November 2, 2021

Kilroy to show plans for 30-story office tower on former Vance block

Renderings by Otherworks [enlarge]

This view looks south up Westlake at the new 30-story office tower.

[enlarge]

A wraparound lobby will have an entrance facing McGraw Square.

There are three components to Kilroy Realty's planned SIXO redevelopment of the former Vance property in the Denny Triangle. At 1815 Sixth Ave., where a small old Bank of America branch is bound for demolition, a new 30-story office tower is planed. That's being designed by Otherworks of Los Angeles, with Miller Hull as the architect of record. The proposal will have its first design review on Dec. 14, in a virtual presentation.

The trapezoidal BoA parcel has 21,461 square feet, and is also bounded by Stewart Street and Olive Way. It's zoned up to 500 feet. The South Lake Union streetcar terminus is directly west of the site, which also faces west to McGraw Square and north to Westlake Square.

The 1815 Sixth numbers are 565,000 square feet of offices; 2,260 square feet of ground-floor retail; 208 parking stalls on seven underground levels; 299 bike stalls; a building height of 420 feet; and a west-facing roof deck with 8,000 square feet. Total project size and the Mandatory Housing Affordability fee haven't yet been calculated.

The floor plates and building footprint would reflect the trapezoidal site. The building's west and north facades would be scalloped inward with a crescent shape.

Otherworks locates the wraparound lobby on the building's northeast and northwest corners. The latter faces the streetcar and McGraw Square, where Westlake Avenue dead-ends at the block. Traveling south on Westlake, one would have a dramatic view of 1815 Sixth.

The architects also note that the proposed but indefinitely delayed downtown streetcar connection, between the SLU and First Hill lines, could provide an infill expansion of McGraw Square where the SLU line now halts.

Parking and loading would be accessed from Olive. LEED certification isn't mentioned, but seems likely. The architect writes, “The proposed project will target the highest levels of sustainability.” Kilroy's 333 Dexter, leased to Apple, achieved LEED Platinum certification.

The 1815 Sixth team also includes Coughlin Porter Lundeen, civil engineer; Magnusson Klemencic Assoc., structural; McKinney Engineering, electrical; Graelic, parking; Eckersley O'Callaghan, facade design; Code Unlimited, permit consultant; HKA, elevators; triangular block; Bush, Roed & Hitchings, surveyor; and Site Workshop, landscape architect.

The second component to SIXO is 1818 Sixth, an 18-story office tower to be grafted onto the smaller landmarked Lloyd Building to the north. The latter would get a full renovation, and probably keep its legacy address at 601 Stewart. Think of 1818 Sixth as the middle phase, with 1815 Sixth as the west phase — which will apparently proceed first. About 185 underground parking stalls are planned there, where the old and new offices will total around 310,000 square feet.

The third component, the east phase, is the 1825 Seventh Ave. residential tower. That's slated to have 55 stories, some retail, 650 units and 240 parking stalls on eight underground levels. Kilroy isn't known as an apartment or condo developer, and may seek a partner there.

Publicly traded Kilroy, of Los Angeles, acquired the nearly two-block property from Vance for about $133 million in late 2019. Just last month, Kilroy paid nearly $490 million for the nearby West 8th office building — which is mostly leased to Amazon. Coming at a time when Amazon is directing future growth to Bellevue, it represented a double-down bet on the Denny Triangle.

John Kilroy said at the time, “We believe the Denny Regrade submarket continues to be extremely well positioned for strong rental growth over the coming years; and West 8th, which offers an unrivaled location, will help deliver solid earnings growth and value creation for our shareholders.”