February 17, 2022

Goaaaaal! Unico partners with Sounders on former Boeing Renton campus, with 3,000 units and possible hotel to follow

Rendering by Generator Studio [enlarge] [gallery]

Generator Studio, of Kansas City, will design what’s being called the Sounders FC Center at Longacres.

Photo from Sounders FC [enlarge]

King County Executive Constantine is at left, next to Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer, Unico's Ned Carner and Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone.

Unico Properties paid $100 million in December for the 158-acre, two-building former Boeing campus in Renton. Long home to the commercial airplanes group, or BCAG, it was once part of the Longacres horse racing complex.

Now there's a partial return to the sporting world. Unico and Sounders FC announced yesterday a planned new headquarters and practice facility for the MLS club.

Generator Studio, of Kansas City, will design what's being called the Sounders FC Center at Longacres. That will be a renovation of the five-story office building at 1901 Oakesdale Ave. S.W., which was designed by LMN and completed 1998. It totals about 238,000 square feet. Sounders staff will occupy about 50,000 square feet in the vacant building, which features a very prominent atrium entrance.

The team will have all the ground level and part of the second floor, Unico explained. The new facility should open in 2024, the club's 50th anniversary year.

Unico's Ned Carner said in a statement, “We could not be more excited to partner with a group like the Sounders that shares in our mission to create a project that builds up the surrounding community, while also enhancing the lives of the people that choose to live and work at Longacres for years to come.”

By “live,” that's a clue about future multifamily plans at Longacres — a legacy name that's apparently being revived. Final branding will emerge later.

Carner confirmed Unico's multifamily plans in a quick chat with the DJC. Over the next decade, he said, about 3,000 apartments are planned, along with a hotel. Retail and restaurants are also likely. No architects or timeline have been decided for what Carner calls a “158-acre transit-oriented development opportunity.” The Sounder heavy-rail stop and RapidRide F Line are a 10-minute walk west at Tukwila Station.

Of the initial soccer team phase of development, Sounders majority owner Adrian Hanauer said, “Today is one of the most important moments in our club's history. Our organization has invested a great deal of time and thoughtfulness into the process of both selecting the ideal site for a new home and reimagining what that home represents. With Longacres, we've found a location brimming with Pacific Northwest history.”

Hanauer noted that the club was founded in 1974. Longacres was then still an active venue, owned by the Alhadeff family (now a real estate dynasty), which sold to Boeing in 1990. The track closed two years later.

For the Sounders, four new soccer fields are planned. The team had previously been practicing out of the Starfire Sports complex in Tukwila.

Some kind of rooftop viewing deck and possible bar is planned to overlook the fields. That looks to be an addition to the main former BCAG building.

Along with fan attractions and a gear shop, renderings of the new facility suggest certain elements of the Kraken Community Iceplex, which Generator designed at Northgate Station. That also has food, beverage and entertainment components for hockey fans

The team said the new center would be “one that allows for deeper connection with the club's fans, supporters and partners.” Whether that includes restaurants or bars remains to be seen. The team says that more design details will come in the months ahead.

Prior to the December sale, and overlooked by the DJC and others, Unico did file early plans to renovate some 33 acres with new athletic fields. Levels one through five of the main building were to be renovated in that early plan. But the exact delineation of space remains to be seen.

Unico hasn't named any brokers for the remaining majority of space in what will be a multitenant building. It will initially fulfill that leasing role itself — then likely hire a broker, said Carner. Floor plates average around 60,000 square feet on the top four levels.

There's also a second old Boeing building slightly to the north. That, too, will be repositioned and rebranded. Together, Unico estimates the pair has around 962,800 square feet, plus 2,150 surface parking stalls. The Longacres campus also features two ponds, an apple orchard and a 1-mile walking/running trail.

Attending the Sounders announcement ceremony yesterday were King County Executive Dow Constantine and Renton Mayor Armondo Pavone. Interestingly, come 2024, Renton will be home to two of the region's pro sports teams, since the Seahawks have their headquarters and practice facility a few miles north, on the shore of Lake Washington.