January 13, 2016

Developers look at Living Building for office complex in SLU: 820 Roy

Image by Studio216 for Perkins + Will [enlarge]

Perkins + Will is the architect and Lease Crutcher Lewis is the general contractor.

Talon Private Capital and Lake Union Partners want their seven-story office project at 820 Roy St. in South Lake Union to be one of the city's greenest.

They are pursuing the city's Living Building Pilot Program for the project, according to documents filed in advance of tonight's design review meeting.

Pat Foley of Lake Union Partners said the team is still talking with the city about the program, so details about that aspect aren't available.

Plans call for 163,000 square feet of office space, 16,000 square feet of retail and 179 underground parking spaces.

Design documents show the team wants to use 25 percent less energy than a typical building and 75 percent less water, and treat stormwater.

Projects in the Living Building program can get departures from city codes. The developers are asking for a height increase from 85 to 105 feet and additional floor area ratio, according to the documents.

The additional floor area would help offset the cost of meeting Living Building standards, and the height increase would allow taller ceilings — and more daylight — on the floors.

Graham Quill, director of investments for Talon, said green buildings are good for the city and the environment, and also can attract tenants.

“The tenants we are targeting, or at least a lot of their employees, (sustainability is) important to them,” he said.

The design review recommendation meeting is set for 8 p.m. tonight at Queen Anne Community Center, 1901 First Ave. W.

Perkins + Will is the architect and Lease Crutcher Lewis is the general contractor. Other team members are Coughlin Porter Lundeen, Glumac, PSF Mechanical, Sequoyah Electric and Karen Kiest Landscape Architects.

The International Living Future Institute, which administers the Living Building Challenge, is working with the team and the city on the sustainability requirements.

Greg Inglin, Laura Ford and David Abbott of Colliers International are the office brokers, and Lake Union Partners is handling retail leasing.

Bill Pollard of Talon said construction could begin in the second quarter, depending on permitting and entitlements. He said Talon and Lake Union Partners want to start as soon as possible — even if they haven't landed any office preleases.

Pollard said there has been a lot of interest from potential tenants, and other projects in the neighborhood have filled up fast.

Construction should take about 18 months. By the time 820 Roy is done, many of the structures under construction now will be leased and there may not be much competition.

“We will be in a good place coming in a little while after the current wave of development is finished,” Pollard said.

This is the first time Talon has partnered with another developer, but Pollard said the pairing is working well so far and he could see doing something like it again in the future.

Pollard said the executives of Talon and Lake Union Partners have known each other for awhile. Lake Union Partners is well-connected with retail and office users, and goes for creative designs to make its projects distinctive, he said.

The two firms are working together on every part of 820 Roy.