December 28, 2021

Vulcan and Graphite file early office plan for full block in SLU

Photo by Department of Ecology [enlarge]

Looking east, Block 37 is surrounded by construction fencing. Behind are Google’s office buildings, topped by the Helm and Mera apartments.

Google occupies all the offices in the first two of three Lakefront Blocks, which were developed by Vulcan Real Estate in South Lake Union. The third block, 630 Westlake Ave. N., is the west of the three. It's been vacant for years, used for construction staging and preliminary environmental investigation. (The block is known to be polluted from past use by gas stations and various auto shops.)

Graphite Design Group designed the middle and east of the three blocks, working with Runberg Architecture Group on their upper-floor apartments.

Now Graphite has filed an early office plan for 630 Westlake, aka Block 37. The proposed six-story building would have 320,000 square feet of offices, plus 9,975 square feet of ground-floor retail and commercial space. No apartments are indicated.

The project, with a nominal value of $106 million, hasn't yet entered design review. It also includes two levels of underground parking with 320 stalls. The building will meet LEED and/or BuiltGreen certification.

A half dozen years ago, before Google came onboard, Vulcan had contemplated an office/apartment approach to Block 37; that would've risen to 16 stories, but with only 146,000 square feet of offices.

The state Department of Ecology signed an agreement this spring with Vulcan, which outlined a future cleanup approach. Ecology's schedule envisions more wells and environmental assessment lasting trough 2023, with cleanup studies and a draft cleanup plan running into 2025.

The removal of contaminated soil, common in the once industrial SLU, would likely coincide with the excavation and shoring for Block 37. Vulcan would thus want to have its city permits ready when it begins an Ecology-approved cleanup plan.

Vulcan and GLY Construction obtained a shoring and excavation permit this July for Block 37. Bush, Roed & Hitchings is the surveyor. No start date is indicated.

Nothing will happen soon above ground, though Ecology's schedule could possibly be compressed. Soil monitoring began in the 1980s, along with some following cleanup. Old underground fuel tanks have also been removed.

As with Graphite's scheme for the middle and east blocks, the Block 37 plan would divide that 1.5-acre site into two buildings. An east-west pedestrian connector would separate the duo. The block is also bounded by Valley and Mercer streets and Terry Avenue North.

AECOM, Farallon Consulting and Atlas are working on the cleanup plan and monitoring the block. It appears that Phillips 66, a past owner of one portion of Block 37, will also be responsible for part of the cleanup cost.

In addition to Google's 600,000 square feet on the middle and east Lakefront Blocks, it has another nearly completed building at 520 Westlake. That was also developed by Vulcan, with NBBJ as the architect and GLY as the builder. That will add another 322,000 square feet or so to Google's presence in SLU.

Whether that online search goliath also claims Block 37 remains to be seen. Past correspondence between Phillips 66 and consultant ATC states that, “Redevelopment will include construction for Google.”