February 3, 2021

W.G. Clark to renovate old Pioneer Square building for Unico

Rendering by BuildingWork [enlarge]

With the viaduct gone, the little old building now has open views to the west.

Unico Properties and general contractor W.G. Clark Construction are closing in on their permits for gut renovating the little old office building at 68 S. Washington St. BuildingWork is the architect, and Lake Union Partners is managing the project for Unico. The Pioneer Square Preservation District Board still needs to approve the project. Recent scheduled board meetings have been cancelled owing to the pandemic.

The three-story Washington Park Building was developed circa 1890 on the corner of Alaskan Way South. It now has about 35,882 rentable square feet. After the removal of a mezzanine and addition of a penthouse, it'll end up with about 48,000 square feet. A full seismic retrofit, new building systems and new elevator and stair cores are also included. The building now looks to be mostly vacant. Longtime tenant Saki Nomi will move to the nearby Good Arts building, at First Avenue and Cherry Street.

Unico hopes to start on the project in May, with completion by the summer of 2022. The team also includes Geoengineers; Coughlin Porter Lundeen, structural engineer; Robison Engineering, MEP; and Rushing, electrical.

Along with two new partial mezzanines, the earthquake-damaged cornice will be repaired and restored. The ground floor will have about 6,000 square feet for retail and restaurant use. The office entrance will be relocated to Alaskan.

The building is part of Unico's Boutique Office Portfolio (BOP) ownership group, which with most of the same team is planning similar renovations and additions to the Grand Central Block and Korn Walker Block, also in Pioneer Square. The Washington Park Building traded into the BOP fund two years ago, at a sub-market price.