February 16, 2024

Abbott Construction in charge of hotel conversion to apartments

Photo by Homewood Suites by Hilton [enlarge]

The conversion will yield 183 Capitol Hill units.

If you wanted to stay at the Homewood Suites by Hilton, on Capitol Hill just east of the freeway, you're too late. The extended-stay at 1011 Pike St. closed in recent weeks, and the city issued a permit this week for its conversion from 195 rooms to 183 apartments.

Abbot Construction will undertake the conversion, working with architect Ware Malcomb and owner PEG Companies, of Utah. PEG bought the hotel two years ago, then paying $80 million. The DJC first reported on the conversion, which will carry the Avia brand.

Also working on the eight-story, 151,000-square-foot project are Transpo Group, traffic engineer; and KJ Designs, interiors.

In a press release issued last week, PEG calls the Avia Apartments on Pike its largest extended-stay conversion to date. It hopes to complete the phased project by October. Some units (or floors) could begin leasing as soon as May.

PEG's Cole Ballard said the conversion “includes the renovation of individual rooms, the installation of a fire suppression system throughout the property, and the addition of several amenities.” The latter include storage lockers, a new and relocated gym and new central laundry area.

Units will run from studios to a few two-bedrooms; most will be one-bedrooms. Sizes range from about 357 square feet to over 1,000 square feet. Thirteen apartments will be affordable, per Mandatory Housing Affordability provisions. PEG calls the rest workforce housing.

Structured and underground parking, now with 123 stalls, will be reduced to 100 stalls. Twenty will have EV-charging. A basement bike room is also indicated.

The building was developed in 1991, on a site also bounded by Boren and Terry avenues. Pike Grocery will evidently remain on the corner of Boren; the Romio's Pizza space will become two smaller retail bays facing Pike; and the new lobby will correspond with the hotel lobby and former Avis rental area on Terry.

PEG develops and operates is many sectors of real estate, including hotels, and values its assets under management at $2.4 billion. It launched its extended-stay conversion fund in 2022, about the same time as the Homewood deal, and then said it had secured $120 million in investor commitments. At the time, PEG had Avia conversions planned in Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle and beyond.

Hilton still has its 162-room Homewood Suites location in Uptown.