November 19th, 2019 — Judges for the 2019 NAIOP Night of the Stars program have selected the new Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) building as the recipient of the ‘Judges Innovation Award for Vision’, and Kiara as ‘High Rise Residential Development of the Year.’ UTC Headquarters is located in Lacey, Washington and was developed by MJR Development, designed by Weber Thompson, and built by Northway Construction. Kiara is located in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle and was developed by Holland Partner Group, designed by Weber Thompson, and built by Holland Construction, Inc.
The new UTC Headquarters is located in what was a formerly underutilized three story suburban office building in Lacey, WA. The building has been completely transformed into the new headquarters for UTC who moved from their original location in Olympia, Washington in July 2019. The existing building was re-skinned for a more modern design and two wings were added that brought the building to 43,600 sf. The new building is focused on energy performance, stormwater management, and energy generation through a solar PV array and ample access to daylight for tenants. The project is across the street from Thomas W. Huntamer Park and the H-shaped building design creates a new landscaped courtyard space allowing for a strong connection to outdoor space on all sides. The interior tenant improvements were designed by ARC Architects.
Kiara’s mix of pedestrian oriented site improvements, contextual response, and design excellence won the day at NAIOP’s Night of the Stars for High-Rise Residential Development of the Year. A 461-unit, 440’ tall residential high-rise tower with 16,251 SF of multi-level, grade oriented retail, located at the corner of Terry Avenue and Denny Way, Kiara made several pedestrian improvements by reducing the building’s footprint to increase sidewalk width and landscaping along both Denny Way and Terry Avenue. The building’s architecture is an allegory, reflecting the neighborhood’s changing architectural styles and rapid transition from light industrial to technology based industry. The podium was designed to celebrate the Terry Avenue neighborhood’s industrial history (with a contemporary twist) while embracing the walkability of the neighborhood. Contrasting in style, the tower is designed with slender and sculpted vertical elements which vary in tone and color. The placement of tower and podium was orchestrated to minimize the impact of the tower on the streetscape, and to maximize solar exposure to lush amenity terraces. Weber Thompson provided architecture and landscape architecture services on the project; Susan Marinello Interiors provided interior design services.
Winning Night of the Stars projects were judged by a panel of real estate professionals and were evaluated based on impact on the community, market adaptability, sustainability, ingenuity and local contributions. NAIOP Washington State is a trade association for developers, owners and investors in the industrial, office and related commercial real estate industries. The chapter, founded in 1976, is one of the fastest growing chapters in the country.
About MJR Development:
Founded in 1991 by Michael J. Raskin, MJR specializes in adding strategic value to under-utilized real estate through redesign and repositioning. They have an integrated business model with an in-house finance, construction management, marketing, and property management functions which support office, retail, residential and industrial property development. MJR focuses on projects that combine our ability to creatively overcome obstacles while staying within challenging economic boundaries.
About Holland Partner Group:
Founded in 2001, Holland Partner Group is engaged in the development, construction, acquisition, redevelopment and management of multi-family and mixed-use communities throughout the western United States. The firm owns over 15,000 residential units and manages approximately 25,000 units for its partnerships and third parties. Holland currently has almost 7,000 residential units under development and construction within the Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Colorado markets.
About Weber Thompson:
Seattle-based Weber Thompson is a full service, West coast design firm specializing in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and community/urban design. This award-winning company has a staff of more than 70 designers, architects, interior designers, landscape architects and construction professionals. The firm is housed in the celebrated Terry Thomas, a LEED NC Gold certified office building in South Lake Union containing Weber Thompson’s LEED Platinum Offices. In 2018, the firm celebrated 30 years of collaborative design resulting in the creation of healthy communities, iconic high-rises, high-density urban infill, affordable housing, senior housing, commercial office and hospitality projects.
