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June 10, 2022
Though the final route hasn't yet been determined, the city of Seattle has weighed in on Sound Transit's plan to link Ballard and West Seattle by light rail. Much of that line, possibly to open between 2037 and 2039, will be at grade; some of it will be elevated; and the really expensive sections will be tunneled.
For the latter, identifying where the stations will go, there are serious above-ground implications for commercial property owners. Some might love to sell dilapidated old properties to Sound Transit; others might do so grudgingly — forced by court-ordered condemnation, but still reaping a market price.
Mayor Bruce Harrell, the City Council and Seattle Center made clear this week that a Seattle Center Station within that campus is not going to fly. The city issued an official marked-up commentary on Tuesday for what Sound Transit calls the WSBLE (West Seattle Ballard Link Extension). Not every section has produced a verdict, as the agency hasn't settled on its own route recommendations for certain key sections — notably the International District and Salmon Bay crossing. Both of those remain a highly contested muddle.
But, starting in Uptown, we can now see specific properties in play, owing to the city's stated wishes.
SEATTLE CENTER STATION
The city wants that on Mercer Street. One entry would replace a vacant Chase bank branch at 20 Mercer. Most know it as the old Tower Books building, later Easy Street Records. A veterinary clinic continues to operate there. It's been owned by Diamond Parking for decades.
The south entry would replace a little old two-story retail/office building at 127 Mercer, aka the Thurmond Building. That's long been owned by the Peasley family. It's home to Caffe Zingaro, Valiant Barber Collective, Panda Lab and others. Also probably at risk is the old 41-unit apartment building next to it at 105 Mercer; that last traded to local investors in 2019 for about $11.8 million.
SOUTH LAKE UNION STATION
The city wants that on Harrison Street, near the north portal to the state Route 99 tunnel. The east entry would replace the tear-down little office building at 401 Dexter Ave. N. Kilroy Realty acquired that as part of its much larger $44 million deal with KING TV in 2015. (The main KING block became 333 Dexter, now home to Apple.)
The west entry would replace the old Civic Hotel on the corner at 235 Seventh Ave. N. That 1961 motel last traded in 2007 to local owner-operators for about $1.9 million. It then faced noisy Aurora Avenue North, long before the viaduct replacement tunnel. Aurora has now become the much quieter Seventh. The motel was the Seattle Pacific Hotel for most of its history; the rebranding came circa 2019.
DENNY STATION
This also might be called South Lake Union, but both the city and Sound Transit see the need for two SLU stations, with different names, owing to the tremendous density of workers at Amazon, Facebook and beyond. Planners estimate the neighborhood has doubled in size between 2015 and 2021, adding 5,400 dwelling units and 38,000 jobs.
That means, of course, there's very little vacant land or low-intensity old development to harvest. So the city favors a station on Terry Avenue North, immediately north of Denny Way. But that recommendation is still vague.
Just about the only available above-ground portals there would be the corner parking lot that's part of H5 Capital's 1000 Denny complex (home to the Seattle Times, and an important data center); or the former Dawn Foods warehouse at 124 Terry, aka 1001 John St., where Mack Real Estate has an entitled 43-story apartment plan.
Mack acquired that compact site in 2014 for $11.5 million. H5's tally was for $36 million in 2011. Denny Station will be a very challenging and expensive headache for all parties concerned. Onni Group has a 41-story apartment plan on H5's property (think: the old 13 Coins building), but there's been no redrawing of the lot lines or property sale.
The two rival towers, years in the planning, appear to be waiting on the station location — or a buyout from Sound Transit. Having a master use permit in place, as both do, would add to the price tag of a condemnation. We've seen that play out before on the downtown Seattle waterfront, before the viaduct was removed and a new surface right of way established, when landowners suspiciously put new money into doomed old buildings.
MIDTOWN STATION
Also not quite settled, Fifth Avenue is the city's preferred route, with the west entry to replace the structured parking garage of the Hotel Vintage. (Last trade: $31.7 million in 2012.) The east entry, with a very deep elevator, would go on WSDOT land between Spring and Seneca streets.
INTERBAY STATION
Jumping back north again, the location here is entirely unsettled. After a stop at Smith Cove and its cruise ship terminals, Interbay Station would then either launch trains into a tunnel to Ballard or over a high bridge. The city says that its polling indicates a strong public desire for the more costly tunnel.
But with much of the Interbay line running east of the BNSF Railway tracks, then bending east again to the desired tunnel entry at Interbay Station (tentatively at West Bertona Street and 17th Avenue West), this creates a new problem. Says the city, “The planned $60M development of a Seattle Storm practice facility is in direct conflict with access to the tunnel portal location, as currently designed.”
A Storm owner already owns its site, at 1616 Bertona, and the design by ZGF Architects and Shive-Hattery Architects is already well advanced. With Sellen as the builder, the hope is to start construction next spring, with completion in 2024. That schedule might have to be rethought, if the tunnel and route aren't resolved soon.
To get to a final route and station map, Sound Transit's ideal schedule is roughly 2023 for that decision, followed by construction that could last from 2026 to 2039 — subject as always to financing from the agency and federal support.
With a budget estimated between $12 billion and $13 billion, real estate acquisition won't be a major cost, but it'll result in some interesting moves on the chess board.
Brian Miller can be
reached by email at brian.miller@djc.com or by phone at (206) 219-6517.