April 12, 2016

Seattle U to start 10-story dorm/office project in ‘17

Courtesy Ankrom Moisan Architects [enlarge]

Ankrom Moisan Architects is designing the project.

Seattle University is preparing to start construction next spring on a 10-story dorm and office building that would open in fall of 2018 at 1107 E. Madison St. on Capitol Hill.

Office space on the first two floors will be occupied by the university's Enrollment Services Department.

Above that will be a 285-bed residence hall for juniors and seniors, said university spokesman Dean Forbes. There will also be nine parking spaces.

Ankrom Moisan Architects is designing the project, which according to a document filed with the city will seek at least LEED gold certification.

Forbes said the university has a pre-development agreement with Capstone Development Partners of Birmingham, Alabama, to finance, construct and own the building. Capstone would have a ground lease from the university for the site, which is now a parking lot.

The Jesuit Catholic university has 7,400 students. Forbes said it had a record-setting 1,000 new freshmen students for the 2015-2016 academic year, and expects another large freshman class in the upcoming academic year.

Forbes said that attests to the university's success at attracting students. But the students need housing if they are going to stay and rents have been rising near the campus.

“If students can't live in Seattle or live on campus, they may decide to move on,” he said. “As it becomes more expensive, where are students going to live?”

The university requires freshmen and sophomores to live on campus. Officials hope the new dorm will free up some on-campus housing occupied by juniors and seniors for lower classmen, said Forbes.

The Enrollment Services Department is now in the University Services Building on 12th Avenue at East Marion Street. Forbes said that building will be demolished to make way for the Center for Science and Innovation. No construction date has been set.

The development site for the 10-story dorm/office building is next to a building the university leases to a storage company, Forbes said.

News of the development first appeared in the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog.