March 25, 2019

Greystar wants 20-story U District apartment tower

Source map by Sound Transit [enlarge]

Greystar’s main site is the blue rectangle just below 42nd.

On a University District site it doesn't yet own, Greystar is planning a 20-story tower with about 250 apartments intended for students. Weber Thompson prepared the early plan for the site at 4126 12th Ave. N.E.

The main property spans four contiguous parcels leading up the east side of 12th Avenue, from 4126 12th Ave. N.E. They total about 16,000 square feet. Four separately owned older low-rise rooming houses and apartment buildings would be demolished. None are publicly listed for sale.

However, Greystar and Weber Thompson then skip over the next parcel, at 4142 12th, which has a family-owned, four-story rooming house. Developed in 1985, it's newer than its neighbors.

Curiously, the plan includes the next property on the corner of Northeast 42nd Street: the 1921 Villa Camini apartments, a two-story building with only seven units. That 4,120-square-foot property, at 1205 N.E. 42nd St., is described by Greystar as “likely to be landmarked.” However, it's not among the city Landmark Preservation Board's current list of nominations.

Greystar indicates one level of underground parking for up to 60 vehicles, to be accessed from the alley to the east. Total project size, possibly including the parking, is estimated at 240,000 square feet. The building footprint looks to be about 12,000 square feet.

The site is about a block south of U District Station, where light rail service will begin in 2021. Other high-rise apartments are planned nearby.

They include Landmark Properties' two 25-story towers a block north on 12th (though 4215 Brooklyn Ave. N.E. is the official address for The Standard at Seattle); and, east across the alley, a possible 20-story tower at 4131-4135 Brooklyn Ave. N.E. that's being contemplated by longtime property owner Lee & Associates.

Those, like the Greystar proposal, are south of U District Station. About a half-dozen other towers are being planned to the north, west and east of the station. And more are likely to emerge.

If Villa Camini is bought and preserved by Greystar, it would somewhat resemble Landmark's stated intent to preserve the 90-year-old Canterbury Court at 4225 Brooklyn. When purchased, that 16-unit Anhalt-style courtyard bungalow building will transfer its air rights to Landmark's two towers, and be integrated into the overall project.