By Meghan Hall
A development site eyed by investors has traded hands, and new plans for the property are now already underway. In a deal that closed on July 23rd, Trammell Crow Company purchased property at 1900 and 1916 Boren Ave. for $49 million. The seller, according to public documents, was OneLin Capital Corporation.
1916 Boren Ave. is currently developed with a 21,600 square foot building constructed in 1929. The 1900 Boren lot is much smaller, and is developed with an auto lot. The building on the lot totals just 256 square feet, and the property totals about 0.12 acres.
Prior to the sale, OneLine Capital Corporation was in the process of planning two towers at the site. Design documents on file with the City showed that a 47-story tower with 379 residential units and 236 co-living units. A 16-story hotel was also planned for the project, called OneCentral. However, those plans were scrapped. Amenities would have included an atrium in the lobby space, balconies and roof terraces with common recreation areas or eating and drinking establishments.
The project, with Gensler as the architect, had proceeded to the recommendation phase of Design Review and received a Master Use Permit, according to previous reporting by The Registry.
Trammell Crow, however, appears to be taking a different direction with the property. Trammell Crow intends to develop a 10-story, 238,700 square foot office property at the site. Architecture firm Collinswoersman is designing the project.
Trammell Crow is also responsible for designing the building next door, at 1930 Boren Ave. Called the Boren Lofts, Trammell Crow sold the development to Canada-based Oxford Properties Group in April of this year for $119.6 million. The development was completed in February and totals 136,217 square feet of space. The building features 12-foot windows, 15,000 square foot floor plates and a rooftop terrace. South facing patios are also incorporated into every floor.
While office fundamentals in downtown Seattle are still recovering from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, proposal for new development shows belief in the Seattle market. Class A vacancy still crept up at the end of the second quarter, increasing 0.91 percent during the second quarter to 9.7 percent, according to data released by Broderick Group. Asking rents also softened, declining to $47.15 per rentable square foot, full service. During the second quarter, the largest leases were renewals or expansions: the Casey Family Programs renewed for 61,500 square feet at West 8th, while Dell-EMC also signed a renewal for 46,500 square feet at 505 First. Zymeworks is expanding by 15,000 square feet to 57,000 square feet in the Financial Center. The largest new lease of the second quarter was signed by RSM, who will be taking 22,193 square feet in the Madison Centre. As new developments are built out in the coming years, leasing activity is expected to pick up, lowering vacancy rates once again.
