H5 Capital and VIA Architecture head back before the design review board Wednesday evening for what they hope is approval on their mixed-use tower at 121 Boren Avenue N. in South Lake Union.
There was a time when two towers were planned for the site but they eventually decided to move forward on a 41-story structure with 436 apartments, 1,800 square feet of retail space and 244 below-grade parking spaces. That’s a slight uptick in apartments since the last meeting but otherwise everything else remained the same.
The site is currently occupied by two structures, the 87-year-old Seattle Times building, an 8-story concrete commercial service building, and a single-story concrete structure that contains the 13 Coins Restaurant. The Seattle Times structure will remain on the site but the smaller restaurant building will be demolished. The tower will jut out over the remaining buildings thanks to four white columns that rise up to create a breezeway.
This block is going to get very crowded one day soon as Mack Urban is building a 43-story tower with 404 apartments on the other part of the site. The two buildings will be separated by a scant 33 feet at points. They developers have asked the city for an exemption to be so close (code calls for 60 feet).
H5 bought the property from The Seattle Times in 2011 for $36 million.