September 23, 2014

Ground breaking Thursday for a 19-story tower near Southcenter

Rendering courtesy of Group West Architects [enlarge]

Washington Place will have 370 apartments and a189-room hotel.

Ground breaking is set for 2 p.m. Thursday on what will be Tukwila's tallest building: a 19-story apartment and hotel tower called Washington Place.

Omar and Christine Lee are developing the 418,000-square-foot building at 223 Andover Park E., one block from Westfield Southcenter. A new bus hub and a trail for walking and biking are nearby.

Washington Place is expected to cost $120 million, the Lees said in a press release.

Demolition of a former Circuit City building on the site is planned for late October and the tower is scheduled to be done in spring 2017. The Lees purchased the site in 2010.

Washington Place will have 370 market-rate apartments — ranging from studios to three bedrooms — as well as a rooftop garden, club house and fitness facility. The 189-room hotel will have 6,000 square feet of meeting space and a 90-seat restaurant.

Christine Lee said residents and hotel guests will benefit from being close to the mall, transit and the trail, and less than five minutes from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

More than 500 parking stalls are planned in a 3.5-story garage and surface lot.

MulvannyG2 Architecture, Group West Architects and LNL collaborated on the design. Absher Construction Co. is the general contractor. Christine Lee said Jerry Lee, chairman of MulvannyG2, is the project adviser.

Coastal Hotels will manage the hotel and restaurant.

The Lees will finance about half the project. The rest of the funding will come from the EB-5 program, which enables people to obtain green cards and a path to American citizenship if they invest at least $500,000 in qualifying real estate projects.

Christine Lee said the project is expected to create about 1,600 jobs during construction as well as ongoing operation of the hotel and apartments.

The Lees are Mercer Island residents who have been doing residential and commercial development since 1980. Past projects in this area include Great Wall Shopping Mall in Kent that includes restaurants, shops and a grocery store.

Coastal Hotels is a privately held Seattle-based hotel hospitality management company specializing in hotels, resorts, inns and lodges. Its manages Cedarbrook Lodge in Seattle; Semiahmoo Resort, Golf & Spa in Blaine; The Resort at The Mountain in Welches, Ore.; and Lodge on The Desert in Tucson, Arizona.