July 20, 2022

Onni starts digging up dirt for offices within landmarked Seattle Times facade

Photo by Brian Miller [enlarge]

Looking south, the pit is no longer a staging area but an active construction site.

Onni Group is essentially done with the apartments and hotel on the south of two former Seattle Times blocks in South Lake Union. Now it's turning its attention to the north block at 1120 John St., where a new two-building office complex will rise within the landmarked former Times facade. (The building was demolished, owing to squatters, in 2017.)

There's been no official announcement of a groundbreaking from the developer, which is based in Vancouver, B.C. However, the master use permit came in March; phased project permits are in place, and excavators are now breaking up the old concrete footings of the demolished old Times office and printing complex.

Equipment from Malcom Drilling is also at work. Onni, as usual, will be its own general contractor for the 18- and 16-story duo, with some 935,951 square feet of offices, plus retail and substantial underground parking. Perkins Will designed the north block project.

Digging down five levels for the garage, and removing all that dirt, will likely earn the project its determination of no further action (NFA) from the state Department of Ecology. The north end of the block, on Thomas Street, is contaminated from old underground fuel tanks for the Times' fleet of delivery trucks.

The remaining Times facade is braced and preserved along John and, to the east, Fairview Avenue North. There has been some graffiti tagging over the past few years, but it looks to be well protected and intact.

Rendering by Perkins Will [enlarge]

This rendering looks northwest at 1120 John, with Fairview at right.

Given the extreme level of uncertainty about the post-pandemic appetite for new office space, as more and more companies resign themselves to a hybrid model of nine-to-five cubicles and work-from-home, it's highly unlikely that Onni would start raising steel above grade without signed commitments from future tenants. JLL's Joe Gowan, Lisa Stewart and Lloyd Low are leading that effort.

The 1120 John team also includes KPFF, civil engineer; landscape architect LOCI, of Vancouver, B.C.; Rushing, mechanical and plumbing; Glotman Simpson Consulting Engineers, structural; and Peter Meijer Architects of Portland, which facade preservation and restoration.

To the south, at 110 and 112 Boren Ave. N., are the two 41-story towers of what Onni calls OSLU. Those have 827 apartments, underground parking, retail and 272 hotel rooms operated by Level, an affiliate of Onni. The developer paid the Times $62.5 million for the entire property back in 2013. There's no announced timeline for finishing the north block.