May 22, 2015

This SLU office space will be designed for 'innovative' tenants

Image by Perkins + Will [enlarge]

Walton Street Capital is planning a seven-story structure (shown in the center) that could be a living building.

It's been several months since an entity related to Walton Street Capital of Chicago purchased a pair of 93-year-old buildings in South Lake Union to build an office project.

Now that plan is coming into focus.

A Seattle design-review board will get its first look at proposals for the site, at 701 Ninth Ave. N., during a meeting scheduled for 8 p.m. June 3 at Queen Anne Community Center.

The real estate investor is working with two local partners, Talon Private Capital and Lake Union Partners, to develop a seven-story, 200,000-square-foot office and retail building. About 23,000 square feet would be retail.

Perkins + Will is the architect and Coughlin Porter Lundeen is the structural engineer.

The size of the project will depend on whether it is designed under the city's Living Building pilot program. The program allows certain zoning departures in exchange for meeting stringent green-building criteria.

In documents filed with the city, the architects say they are studying whether to pursue that program.

Without the zoning departures, the building would lose one story. Current zoning allows buildings up to 85 feet tall.

Parking would allow 145 to 180 vehicles on two underground levels.

The site houses Buca di Beppo Italian restaurant and Ducatti Motorsports dealership, both in single-story brick structures.

Architects say the new building's retail will be "homegrown” and said the office space will be designed for an “innovative tenant base.”

Nearby employers include the University of Washington Medical Center and Amazon.com. The Allen Institute for Brain Science is located across the street at 601 Westlake Ave. N., and is on track to open this fall.