Miami-based developer, Crescent Heights, and architecture firm Gensler received an approval on Tuesday from Seattle’s design review board on a 39-story twin tower proposed project that will deliver 1004 new residential units into the city’s housing market. The high-rise towers will rest above an 8-story podium with 14,000 square feet of retail space located at street level.
Incorporated into the design of the towers are what the design team refers to as “amenity notches” that will provide relief from the height of the towers’ forms. These amenity notches wrap nearly the entire perimeter of the towers, with most of the mass of the enclosed space set back further than 10’ from the face of the tower. In addition, the form of the rooftop penthouses and amenity spaces are treated as similar to the mid-tower notches. The design team said the penthouses are designed to be dynamic, faceted and wood-clad to provide contrast to the remainder of the building. At night, the faceted forms of the penthouses will be given the same treatment as the amenity notches below.
The proposed site, located on the corner of Minor Avenue and Stewart Street at 1901 Minor Avenue, is in the Denny Triangle Urban Center and will offer views of Lake Union to the north, Space Needle and Elliott Bay to the east and Seattle’s downtown to the south.
According to the design team, the proposed site has a rich blend of historical uses, including agrarian, civic, industrial, retail and residential. At different points in its history, the site has been home to a fire station, a logging mill, small dwellings and an industrial dye-works. The team says that it is clearly a place of craft and making that has much to offer the community of Seattle’s new “working class.” With it’s prominent location straddling the three distinct urban neighborhoods of South Lake Union, Downtown and Capitol Hill, the site serves as a fixed connection between neighborhood-scale functions and city-scale functions, says the team.
There are many other projects either in predevelopment stages or under construction in close proximity to the proposed project. 2014 Fairview Avenue is a 442-unit project proposed by a private owner that is in early design guidance with the city’s review board. Onni Group’s two-block 843-unit residential project at 1120 John Street is awaiting approval for a master use permit. Another project, located at 1200 Stewart Street, has already received a master use permit to build 41-story twin towers that will contain 889 residential units. In addition to these, there are two additional projects under construction totaling another 776 residential projects. Along with Crescent Heights’ proposed project, there is a total of 3,687 units to be delivered into Seattle’s housing market in the Denny Triangle area.
