February 5, 2019

Final design ready for 176 affordable units and children's clinic near Othello Station

Renderings by Weber Thompson [enlarge]

The project is part of the four-building Othello Square development. Other buildings will house a charter school, residential units, an economic opportunity center, day care center and commercial space.

[enlarge]

Pedestrian connectors and public spaces will link all four buildings.

Othello Square is the phased four-building project near Othello Station being planned by HomeSight for the 3.2-acre corner long owned by Seattle Housing Authority. HomeSight will pay $14.2 million to acquire the property, possibly this year, after plans are approved by the city.

First in the pipeline is Building C, at 3939 S. Othello St., which has its likely final design review at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, at Rainier Arts Center, 3515 S. Alaska St.

Weber Thompson, NBBJ, Laird Norton Properties and Spectrum Development Solutions are planning the seven-story Building C, which will have will have 176 affordable units on top of the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic, which will be operated by Seattle Children's. Weber Thompson also master planned the whole development.

NBBJ is responsible for the 35,000-square-foot clinic, which Children's will own. It will occupy the bottom two floors of the building, which will also have one level of underground parking for 102 vehicles. There will be a large bike room at grade, next to the entry foyer. The apartments above will have a C-shape, open to the south.

A large mural by a local artist is planned for the building's facade above the shared entryway (on its northeast corner) for tenants as well as clinic users and staff. Weber Thompson's current renderings for the mural are purely provisional — not the final design. Other smaller public art components are planned throughout Othello Square.

HomeSight hopes to begin construction late this year, with completion in 2021. Financing is now underway. No general contractor has been announced. The entire building will total about 275,000 square feet.

To the south is Building B, a three-story charter school being developed by Washington Charter School Development and NAC Architecture. It's variously called Green Dot High School and Rainier Valley Leadership Academy. No general contractor has been announced. Construction may or may not proceed work on Building C.

Barrientos Ryan is the developer for Buildings A and D, on the northeast corner and east side of the L-shaped site, facing Martin Luther King Jr. Way South. Those will have about 200 mixed-income units, 68 affordable co-op units, an economic opportunity center, day care center, and retail/commercial space. SKL Architects is designing the smaller Building D residential co-op, which passed successfully through design review last year. The architect for Building A hasn't been announced.

Pedestrian connectors and public spaces will link all four buildings.