August 18, 2020

$82M condo tower tops out in the ID

Photo from PCL Construction Services [enlarge]

Koda will have 203 units when it’s finished in April.

PCL Construction Services earlier this month topped out and completed the final concrete pour of the level 18 deck on the Koda condominium tower at 450 S. Main St. in Seattle.

PCL says the $81.5 million project is the first new construction high-rise condo to be built in the area known as Nihonmachi or Japantown, the gateway to the historic Chinatown-International District.

When finished next April, the building will have 203 condo units in 17 stories. It will also have three levels of below-grade parking, amenity spaces and street-level retail. Units will consist of studio, urban one-, one-, urban two- and two-bedroom flats ranging from 400 to 1,200 square feet.

PCL says over half the units have been sold, with prices ranging from about $400,000 to more than $1.4 million.

Crews working on the jobsite have been required to take extra safety precautions due to the pandemic. In addition to regular personal protective gear like hard hats, gloves and eye protection, they are required to socially distance, reduce congregation at common gathering points or in the hoist, stagger lunch breaks and wear face coverings. Any work that is performed in close proximity to others requires the use of an N-95 mask.

“Constructing this project during a pandemic is certainly not something we anticipated, but we're really proud of our team's ability to adapt and modify their work as necessary,” said Aaron Wiehe, PCL's vice president and district manager, in a news release. “For example, our team came up with the idea to hang plastic partitions in our hoist between passengers as an added measure of separation. I really appreciate their conscientiousness and engagement in keeping one another safe.”

PCL said the project originally was slated to finish at the end of the year, but was delayed by the state's extended pause on construction work in March due to the pandemic.

Taiwan-based Da Li is the owner and this is its first project in the U.S. Seattle-based KMD Architects is the designer.