July 6, 2006
King County land and building sale to bring new retail, mixed income housing to Pioneer Square Community
King County Executive Ron Sims today announced the sale and planned redevelopment of 3.85 acres of key, undeveloped County-owned land in the north parking lot of Qwest Field. He also announced the development of the historic Johnson Plumbing and Hardware Building in Pioneer Square at 590 1st Avenue South. Locally-based developer Nitze-Stagen will be involved with both projects.
Together, the two projects will bring over 1,000 new homes and over 34,000 square feet of new ground level retail to the Pioneer Square community, including a neighborhood grocery store. The more than 800,000 square feet of new housing will reflect an integrated mix of rental and ownership unit types priced to accommodate a wide range of income levels. The project will also replace the existing public parking on the North Half Lot, and add new parking to support the King Street Station and the new development.
"The sale of the Qwest Field North Lot and this historic building marks a transformative day for Pioneer Square," said County Executive Ron Sims. "This project will take an existing sea of asphalt and turn it into a cutting-edge urban village that will be instrumental in revitalizing the community, encouraging housing for future generations, and transforming this area into a vibrant neighborhood with unmatched amenities and transit access for residents."
The development team of Opus and Nitze-Stagen, in association with the Seattle Housing Authority, will develop the North Lot property into 956 new housing units, including a mix of residential and ownership units. 140 of those will be affordable housing units priced for households with incomes of less than $35,000 per year. The Johnson Building will be renovated by Historic Seattle, with assistance from Nitze-Stagen, and will provide an additional 68 ownership units, 12 of which will be affordable.
King County and the development team have worked closely with community stakeholders and other regional partners like the City of Seattle as the proposal process moved forward over the past two years. These projects will help the City of Seattle in meeting their growth targets under the Growth Management Act and Countywide Planning Policies.
"This project will bring new homes, new people and new vitality to the Pioneer Square area," said Mayor Greg Nickels of the North Lot development. "This is an opportunity to turn a parking lot into an urban neighborhood that is just a few steps away from busses, light rail, ferries and downtown Seattle. It provides more affordable housing near the heart of our city and important amenities like a grocery store for those who will soon call this area home."
County Councilmember Dow Constantine, who is the elected representative of the neighborhood that will spring up with the development, said it will increase the number of people with a stake in the success of the community.
"This project is exciting because it's bringing over a thousand new residents to this community to be here all day, all evening to anchor the neighborhood," said Constantine. "So in addition to the vibrancy you get from people coming from throughout the region to celebrate, we'll have more folks who call this home and have a personal investment in the vitality and safety of this neighborhood."
The North Lot development concept began 16 years ago on the County Council and received another political push 10 years ago when Councilmember Larry Gossett represented the Pioneer Square and International District neighborhoods. Today's announcement represents the fulfillment of a long-standing commitment to those neighborhoods.
"We said that if the stadium came down, we're going to make sure that some housing for diverse populations in the community would be made available," said Councilmember Gossett. "That's why I'm very happy to join the mayor, the county executive, and the county councilmember who now represents this district in celebrating the agreement that finally made this possible."
Ground breaking is anticipated by July 2008.
Background information: North Lot/Johnson Building announcement
The Developers:
- North Half Lot: Joint Venture of Opus/Nitze-Stagen
- Johnson Building: Historic Seattle/Nitze-Stagen
The Developments in Context:
- A recent front page article in the Seattle P-I (June 14th) indicated current proposals pending with the City of Seattle for 7,000 new housing units in the Denny Triangle/Belltown area between 2005 and 2010. The 1,000 units that we will be adding through the development of the North Lot and Johnson Building will help provide a balance to this housing development on the other end of downtown.
- Our new developments should help anchor and stimulate housing production in the South Downtown Area and will help begin implementing the planning work now being completed by the City of Seattle in the update of their South Downtown Plan.
- These projects will also assist the City of Seattle in meeting their growth targets per the Growth Management Act and Countywide Planning Policies. These targets anticipate a growth of 51,510 new households in Seattle between 2001 and 2022 (or about 2,300 per year).
Summary of North Half Lot and Johnson Building Developments:
1. The North Half Lot and the Johnson, combined, will provide the County with:
- Over 1,000 new homes that reflect an integrated mix of residential unit types and income levels
- Over 34,000 square feet of new ground level retail, including a neighborhood grocer
- Parking to replace the existing public parking on the North Half Lot, and new parking to support the King Street Station and these new developments
- Community friendly developments that integrate and interact well with their surroundings and reflect the zoning, land use and community interests that exist for the properties
- Building materials, details and massing that work together to project an image of a cohesive community where ownership housing versus rental housing is not distinguishable
- The combined housing mix includes approximately 152 quality Affordable housing units.
2. North Half Lot development will provide:
- A total of approximately 956 housing units—of which, 140 are quality Affordable units
- 394 ownership units consisting of condos and rowhouses
- 562 rental units
- The condos and apartments are above the rowhouses
- The housing units range from studios to 2-bedroom units, and include some 3-bedroom units
- The rowhouses will be incorporated along King Street, Second Avenue, and Occidental Avenue, and raised up 4 feet from the sidewalk level to provide privacy, yet provide visual interest and activity that will complement the other onsite commercial street front uses, and contribute to the neighborhood's safety by providing "eyes on the street".
- 25,000 square feet of ground level retail, including a neighborhood grocer, shops and a restaurant
- Over one acre of semi-public and private open space
- Amenities include a rooftop garden, on-site childcare including an outside play area, and on-site gym and fitness areas
- The property will be developed to sustainable/green building criteria
- 1,035 automobile parking spaces—approximately 500 to replace the site's existing public parking, and the remainder to support the development's residential units, the King Street Station, and the grocer
- Care will be taken to ensure that pedestrian and vehicular circulation within and around the development will be safe and secure and not interfere with the activities of Qwest Field and Event Center or any of the development's neighbors
- The development will retain the existing 2nd Avenue view corridor to and from Qwest Field
- Ground breaking is anticipated by July 2008
3. The Johnson Building development will provide:
- 68 residential loft style condominium units, of which 12 will be quality Affordable housing units and all will be for ownership
- The 12 affordable units will be dispersed throughout the project and indistinguishable in look, feel and finish type from the other market rate units
- 9,750 square feet of neighborhood retail
- The existing warehouse will be preserved and structurally reinforced
- The property will be developed to sustainable/green building criteria
- $2.2 million sales price, proceeds to go to the Youth Sports Facility Grant Fund
- The three story addition will be set back to distinguish it from the preserved base warehouse
- The project is consistent with the Pioneer Square plan and would address the need for middle income housing