2200 Westlake Developers Name Hotelier, Grocer

SEATTLE-Milliken Urban Limited Partnership and billionaire Paul Allen’s Vulcan Inc. announced Thursday the hotelier and anchor retail tenant for its $200-million mixed-use development. The project is under construction on a sloped 2.5-acre sight bounded by Westlake Avenue, Denny Way, Terry Avenue, Lenora Street and 9th Avenue.Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts has been chosen to operate a 160-room, five-star boutique hotel topped with 33 luxury condos, and Whole Foods Market will operate a 47,000-sf grocery store. In addition, 2200 Westlake will include 228 condominium units in two 11-story towers, 39,000 sf of shops and restaurants, an 8,500-sf luxury day spa and a 5,700-sf Bank of America retail branch. At the bottom of the slope, the grocery store and the bank will flank the entrance to an interior courtyard that will be the main ingress and egress for the hotel, the condominium buildings and the additional restaurant and retail space. Originally, a 238,000-sf office tower was part of the project, not a hotel, and QFC was the grocer. That was December 2000, however, when the office market was still healthy. In April 2003, Milliken told GlobeSt.com they were proposing to replace the office space with a high-end hotel. “While the office decline cost us time and money having to redo that portion of our development, we are actually ending up with a far superior development in a number of ways,” he said. “The inclusion of a five-star hotel and a day spa would dramatically improve the project’s ambiance, provide a nice amenity for the emerging South Lake Union Neighborhood and, because the hotel tower is skinnier than the office tower, substantially improve the view corridors for residents of the condominium towers.” On Thursday, Milliken told GlobeSt.com the last 16 months have been spent deciding on a hotelier, altering the designs, re-permitting the project and switching grocers. “We spent the first nine months deciding (which hotel operator) we would go with, and then we had to complete the redesign and go through a re-permitting process,” says Milliken. Additionally, Milliken said that because they were changing the feel of the development with a high-end hotel, they also decided to re-examine grocers for their anchor retail spot. They ultimately selecting Whole Foods, which touts itself as the world’s largest retailer of natural and organic foods, and which customers have nicknamed “Whole Paycheck.”The cost of the condominium units will range from $300,000 to more than $2 million. The average per sf price will be approaching $500 per sf, says Milliken. There will be a lot of product in the 500- to 750-sf range, says Milliken.US Bank funded the construction loan. Demolition at the site is complete and excavation is underway. Completion is slated for August 2006. Turner Construction Company is the general contractor. CollinsWoerman is the lead architect for the project. Hirsch Bedner Associates is the architect for the hotel. Weber+Thompson is the interior design firm for the condominiums.