September 2, 2022

400 Belltown units planned, with pool on roof

Rendering by Third Place Design Co-operative [enlarge]

The tower’s terraced top has decks extending to its 48th floor.

The midblock Jiffy Lube property in Belltown, at 2033 Fourth Ave., is relatively small, at 6,480 square feet. Yet Noya-Hill Real Estate Development and Third Place Design Co-operative are proposing a high-rise apartment tower. That plan had its first design review last fall; the next will be on Thursday, in a virtual presentation.

The old notion of combining a hotel, co-living suites and traditional apartments has been dropped. Now, 400 apartments would range from three-bedrooms down to SEDUs (small efficiency dwelling units). The apartments would run from the fourth to 45th floors.

The tower has grown a bit taller, with a complicated, terraced top. There'd be a tenant lounge on the 49th floor, then decks on levels 48 and 47, then more decks and a pool on the 46th floor. (Some of those topmost levels are shared with the building's mechanical systems.) Including a mezzanine above the lobby, the architect labels it a 50-story project.

At grade, a cafe and bar would occupy about 528 square feet, with some possible outdoor seating. Amenities would fill the second and third floors.

Two possible levels of underground parking would employ a car lift and valets. That might have 20 to 25 stalls, with access from the alley to the west. Tenants would have 314 bike stalls.

Total project size: 269,588 square feet. The Mandatory Housing Affordability fee was calculated last fall at nearly $2.5 million, which is not the current estimate.

The team also includes KPFF, structural engineer; Coterra Engineering, civil; Geoengineers, geotechnical; and Lanktree Land Surveying.

Noya-Hill is the successor to local shop Ariel Development. The owners, following a $6.2 million sale last year, appear to be Noya-Hill and New York area investors including Aulder Capital, which specializes in distressed and underperforming real estate.

Neither firm has ever attempted a high-rise. And the tight midblock site has additional constraints. The architect is mostly building to the north and south lot lines, with windows on all faces. That assumes that its neighbors will never be developed. Public records don't show any view-protection agreements with them.

To the north is the one-story CVS (formerly Ralph's grocery). CVS inked a 25-year lease in 2015 with the local landowner, with no options to extend.

To the south is the five-story Stratford apartments, which has been owned for decades by a local family. On its north aspect, the proposed 2033 Fourth tower would have a shallow inset light well, of less than six feet, from floors four through seven. Then it reverts to the south lot line.