South Lake Union Neighborhood Closing on 2 Million Square Feet

by Lucy Bodilly

The South Lake Union area is full of construction cranes,
as Vulcan Real Estate builds out its planned neighborhood.

Vulcan Real Estate Group has gone where no man has gone before in its development of the 60-acres it owns in the South Lake Union area just north of downtown Seattle.

Until 2005 it was home to the city’s oldest active laundry, a car dealership and lots of empty buildings. Some would call it ugly, others “underdeveloped.”

Since then Vulcan has completed 1.7 million square feet of office, laboratory, retail and residential space in nine buildings. One million square feet is now under construction.

“By 2011 we will have completed 5 million square feet,” says Lori Mason Curran, Vulcan's Market Research Manager.

Smaller residential projects piqued interest in the area and brought tenants to its first high-rise residential building, 2200 Westlake.

The goal is to create a live-work-play neighborhood where people can get out of their cars, says Mason Curran “This is the last close-in area with a natural amenity - Lake Union.” Several social factors support the idea including Seattle’s ever-worsening traffic and increased environmental awareness. Though many of the new buildings aren’t certified, sustainable features are common. And the area is one of USGBCs pilot LEED neighborhoods.

Drawbacks to development in the area include zoning that restricts the development of residential space.

“Developing this area did take a pioneering eye and the ability to take a risk,” says Mason Curran.

Now under way across the street is 2201 Westlake, which will include 12 floors of office space and 19 floors of residential that make up Enso Condominiums, an upscale condo tower. Also under construction are two smaller multi-family housing/mixed use retail buildings, The Veer Lofts and Rollin Street, and new laboratory facilities for the University of Washington. Tying the entire area together are a street car that runs between Lake Union and downtown and a 12-acre park.

2201 Westlake/Enso

The residential and office mixed use project forms the west side of the gateway that brings people into the South Lake Union neighborhood. Immediately to the east is 2200 Westlake, which was completed in 2007, by Turner Construction, Seattle.

The 2201 complex, designed by Callison, Seattle, contains office, residential, and retail space all built above a four-story podium.

The building is designed for a LEED silver rating. A large curved curtain wall in the office building allows for more daylighting. The building core is offset and all floors have raised floors and an air displacement system. Glumac, Portland, designed a HVAC system that allows air warmed by office users during the day to transfer to the condominium tower at night.

“Office and condo space also add to the 24 hour live/work/play concept that is critical to creating a neighborhood. It is really a microcosm of a city,” says Mike Scott, Principal with Callison. “Right now it’s unusual to see that combination, but you’ll see a lot more of it in the future.”

For Sellen, the general contractor on the project, “the condo tower will be the most difficult to build,” says Brad Hayes, senior project manager. When finished in 2009, Enso will be one of the most upscale condo towers in Seattle. “There are an extraordinary number of finishes and materials to coordinate.”

One of the most complicated systems is the garbage and recycling chutes, which will let residents dump their garbage from a central location on each floor. “You can imagine the number of safety measures you have to install to make sure garbage from above doesn’t hit somebody on a lower floor, as they put their trash down the chute,” says Hayes.

Prices for labor and materials have been pretty stable throughout the project, says Hayes. “Labor prices are inflated somewhat, because there are only a certain number of vendors who can supply the workers.”

Seattle Streetcar

The Seattle Streetcar, South Lake Union line is a 2.6-mile (round-trip) line connecting the downtown commercial core, Denny Triangle, and South Lake Union neighborhoods. General contractor on the project is Stacy & Witbeck, Portland.

The $50.5 million project includes 11 passenger platforms, a maintenance facility, and three modern streetcar vehicles.

Groundbreaking occurred in July 2006 and the project is currently approaching substantial completion, with passenger service scheduled to begin in mid-December. The streetcar will operate every 15 minutes in each direction.

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Construction of the streetcar trackway involved:

• Excavation in existing streets, to a typical depth of 18"

• Placement and compaction of a 6" aggregate base

• Placement of rebar and construction of track (setting gauge and grade, welding, insulation in a rubber boot)

• Placement of concrete to encase the track.

• Another major component of the project is the traction power system. Two 300-KW traction power substations feed an over head contact wire to deliver 750V DC to power the streetcars.

University of Washington Medical Center, Lake Union Campus, Phase 2

The addition to the life science research campus offers laboratories for vascular biology, cardiology, regenerative biology, radiology, and breast and ovarian cancer. Phase 2 will provide a new five story, 198,000-sq-ft laboratory building; a new five-story, 96,000-sq-ft office building; and three levels of below-grade parking for 380 vehicles. Below-grade spaces will provide 14,000 sq ft of lab support space.

The site is located in a highly congested area in the South Lake Union neighborhood, adjacent to fully occupied, sensitive laboratory spaces. Hoisting, vibration control, and connections to existing services required careful planning to ensure a successful outcome on the project. The site also has a high water table, requiring an innovative solution to prevent ground water pressure from cracking the structure and flooding below-grade spaces. Sellen worked closely with engineers to develop a “boat” structure that combats hydrostatic pressure with waterproof concrete. Dewatering pumps have been decommissioned - saving money for the owner and reducing impacts to the neighborhood storm/sewer system.

“We used Hycrete, a waterproof concrete mixture that is pretty easily available,” says Todd Lee, senior project manager for Sellen.

Unlike the other sustainable buildings in the South Lake Union area, the lab will not be LEED certified, says Lee. “We won’t be doing all the paperwork to see if we are certified, but we will be auditing the project to see if it meets certified status. It’s very difficult to make a LEED rated lab, because of the amount of energy they take.”

The tight labor market also is impacting the project. “It’s been hard to maintain crews, but as long as the owner doesn’t accelerate the schedule we should be OK,” says Lee.
The lab includes biolevel safety three space, allowing scientists to study high level infectious diseases.

Lake Union Park

Local donations, including $10 million from Vulcan and almost $8 million from local the local construction community, are bringing the $20 million fundraising effort for Lake Union park to a close. The park which anchors the South Lake Union neighborhood on the north end, is being built through the Seattle Parks Foundation, a non-profit started to work on difficult or mega-park projects.

The 12-acre park will bring together classic Seattle elements: water, boats and trees.
The Center for Wooden Boats already takes up the east side of the site. The Naval Armory, a pre-WWII structure and several classic ships occupy the north side. The rest of the peninsula that juts into Lake Union has mooring available for recreational boats. A cedar boardwalk takes visitors along the shore.

Phase one of the park is scheduled to open in January with a new seawall, a pedestrian bridge, restored salmon habitat, planters, trees and a water feature. At the same time, visitors will be able to sample Seattle’s history. The site is not far from a Duwamish Indian village site, the city’s first lumber mill and Bill Boeing’s airplane hangar. If that’s not enough history the Museum of History and Industry will occupy the Armory in 2011.

The project makes history in another way with the first use of sheet metal piling from Luxumborg. The seawall required 1.6 million pounds of it. “We wanted it because it is lighter but stronger than what we would normally use,” says Toby Ressier, Seattle Parks Project Manager.

Crews from ACC Hurlen put in the new seawall and then cut the old wall out, recycling the metal parts.

Other points of interest will be a water feature, a grass scultpture and sea shell based walkways.

Hargreaves, of San Fransisco, was the landscape architect. Mithun and ACC/ Hurlen both of Seattle also worked in it.