October 16, 2024

With new architect, Onni flips 1120 John office plan to apartments

Photo by Brian Miller [enlarge]

Over 800 apartments are planned for the block previously owned by the Seattle Times.

What most would call the Seattle Times pit, where that landmarked facade is braced around a partially completed underground garage, has been dormant for about a year.

Two tower cranes remain in place. Canadian developer Onni Group had planned a large office project on the north of two former Times blocks. (The south block apartments and hotel, on Denny Way, wrapped two years ago.) Perkins&Will has been the office architect, and Onni the builder. Work began in 2022.

That's all going to change. New architect Perkins Eastman filed early plans last week for a two-tower apartment project to rise over the north garage pit, at 1120 John St. It calls for a possible 814 units in 14- and 49-story towers. Size above grade is estimated at 700,000 square feet, likely including some ground-floor retail.

Onni didn't respond before deadline to a DJC query.

The change of program is unsurprising, given the plummeting demand for offices, post-pandemic. The downtown apartment market has meanwhile remained fairly stable, with rent growth on a steady if unspectacular rise.

Kidder Mathews' recent multifamily report for the third quarter says — looking at large downtown buildings — that rents increased by 1% for the quarter, with a nearly flat vacancy rate of 8.6% (much better than offices). The picture is a little gloomier, city-wide, in Apartment List's latest monthly survey. It says rents are down 0.5% for September, and that rent growth is negative — but less so than last year — for the broader area. But downtown/SLU is a different, more premium market.

For Onni's north block apartments, no design review is required, per the city's recently enacted policies to encourage more downtown housing. That's not to say design review won't happen, but it's unlikely.

Onni acquired the two Times blocks in 2013 for $62.5 million. Ironically, when planning began the following year, the north block was then slated to be apartments. The plan toggled in 2018 to offices, when that market was booming. Times have changed.

The Seattle Times building was demolished in 2017, to protect against squatters. The facade is still intact, though covered with graffiti. (Steps away, the newspaper now rents space atop H5 Capital's data-center building at 1000 Denny Way.)

Now seemingly dead, Onni's old north office plan was to have about 936,000 square feet in two towers. The underground parking, with over 1,000 stalls, could change somewhat in the new apartment scheme.

Separately, to the west, Onni is planning another apartment tower on the former 13 Coins site, at 121 Boren Ave. N. Also designed by Perkins Eastman, that's to have 41 stories and 432 units. There's no declared schedule for that vacant corner, now used for construction staging. The master use permit is in place, meaning that tower could precede 1120 John.

The south block at Onni SLU has two towers with about 827 units and 272 hotel rooms, plus amenities, retail and ample underground parking.

Related Stories:

• Onni pauses 1120 John office project for garage tweaks  12-13-2023