440-Foot Tower Proposed for Seattle

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Seattle city planners have recently been forwarded plans for a brand-new 440-foot tower that would be developed at the corner of Second Avenue and Stewart Street. With permit applications yet to be filed, there are no major details on the project. However, The Seattle Times has released a number of tidbits regarding the possible high-rise.

Buildings at the proposed site are currently owned by Iowa-based insurance and financial services company Principal Financial Group. The company bought the 10-story Broadacres Building and the MJA Building in 2007 from a local family-owned operation, although it is uncertain whether the Broadacres building is included in the proposed tower plan, the Times noted. Both of the aforementioned buildings are currently managed by KG Investment Management, from Bellevue.

Reportedly, the unnamed project will stand 38 stories tall. The top 27 stories will serve as a condominium/apartment building totaling 367 units. The lower floors will operate as a hotel property, with parking provided in a five-level underground structure. According to the Department of Planning and Development, the office has received no permit applications to indicate any further details.

The area is a high-rise development sweet spot, the Times noted, with a number of projects either completed or still in various phases of development. Among them are the 24-story Viktoria Apartments, currently under construction, and Fifteen Twenty-One Second Avenue, a 38-story building completed in 2008, just after the beginning of the downturn. Some projects have been less fortunate, among them 1 Hotel & Residences, a luxury tower that ended up as a parking lot located in the vicinity of the MJA Building.

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