May 4, 2015

J&M Hotel may be a hotel again

Photo by Jon Silver [enlarge]

The owner of the J&M Hotel Building in Pioneer Square is planning an extensive renovation of the three-story, brick-faced building that could include making it into a 24-room hotel.

Brittany Shulman, a partner at Seneca Ventures, filed plans with the city of Seattle to restore the 1889 structure and bring it up to code.

This could include a full seismic retrofit, and reconstruction of the one- and two-story additions built in 1890 that flank the alley to the west of the building. The alley could be repaved with decorative stamped concrete or something similar.

The J&M is at 201 First Ave. S., on the southeast corner of First Avenue and South Washington Street.

After the renovation, the structure would have 24 hotel rooms as well as a restaurant, bar and conference room. The basement would be restored with its original card room, event space and a small museum for the tour company Beneath the Streets.

Public records list the size as 25,450 square feet.

Slawek Porowski of Interurban Architects is the architect.

Shulman didn't respond to a message seeking comments about the plans.

The Pioneer Square Preservation Board is scheduled to review the project at 9 a.m. May 6 at Seattle City Hall in Room L280.

J&M is home to J&M Cafe & Cardroom and Mediterranean Mix restaurant. The upper floors are vacant.

J&M Cafe & Cardroom is one of the city's oldest bars, but closed in 2009 and the contents were auctioned off. The bar reopened in 2010, and the building went into foreclosure.

An entity related to Seneca Ventures purchased the J&M Hotel Building for $3.24 million last November.