The project, to be located a couple of blocks south of REI's flagship store and across an alley from a new Marriott hotel, calls for 49 studio apartments on the upper floors and a dorm-like setting on the ground floor with 26 beds. "We're expecting appeals," architect John Woodworth of Stickney Murphy Romine tells GlobeSt.com.

Woodworth is seeking approvals for the estimated $4-million construction project on behalf of its non-profit owner, the Downtown Emergency Service Center, which plans to use the facility to provide "long-term affordable shelter and supportive services for pre-recovery chronic public inebriates."

The triangular shaped, 10,700-sf site is located just to the west of Interstate 5 in the northeast corner of Downtown. The Denny Way overpass, connecting downtown to First Hill and Capitol Hill, abuts the site on its north side. The approach to the actual bridge structure of the overpass forms a continuous concrete wall from 6 to 20 feet in height just a few feet north of the site's northern boundary.

The project would include the demolition of an existing one-and-a-half-story commercial building on site. The agency hopes is to start construction on the project in November or December, says Woodworth. "The timeline includes appeal time," he adds.

A letter to the city earlier by an adjacent property and business owners alleges that allowing this project "will significantly reduce the value of our property and make it inordinately difficult to sell it to anyone."