(Images: Hybrid)
A swarm of development and new businesses on E Jefferson will be joined by a Central Seattle rarity if the plans for a new development on the street go through. A project to create a four-story hotel and bakery just east of 12th and Jefferson will go in front of the East Design Review Board Wednesday night.
The design proposal for the “Art Inn” concept at 1225 E Jefferson captures some of the rapid change underway in the area just east of Seattle University:
The site is bordered with an older craftsman style house to the west. There is a historic apartment building to the south directly across the alley. Across 13th Ave from the site is a vacant parking lot, and beyond that a one-story structure that is currently being renovated into a steak restaurant. Across E Jefferson St to the North, is a three-story historic building with retail on the ground floor and apartments above. The neighborhood is currently undergoing a change of character, with many of the older residences being converted into multi-family buildings. Apart from residential development, the institutional building of Swedish Medical, Seattle University and King County Juvenile have a dominate presence in the area.
That steak restaurant — Seven Beef — opened in full 4,000 square-foot, grass-fed glory last week. The area is also home to island-flavored Taste of the Caribbean, soulful newcomer Nate’s Wings and Waffles, and soon-to-open-if-not-open-already Peloton bicycle cafe. In 2012, Capitol Hill Housing opened the six-story affordable apartment building The Jefferson on the corner at 12th. The area on the edge of the Squire Park neighborhood is also home to the Blue Nile and Zobel Ethiopian restaurants.
(Images: Hybrid)
The Art Inn project is envisioned as a four-story, 15-room boutique hotel with a ground-floor bakery and 1,000 square-foot cafe:
8,970 GSF 15 hotel rooms Proposed FAR: 7,770 (basement and all exterior circulation excluded) Max FAR: 7,776 Positive: • Ample outdoor, cafe seating along Jefferson Street frontage. • Reduced size of elevation/stair penthouse. • Use of exterior space to connect facade elements (stair and balconies) • Strong connection to street. • Generous public entry. • Secondary public entry at cafe.
While no parking is required, it’s not clear what plans for spaces the development has — no spots are listed but diagrams show a small parking and storage area.
The required three proposal alternatives are named after types of bread — perhaps a nod to what you’ll find in the bakery’s oven
A single-family home at the site will be demolished to make way for the project. The owner of the 1905-built house purchased the property for $355,000 in 2013 but it’s not clear what company is developing the project or if an established hotelier is involved. We have inquiries out to learn more. The project is being designed by Capitol Hill-based Hybrid Architecture.
1225 E. Jefferson St
Design Review Early Design Guidance application for a 4 story, 15 room hotel with 1,400 sq.ft. of commercial space for bakery and cafe. Existing structures to be demolished. View Design Proposal (24 MB)
Though the project is at least a year from construction given typical review and development timelines, it will likely represent the first new hotel project in Central Seattle since the early 2000s. Silver Cloud Broadway — a much larger project at six stories and 22,000 square feet — was completed in 2003 at the intersection of Broadway and Madison. Portions of the core of Capitol Hill won’t likely be home to a hotel project anytime soon. In 2013, CHS reported on the zoning requirements around Pike/Pine that lead most developers choose to build residential projects instead of commercial projects like office buildings or hotels.
Third pass for Boylston Flats
Wednesday night will also feature the third and likely final review for a seven-story, 106-unit microhousing development on Boylston just south of Pike destined to replace the eight-unit Emerald City Manor building that has stood on the block since 1905.
The project went through its first recommendation review in September following its late 2014 early design guidance meeting. Prolific developers Tyler Carr and Kelten Johnson and Capitol Hill-based architects S+H Works will return Wednesday after the board asked the project to return with a simplified color palette and a more functional, less complex “building composition.” The result is a smoothed out design with many cut features — including the planned Juliet-style balconies which everybody seems to hate anyhow.
A portion of the building’s units are planned to be offered at affordable level (60% AMI) as the building takes advantage of the Multifamily Tax Exemption.
1404 Boylston Ave
Land Use Application to allow a 7-story structure containing 105 residential units. Existing structures to be removed View Design Proposal (11 MB)
