside,” said Stewart.
Easy Living
Life at Two Lincoln Tower, owned by Kemper Development Company, is sophisticated, yet simplified. The level of service is like the kind of special you feel when you are on vacation and staying at a high-level of service hotel. When you walk into the lobby, you are greeted by a chorus of “Hellos” and people who want to help you — whether it’s opening the door or grabbing a bag of groceries from your arms. There are special events, like guest lectures and cooking classes. You can even valet your car when you come home if you’d like!
Shared Spaces
Two Lincoln Tower has plenty of open spaces for residents to get fresh air, relax, mingle, and even host get-togethers.
What is Available?
There are one-bedrooms starting at 893 square feet and about $3,300 a month on up to spacious penthouses — 2,867-3,998 square feet. There also are some furnished options for rent — one-bedrooms start at $5,030 a month — and might be a good option for folks doing a handful of months’ work in the Bellevue area. liveattwolincolntower.com
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Thank you 425 Magazine and Lauren Foster for the feature. To read the full article, visit 425 Magazine online.
