July 24, 2019

265-unit Trailside breaks ground near U Village

Rendering by Weber Thompson [enlarge]

The project will include new connectors to the Burke-Gilman Trail.

Demolition is underway on the old Trailside Apartments, at 4801 24th Ave. N.E., immediately east of the Burke-Gilman Trial and near University Village. The 1959 complex, with 120 units on 2.3 acres, is being redeveloped by longtime local owner Trinity Partnership in a venture with Dallas developer Phoenix Property Co. of Dallas.

The new Trailside, designed by Weber Thompson and to be built by Walsh Group, will have 265 units and retail in two linked seven- and six-story buildings. They will have one level of underground parking with 217 stalls. Tenant bike rooms will total 223 stalls.

Permits were issued last month. As part of the project, the dead end of Northeast 48th Street was vacated in an agreement with the city. Trail access will be maintained via bike/ped connectors. Additionally, a public open space — aka Trailside Commons — will face the trail, as will a 2,600-square-foot retail bay likely to be a cafe.

Total project size, including the parking, is around 482,000 square feet. The Mandatory Housing Affordability fee works out to just under $8.4 million.

The Trailside team also includes Site Workshop, landscape architect; KPFF, structural and civil engineer, plus shoring; GEI Consultants, geotechnical engineer; Holmberg, mechanical and plumbing; Glumac, energy consultant; and Morrison Hershfield, building envelope.

Public records show a May ground lease for 99 years among Phoenix (the tenant), Trinity (the landlord) and JPMorgan Chase, which is both the agent to the agreement and apparently the project lender.

And, immediately to the north, Phoenix is planning Trailside Phase II on 1.36 acres at 4907 25th Ave. N.E. That land, owned through an LLC by the local Silver Cloud hotel chain, is now home to a Chase Bank facing 25th Avenue Northeast, and a small office building to the west. It, too, will be ground leased.

Weber Thompson is also designing the seven-story, 185-unit Trailside Phase II, which had its first design review earlier this month. About 150 underground parking stalls are planned, along with about 4,200 square feet of retail facing 25th. Total project size for the E-shaped building is around 319,000 square feet.

Trailside Phase II will also be north of the Travelodge block, which is itself bound for redevelopment as the 235-unit Arista Residences, with Greystar and Weber Thompson leading that effort. Greystar and Los Angeles-based Cityview will apparently buy that 1.3-acre block from a consortium of owners including local firm Leavitt Capital Companies.