July 26, 2019

Greystar buys SLU church site for $20M; tower project to begin

Rendering by Weber Thompson [enlarge]

Weber Thompson designed the 28-story tower (left), and Olson Kundig is designing the new Seattle Unity Church.

Greystar has bought the Seattle Unity Church property at 200 Eighth Ave. N. in South Lake Union for its planned 28-story Waverly apartment tower. King County recorded the $20 million sale on Wednesday. The sale came with a condominium agreement that will allow Seattle Unity to build a new church on the south side of the site, facing Denny Park.

Brokers were not announced. The deal was worth about $694 per square foot.

A demolition permit was issued this month. The master use permit was approved this month, but not yet issued, by the city. Appeals were due to the hearing examiner on Monday. Public records don't show any appeals, as indicated by the sale. The construction permit is still in process.

The Waverly was designed by Weber Thompson and will be built by Turner Construction. It will have 374 units and 286 underground parking spaces, to be accessed from the alley to the east.

The Waverly team also includes: KPFF, civil engineer; WSP, MEP engineer; and the Justen Co., development consultant. Weber Thompson will do the landscape design for the tower's amenity areas and decks. Olson Kundig will do the streetscape design for the tower and new church.

Separately, Seattle Unity's 1960 church will be razed. The new church, at 210 Eighth, will be designed by Olson Kundig. Construction will be coordinated between the two projects, with the church on top of a shared parking garage and separated from the tower by a courtyard.

Since it's for a religious institution, the three-story, 55-foot-tall building, with about 16,000 square feet, doesn't have to go through design review.

Seattle Unity's team includes SeaBay, general contractor (a change from previously announced Sellen); KPFF, civil engineer; and Costigan Integrated (now owned by Unico Properties), owner's rep.

The church website says the old building is now vacant, and that interim services will be held at Metropolist in Sodo; interim offices will be at a WeWork building in SLU. Seattle Unity says that Greystar will begin construction in August, with the garage done next year. The church then hopes to begin its construction in the fall of 2020, with completion in late 2021.