August 3, 2020

Preservation board to see Unico's renovation plan for historic Grand Central block

Photos by DJC file/Brian Miller [enlarge]

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The Grand Central in 1937, and this spring (above). A new penthouse might just peek over the southwest corner visible here. The old parapet won’t be rebuilt.

At 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, Architect Clark Barnes will present its plan for the historic Grand Central block to the Pioneer Square Preservation District board. The meeting will be virtual, but interested parties can view it via WebEx at https://tinyurl.com/GrandCentralMeeting or listen by phone.

Unico Properties owns the block at 200 First Ave. S. with a Goldman Sachs-related LLC. It's almost entirely vacant now.

Venture General Contracting will be in charge of the costly and substantial project, a total gut renovation, with the roofs coming off the Buttnick, City Loan and Grand Central buildings. The owners intend to meet or exceed LEED Gold certification when done. Coughlin Porter Lundeen is the structural engineer for the seismic retrofit.

The project is listed with a nominal value of $20 million. That's on top of the $45 million sale last year into the new ownership. Federal historic tax credits will be employed. In prior filings, Unico has said it would like to start demolition in November, with completion by April 2022. That depends on approval from the preservation board.

The team also includes KPFF, civil engineer; Madison Engineering, energy modeling. Best Practice Architects, retail; GeoEngineers, geotechnical; and Bush, Roed & Hitchings, surveyor.

Upper floors will be linked to “connect all three buildings to operate as a single building while maintaining their individual historic character.” The Buttnick and Grand Central will get penthouses, so that the entire complex ranges from four to five stories in height. Total project size will be around 142,872 square feet.

New mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems are planned, as are new elevators. The areaways beneath the north and west sidewalks will be shored, dried out and given better ventilation.

The mostly dying ivy will be removed from the east facade facing Occidental Park; and the ugly old '70s greenhouse addition will be removed. The obsolete old exterior fire escapes facing Occidental may or may not remain; that remains a point of discussion. Final setbacks for the penthouses—to make them less visible from the street—is also being negotiated.

The ground-floor retail and restaurant bays will be essentially unchanged, though restored. Grand Central Bakery, which opened there in 1972, plans to return. A new north office entry will be expanded within the east facade where the greenhouse now stands. Some other minor east masonry work is planned.

The Grand Central's original parapets and ornamentation, lost in the 1949 earthquake, will not be replaced.