September 18, 2015

242 apartments in two buildings eyed for site just east of U Village

Image by DLR Group [enlarge]

Union Bay Place Northeast is a gritty commercial street in Ravenna that doesn't offer much visual respite from the truck bays, blocky buildings and tangle of overhead wires.

But the street has an ace up its sleeve: It's a block from University Village, North Seattle's shopping mecca.

An investment group is planning a 242-unit apartment complex on a site at 4609 Union Bay Place N.E. that would give residents an easy walk to groceries, restaurants and shopping. Nearby employers include the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital.

The complex will be called University Place at Union Bay.

In addition to the apartments, plans call for around 25,000 square feet of retail or commercial space. Parking for 50-75 cars is planned on one level underground, along with storage for 90 bicycles.

City documents list the project owner as an entity called University Place WA LLC. Members include Qinglun and Xiaoyan Zeng, and Tony Chang, a partner at the Redmond accounting firm of Clark, Raymond & Co.

DLR Group is the architect.

Preliminary designs show two six-story buildings side-by-side on a narrow site behind the Safeway store that faces Northeast 45th Street, just east of University Village.

Each building would have street-level commercial space. Storefronts would face a “pedestrian arcade” running between the buildings. Access to the apartments and parking would be on Union Bay Place.

Landscaping along the street would be upgraded.

A pair of small office buildings and a warehouse would be demolished to make way for the project.

A city design review board will be briefed on the plans at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 21 at University Heights Community Center, Room 209, 5031 University Way N.E.