By Kate Snyder
A proposal from BioMed Realty for a 600,000-square-foot life science project in Seattle was approved by the Downtown Design Review Board during a recent Early Design Guidance meeting. The project is now slated to move forward to receive a master-use permit.
Located at 2301 8th Ave. and 2300 7th Ave., the proposal includes an 18-story office building and an 11-story office/laboratory building with retail space, according to public records, as well as parking for 630 vehicles. BioMed Realty purchased the site – a full city block adjacent to Denny Park – last year for $126.8 million, according to previous reporting from The Registry. The seller was Seattle-based Beebe Realty, an entity affiliated with Clise Properties.
Both properties involved in the sale are located jointly on a block bounded by 8th Avenue, Bell Street, 7th Avenue and W Denny Way. The site is also just a few blocks from BioMed’s 500,000-square-foot Dexter Yard project located at 700 Dexter Ave. N, which has been under development since 2018.
BioMed had planned at the time to turn the site into a development called Denny Park South, which the firm envisioned as a predominantly life science development with possible alternative uses as well. The current plans that were submitted to the city for review include an 18-story north tower and an 11-story south tower totaling approximately 600,000 square feet, as well as a parking structure four full stories below grade. The landscape development plan includes a through-block connection and open space. The firm is working with Perkins & Will for the design and with Site Workshop as the landscape architect.
“Sitting directly to the south of Denny Park, the site is one of the last in the area to be planned for redevelopment,” the project plans state. “This project aims to anchor its position at the corner of Dexter and Denny with a striking building that also offers relief from surrounding developments with an open, porous ground plane.”
The plans highlight opportunities for the project to connect green space in the area as well as diversify open space and create mid-block porosity. With its location at “the nexus point” between downtown and South Lake Union on the corner of Dexter and Denny, the proposed project signals a landscaped connection point and gateway to downtown. In consideration of influences from the site’s history as well as the surrounding developments and the overarching vision for the project, the proposed plan seeks to connect the “urban arboretum” to the south with Denny Park to the north.
Goals include providing a “welcoming oasis” that uses its location adjacent to Denny Park to connect people, neighborhoods and create links with surrounding green spaces and create an enduring place that supports pedestrian life and activity.
BioMed is a Blackstone portfolio company and a major provider of real estate projects for the life science and technology industries. According to information from the company, BioMed owns and operates life science real estate comprising approximately 15.9 million square feet that is concentrated in markets throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, including San Francisco, San Diego and Seattle. In addition, BioMed maintains a development platform with about 3.7 million square feet of Class A properties in active construction and about 7.1 million square feet of future development in order to meet the growing demand of the life science and technology industries.
