July 28, 2021

Hotel-apartment addition plan resurfaces for Belltown Self-Storage building

Rendering by Third Place Design Co-operative [enlarge]

Pictured: the architect’s old design for the addition, which shows its relative scale and massing. The landmarked Bergman Luggage building, at left, is on the market again.

Low Tide Properties of Vancouver, B.C. owns the landmarked, 93-year-old Belltown Self-Storage building, at 1915 Third Ave. It paid about $12.2 million for the building in late 2018, after the prior owner's years-long effort to convert the terra cotta-clad building to a hotel — with a new addition on top.

That old plan, by Third Place Design Co-operative, has now been dusted off again. It was favorably received in 2016 by the city's design review board, but will likely still face more design review — and final approval from the city's Landmarks Preservation Board.

The basic concept is a nine-story addition to the original six-story building. It could yield 50 apartments over 112 hotel rooms. The new project is listed with a nominal value of $19 million. (The old total project cost had been estimated at $43 million.)

The old building, aka the White Garage, now has about 46,580 gross square feet — including an office, driveway and large former car elevator. The space is now configured as 499 storage units. The addition would total about 82,100 square feet.

It appears that Continental Properties will partner with Low Tide on the project; the two have previously collaborated on local projects before.

No possible hotel operator is indicated yet; the prior owner had planned to flag it as a Cambria, a brand owned by Choice Hotels. For now, the self-storage business continues to operate on a lease-back basis.