Developers Eye 400-foot Residential Tower Near Pike Place
By Jeanne Lang Jones
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle)
March 20, 2005
Two prominent developers want to build Seattle's tallest residential building on a choice property near the historic Pike Place Market, in what could be the first of many taller, thinner residential towers.
The Samis Foundation and Opus Northwest LLC are pursuing the estimated $100 million project at 1521 Second Ave. partly because the Seattle Monorail Project wants to use the property for the new monorail.
Faced with having the site condemned by the Seattle Monorail Project, property owner Samis Foundation instead cobbled together a gutsy, mixed-use development proposal that will require a major zoning change to work.
Samis has agreed to sell the property to Bellevue-based Opus NW for development, but the sale is contingent on winning the Seattle City Council's approval for a residential tower that would be about 15 stories taller than currently allowed.
To that end, Opus NW – the regional development arm of Minneapolis-based Opus Group – and foundation subsidiary Samis Land Co. are working together for the zoning changes.
City planners are working on new regulations that would ease height caps and encourage more residential and office development in certain downtown neighborhoods. The proposed legislation will be presented to Seattle City Council next month.
Samis' property is located on the west side of Second Avenue, midway between Pine and Pike streets, a block east of Pike Place Market. The site is a half-block north from where Seattle developer Greg Smith plans a similar tall-and-skinny residential tower.
In a complex transaction, the nonprofit Samis Foundation wants to sell the northern third of its 150-foot wide parcel to the Seattle Monorail Project and the remainder to Opus NW.
Opus NW would build a skinny, 36-story condominium tower with a monorail transit center in its base. Currently, the parcel is occupied by a parking lot and the Green Tortoise Hostel.
An adjacent Samis property on First Avenue would then become a staging area for the monorail construction under the development plan. The property currently is a parking lot. It"s located next door to Deja Vu, the adult entertainment landmark, and is across the street from Pike Place Market.
The sales are being handled by William Justen, managing director of Samis Land Co., a foundation subsidiary that oversees the nonprofit's extensive portfolio of downtown Seattle properties. Revenue from the portfolio supports K-12 education for Jewish students in Washington state.
The complex deal was an easy sell to the transit system.
"They know this is a better project than a stand-alone station," said Justen. "Also, it is less costly if they only have to buy a little slice (of the property)."
Justen and Opus NW general manager Tom Parsons declined to disclose the financial details for the proposed sale. Justen also said he is still negotiating with the monorail on what it would pay for its portion of the property.
If the deal closes, Opus NW would start construction in the summer of 2006 for completion in 2008.
The proposed project faces some significant challenges, not the least of which is the tight construction schedule to meet the monorail's timetable. To meet that schedule, Samis and Opus in mid-April will file a master use permit seeking changes in zoning guidelines.
That's about the time that city planners are expected to send their recommended zoning changes to the City Council for approval. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels already has indicated his support for allowing taller, thinner buildings.
At 400 feet in height, the proposed tower would be the tallest residential building in the city – one story taller than Continental Place Condominium Tower, four blocks north. But unlike the older building, the proposed tower would narrow as it rose.
Designers also had to figure out how to enclose a transit center within a residential building. Project architect Seattle-based Weber + Thompson plans to carve out an open space in the bottom of the structure, using eight, three-foot-thick, concrete transverse beams to help support the weight of the tower above.
If the monorail is not built, Opus would use the transit-station space for additional residential or commercial space, Parsons said.
Once the monorail project is completed in about 2010, Opus NW plans to buy the staging area from Samis as well. Plans call for a boutique hotel of about 120 rooms. In keeping with the scale of Pike Place Market and surrounding historic buildings, the hotel would be about six stories tall, Parsons said.
By controlling the adjacent property, Opus also would be able to offer residents on the upper floors of its 36-story tower protected views of Elliott Bay. Those units likely will fetch handsome prices. Lower floors near the transit station will be set aside for 20 less expensive live/work lofts.
If the hotel is completed, the combined project could also offer residents some of the amenities of competing hotel/condo towers, according to Parsons. Additionally, Justen is mulling developing a grocery-delivery service from Pike Place Market. He said it might resemble Homegrocer.com, with residents placing grocery orders online for the building concierge for pick up.
Opus and Samis are also considering redoing NewsLane, the alley that divides the east and west halves of the block to make it more like courtyards often found in Charleston, S.C.
Developers must act fast, but city may not oblige
Samis Land Co. and Opus Northwest LLC need a quick decision from the Seattle City Council if Opus is to meet a transit-related deadline for building a 400-foot residential tower near Pike Place Market.
The proposed tower at 1521 Second Ave. would be about 15 stories taller than currently allowed – and the tallest in the city – and the companies need the City Council to approve zoning changes before they can proceed.
But the City Council won't get final recommendations from city planners on a proposed, new height caps in certain downtown neighborhoods until next month. And getting council members to speed up their review could be challenging, given how the zoning changes could affect the city's skyline.
"I do not believe in a piecemeal approach," said Councilman Peter Steinbrueck, chair of the council's Urban Development and Planning Committee. "We have to go through a formal process for considering what will be very long-term, permanent changes."
Steinbrueck said he and other council members have been hearing from advocates of allowing taller, thinner buildings downtown.
"We've been getting a lot of calls from developers, especially under the mayor's plan," Steinbrueck said. "The preferred alternative would significantly enhance property values for most areas of downtown and the Denny Triangle by increasing development capacity on the site."
He personally has concerns about the shadow the proposed Opus NW building might cast on Pike Place Market and nearby parks.
There will be at least one more public hearing on the proposed zoning changes, once city planners submit a final proposal to council. So far, Seattleites seem to favor allowing more development downtown.
"There seems to be strong support, with certain people with individual concerns on certain issues," said chief city planner John Rahaim.