February 6, 2017

Planned 24-story tower would cater to seniors

Image by Ankrom Moisan Architects [enlarge]

The 243-unit residential project would offer independent living, assisted living and memory care.

The team behind a 24-story tower proposed for First Hill will update a Seattle design review board on its latest plans this week.

Columbia Pacific Advisors wants to build a 243-unit residential project that would cater to seniors. The tower would have units for independent living, assisted living and memory care.

The half-block site is at 620 Terry Ave., between James and Cherry streets.

Ankrom Moisan Architects is the designer and Berger Partnership is the landscape architect.

The board will hold a recommendation review meeting at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Seattle University's Admissions & Alumni Building, at 824 12th Ave. in the Stuart T. Rolfe Community Room.

The tower would sit atop a four-story podium, according to architectural documents filed with the city. The proposal also calls for 132 underground parking spaces and a retail space at the corner of Terry and James.

The podium would have a mix of residential and community areas, such as an auditorium, lounge, gallery, game room, art studio and fitness areas. The fourth-level memory care unit would have its own dining and activity areas.

A fifth-floor dining level would include outdoor decks with cafe tables, a walking loop, vegetable gardens, chefs gardens and a dog “piddle patch.”

A rooftop amenity space would lead outside to a south- and east-facing deck that has walls designed to block the wind.

Most of the site is currently vacant or used for parking. A two-story, wood-frame structure would be demolished.

Columbia Pacific Advisors is a Seattle-based investment advisor that says it has more than $2 billion in assets under management. The company entered into a long-term ground lease with the Archdiocese of Seattle and St. James Cathedral last year and hopes to break ground on the tower in 2017.

The tower is slated to open in 2019.

Seattle-based Leisure Care will operate the tower.

Columbia Pacific is also the developer of The Danforth, a 16-story apartment building at 1001 Broadway that will house a Whole Foods Market. The project broke ground in August.