December 13, 2023

Onni pauses 1120 John office project for garage tweaks

Photo by Brian Miller [enlarge]

The pit, pictured last month ...

The rebar, poking up from unfinished columns, has been wrapped with care. The landmarked Seattle Times facade, though marred by graffiti, has been safely braced in place. More plastic sheeting lines the shored but unfinished pit and parking garage at 1120 John St., where workers from Onni Group have been absent for a few weeks now. Two office towers are planned for the full-block site.

Why the pause? Architect Perkins&Will and the city are now working out the details for changing the garage a bit. The changes aren't major, but Onni — acting as its own general contractor, per usual — is prudently waiting before building any higher. (The developer didn't respond to a DJC query last month.)

At issue is the garage entry on Boren Avenue North, on the west side of the block. For complicated reasons having to do with the fire code, changing that entry slightly necessitates moving one of the skybridges about 22 feet to the east (toward Fairview Avenue North).

Rendering by Perkins&Will [enlarge]

... and the building to follow. (Note the deck indicated above the Times facade and podium, on the corner of John and Fairview.)

As before, an east-west pedestrian connector runs below the three skybridges and between the two towers.

The latter will total about 936,000 square feet, with JLL's Joe Gowan, Lisa Stewart and Lloyd Low representing the space. The garage will have about 1,017 stalls.

In the podium, about 54,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and commercial space is planned. In the past, a grocery store was indicated along Fairview, which that area's steadily increasing number of high-rise residents would appreciate.

For now the Onni pit is quiet, tidy and well-tended — and perhaps three levels below grade (on a sloping site). The two tower cranes remain in place. Groundwork began in the summer of 2022.

Meanwhile, on the south former Times block, with its two apartment and hotel towers, Onni recently filed plans to convert 48 more apartments to hotel rooms. And for the west 13 Coins site, at 121 Boren Ave. N., Onni executives have hinted at a 2024 start for that 41-story, 432-unit apartment tower, but there's been no firm announcement. That's just a quiet, fenced staging area for now, with no workers apparent during a visit this week.

Over in the Denny Triangle, Onni's half-block site at 2301 Seventh Ave. is also quiet. That's eventually to have two 42-story towers with 622 units and about 320,000 square feet of offices in the podium.