Vulcan, Pemco Start 362,500-SF Mixed-Use Project

SEATTLE-Vulcan Inc. and Pemco Insurance have started on Alley24, their $37-million mixed-use development at 223 Yale Ave. N., just west of REI’s flagship retail store. The project will consist of two low-rise building containing 172 residential units, 165,000 sf of office space and 28,000 sf of street-level retail. The project will be ready for tenants in early 2006. The boundaries of the project are John and Thomas streets and Yale and Pontius avenues. The office and residential will be in separate low-rise buildings, with the residential units to be located in the former Richmond Laundry facility on the site. The office building will reportedly be five or six stories with ground-floor retail space.Anchoring the office project are the project architect, locally based NBBJ, and New Jersey-based Skanska USA Building Inc., general contractor for the office portion of the project. NBBJ committed to 70,000 sf last year and Skanska signed on for 25,000 sf earlier this year. Both were direct deals that did not include brokers. Skanska will relocate from an 18,000-sf building at 900 Poplar Place S. that it developed and occupied in the early 1980s. NBBJ will relocate from two buildings in the city’s Pioneer Square neighborhood, including 111 S. Jackson St. Garth Olsen, Mike Dash and Scotta Ashcraft with Cushman & Wakefield have the leasing assignment for the remaining office space. Locally based Harbor Properties, which navigated the project through the design and permitting phases, sold its one-third stake in the development to Vulcan earlier this year for an undisclosed price. The transaction gave Vulcan two-thirds ownership of the project and lead developer status. The plan is to have Alley24 be Seattle’s first mixed-use project that is LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED is an industry measurement tool created by the US Green Building Council to define green, environmentally and community-conscious projects. The project will feature operable windows, accessible green rooftops, reuse of rainwater, low energy and water fixtures, and environmentally sensitive building materials.Vulcan Inc. owns approximately 60 acres in the South Lake Union area and has completed several new commercial and residential projects, including the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute Building, which totals 112,000 sf; the 136,000-sf Interurban Exchange III building, home to Rosetta Inpharmatics/Merck; and the Alcyone Apartments, offering 162 new apartment homes. Vulcan projects in South Lake Union that are under construction include the 87,000-sf 428 Westlake building, the future Seattle headquarters for Tommy Bahama; the renovation of 800 Mercer St., a 105,000-sf project that is the first phase of the new UW Medicine Lake Union research campus; and 2200 Westlake, a $200-million mixed-use project being developed in a joint venture with Milliken Urban Limited Partnership.