LPC West JV Breaks Ground on Seattle Tower

Seattle skyline. Image by Deborah Jackson via pixabay.com

LPC West and investment partner Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. have commenced construction on the University District Station Building, an approximately 266,000-square-foot office destination in Seattle, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal. The University of Washington will be the lead tenant at the 12-story tower.

The start of construction of UDSB comes roughly 18 months after LPC West and Intercontinental inked a long-term ground lease for the transit-oriented development, which will sprout up at 4328 Brooklyn Ave. N.E., directly above a light rail station. The building will sit just two blocks from the university, in the heart of the city’s bustling U District submarket. “This project will support the transformation of the neighborhood and serve as an elevated gateway to the University of Washington,” according to a project presentation document by the City University Community Advisory Committee.

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Perkins & Will is the architect behind UDSB and has created a design that will include nearly 260,000 square feet of premier office space, approximately 2,600 square feet of ground-level retail space and, remaining true to the project’s transit-centric theme, zero car parking accommodations and ample bike storage. UDSB will also feature shower rooms, an amenity space, a rooftop terrace and a green roof with a solar panel array. Additionally, the development will offer open space in the form of an 8,800-square-foot pocket park. The project is designed to meet LEED Gold certification.

Tenant prospects

The Seattle office market has yet to fully recover from the consequences of the pandemic. However, certain areas are faring better than others, and the U District/Ballard submarket is one of them. The neighborhood that is hosting UDSB recorded an office vacancy rate of just 4.7 percent at the end of 2022, compared to metropolitan Seattle’s overall office vacancy rate of 10.5 percent, according to research by Kidder Mathews.

“While rising economic headwinds threw cold water on leasing activity to close 2022, some companies remained active in the market, looking to take advantage of ample high-quality options and relocate or, in some cases, expand,” according to the Kidder Mathews report.

With GLY Construction Inc. serving as the general contractor for UDSB, the University of Washington expects to take occupancy of the building in early 2025. In the meantime, LPC West and Intercontinental remain busy with other projects, including a 195,000-square-foot life science building that is planned for a site just a stone’s throw from the Space Needle in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood.