August 25, 2015

Greg Smith's Stadium East is now S; aims for living building certification

Images courtesy of NBBJ [enlarge]

The preferred design shows six office buildings ranging from eight to 10 stories.

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The preferred design shows six office buildings. A design review meeting is tonight.

Developer Greg Smith wants to make water the focus of his more than 1.1 million-square-foot office and retail complex near the Seattle stadiums.

“With the rainforest fire, and all the fires across the state,” Smith said, “I think water continues to be more and more important.”

Smith has changed the name of the complex from Stadium East to simply S, and said it “will be all about the health of the workers who reside there and the health of the environment.”

S will have cisterns, open ponds and man-made wetlands throughout the campus that are designed to capture and reuse rain water. Smith said the project team is looking into ways to raise fish in the ponds.

The site is at Airport Way South and Interstate 90. The preferred design shows six office buildings ranging from eight to 10 stories at 1000 and 1001 Sixth Ave. S.

As much as 200,000 square feet of retail is planned and 1,200 parking spaces.

A design review meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. tonight at Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S. Alaska St.

In a packet prepared for the meeting, Smith's company Urban Visions says the buildings in his preferred option would face in different directions to create a number of pedestrian friendly courtyards throughout the campus.

Buildings will vary in size to give tenants choices on floorplates.

Smith said he will wait for a tenant before starting construction. Work could begin in about a year if a tenant comes along who wants the space quickly.

NBBJ is the campus architect, and Sellen Construction is doing preconstruction services. Other team members include Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Berger Partnership and Hart Crowser.

Smith said he intends to participate in Seattle's Living Building Pilot program, which allows code departures for projects that are seeking certification through the Living Building Challenge. The challenge bills itself as the most rigorous building sustainability program.