November 7, 2016

Kelly-Springfield Building on Capitol Hill to get expansion for office space, retail

Ankrom Moisan Architects [enlarge]

Legacy wants to add office space above and beside the Kelly-Springfield Building, shown here in the center.

Legacy Commercial continues to tweak plans for the two-story Kelly-Springfield Building on Capitol Hill as it goes through design review with the city. The building is at 1525 11th Ave., south of Cal Anderson Park.

A land use application submitted to the city earlier this year shows a five-story addition on the south side of the building on what is now a parking lot, and a three-story glassy addition above the historic facade of the structure.

The new layout would contain 70,500 square feet of office space, 15,425 square feet of retail and 35 parking stalls. Floors will connect throughout the new and renovated spaces.

Phillip Bozarth-Dreher of Ankrom Moisan Architects said in an email that the additions “are designed to appear quite different, so that the scale of each of those pieces feels smaller and does not overwhelm the historic building.”

Bozarth-Dreher said the office lobby will be in the south addition and will be two stories tall to give it prominence. The ground floor of the landmark 1917 building will remain retail.

A dance studio now temporarily occupies the space.

Jeff Calvert of Legacy said they want to preserve the original street level experience, since the neighborhood has a lot of pedestrians. He said they will restore the facade of the historic building and the original timber frame system on the ground floor. Ceilings on the ground floor reach 18 feet, and are framed with wood beams and posts.

“You will see the building in its original construction and volume,” Calvert said.

REI was located in the Kelly-Springfield building for many years, and Value Village also operated there.

Calvert said Legacy removed Value Village's awning after that store closed last year, revealing intricate tiles that will get cleaned. Legacy also found brackets for light sconces that were removed in the past.

Calvert said the team is researching what the original sconces looked like so they can be replicated.

Legacy also will restore windows on the second floor. Calvert said there is an original wood-paneled window on the second floor that will be used as a template for the replicas.

Calvert said adding office space will bring more activity during the day to a neighborhood with lots of apartments, restaurants and bars. “(Now it's a) place to eat, party and sleep,” he said.

“Retailers can't survive off people who show up at 9 o'clock at night,” he said. “Everyone is supportive of bringing office to this market.”

Calvert said Fremont is an example of a neighborhood that balances day and night activity.

Tom Graff, president of commercial operations at broker Ewing & Clark, said he thinks it will be difficult for Legacy to lease that much office space on Capitol Hill.

“You would have to guess that they have a tenant that wants the space,” Graff said, or that Legacy feels confident of getting a tenant.

Graff said demand for office space on Capitol Hill is small because there isn't much there, except for medical offices. “Is it chicken or egg?” he asked.

Most office tenants in the area are creative firms such as architects and designers that want less than 2,000 square feet, according to Graff. Other possible tenants could be dentists, chiropractors, real estate companies and small tech firms, he said.

Graff said one nearby building that has been successful in attracting office tenants is the four-story Oddfellows Building at 915 Pine St. It was renovated in 2008, and is fully leased. The owners recently put it up for sale at $30 million.

Graff said cool office buildings like the 1908 Oddfellows can lease up quickly on Capitol Hill. In February, it took him less than 60 days to lease the 4,000-square-foot second floor of the 814 E. Pike St. building to a San Francisco-based advertising agency. That building has Capitol Cider and a barber shop on the ground floor.

Calvert said they don't have a tenant lined up for Kelly-Springfield, but they expect to get interest after permits are complete and a delivery date is set. He said the goal is to break ground in the first half of 2017 and open in the second half of 2018.

A representative from the city's Department of Construction and Inspections said Legacy submitted an application Oct. 19 for a shoring and excavation permit. It typically takes about four months for the city to approve that permit.

Another design review meeting will be held Feb. 8.

At one point, Legacy wanted to redevelop the adjoining White Motor Building along with the Kelly-Springfield. Calvert said those plans changed when the White Motor Building was landmarked and its primary tenant, The Stranger newspaper, renewed its lease.

Calvert said they plan to keep the name Kelly-Springfield on the building.

The project is owned by Tom Ellison of Bellevue-based Legacy Companies, who also is an owner of Value Village.

Here is the team: Ankrom Moisan Architects, architect; Sellen Construction, general contractor; Overcap LLC, owner's representative; Glumac, MEP design assist and energy compliance; Coughlin Porter Lundeen, structural engineer; DCI, civil engineer; Place, landscape architect; and RDH, envelope consultant.