January 6, 2025

Land sale clears path for Rainier Valley units, all affordable but less jazzy

Rendering by Weinstein AU [enlarge]

From 2023, this rendering has the old signage; the overall design won’t change much.

In the Rainier Valley, the last land sale at 2101 22nd Ave. S. was for $2.4 million in mid-2018. That's still a vacant patch of dirt, eventually bound for development, north of the separate, new-ish building that houses both the Lake Washington Girls Middle School and Giddens School.

The vacant north parcel last sold to a venture of Community Roots Housing and the music education nonprofit JazzED. Plans were then well underway for a new Weinstein AU-designed building, dubbed JazzHouse, to have affordable housing over music teaching and performance space.

JazzED subsequently departed the project, and the land has sold again to Community Roots, which now solely owns the project. King County recorded the nearly $3.6 million sale last week. A master use permit was issued in 2022, a capital campaign was then underway, and there was talk of breaking ground that year. The site remains bare.

The JazzED website says in part, “Originally, we partnered with Community Roots Housing (CRH) to embark on a large-scale building project. However, in December 2023, the Seattle JazzED Board thoughtfully decided to shift away from that partnership, focusing instead on exploring new opportunities that will best serve our students and community.”

JazzED remains at 380 Boren St., within the Amazon-leased Troy Block in South Lake Union (aka Houdini North and South).

Community Roots and Weinstein began revising their MUP in 2023. The project then stood at seven stories and anywhere from 85 to 134 units. Weinstein's last plan set preceded the JazzED departure, and permit records are contradictory. Design review is no longer required for such affordable housing projects.

Community Roots said last week that project numbers will be updated, and that the general design will remain as-is. There's no mention of a change of architects, and no declared schedule. A new name will come later.

For the recent land sale, Washington State Housing Finance Commission supplied a $3 million land acquisition loan.

As of last year, the team included W.G. Clark Construction, the builder; PCS, structural engineer; KPFF, civil engineer; Site Workshop, landscape architect; CT Engineering, shoring; 4EA Building Science, envelope; SSA Acoustics; Lair Design, interiors; Merit Electric, electrical engineer; and McKinney Engineering, Seattle City Light electrical consultant.

The old plan totaled around 103,450 square feet, including the JazzED space. There's since been mention of structured parking or underground parking, perhaps with 43 stalls, so numbers are very much in flux. The site is zoned up to 75 feet, meaning the building height won't likely change.

The affordable housing site and the south school building occupy the entire block that was once home to the Imperial Lanes bowling alley. The Community Roots parcel faces north to South Hill Street. The block is about an 11-minute walk north to Judkins Park Station, which should open to light-rail service this fall.