That dramatic change is coming to the 12th Avenue commercial core is undeniable. Numerous large projects taking shape or soon to be are serving to transform a stretch of arguably underused urban property into what is becoming one of the Hill's more dynamic streets.
The epicenter of such change, even transformation, lies between East Pike and Madison streets. On both sides of the street major mixed-use projects are well under way. These projects are within a stone's throw of the Braeburn project, built on the site of the former Red Apple supermarket, as well as a mixed-use project being built where Thumper's used to be.
The largest of them, the Trace project on 12th Avenue north of Madison, takes up most of the east side of the street. The development consists of a major renovation of the Trace building, an old warehouse, combined with a new, modern development that abuts the older structure.
As anyone driving by can attest, the Trace project is a substantial development. Trace Lofts, the warehouse conversion, consists of 42 condominiums with street-level retail. It's slated to open by August. Trace North, the new building, will contain 100 condos as well as ground floor retail when it opens in the first quarter of 2008. Combined with changes on the west side of the street, including the restaurants Osteria La Spiga and Café Stellina and the 12th and Pike apartments also nearing completion, the formerly sleepy streetscape is becoming an epicenter of activity.
Developer Ted Schroth noticed the prominent Trace building years ago. Mostly vacant, he saw what he called both a business opportunity and a chance for some urban preservation.
"I'd driven by the building many times and thought it had possibilities. I knew that somehow this cool old building had to be saved," he said.
That the parcel of land just north of the building was available importantly allowed for a project that would let the Trace building remain. Used mostly as a parking lot, with one dilapidated building on the property, it's availability allowed for the combined project to pencil out economically.
The old Trace building was built in 1919. By 1935, and for the next 25 years, the Bekins moving company used the space as a warehouse facility. But the late '70s, the Trace Athletic Company used the building's third floor. Artists' studios occupied the second floor, while Tibetan monks took residence on the building's street level.
By 1999, the building was purchased by Earnie Allen, owner of the C.H. Holderby Company, as a place to store his huge collection of vintage industrial sewing machines. When Schroth bought the building in 2005, the three top floors were empty, while the basement was filled with old sewing machines in various stages of functionality. Schroth kept several of them and will use them as part of the building's decoration. An old pulley from a freight elevator will be put to similar use.
While the building needed considerable seismic retrofitting it was in overall good shape structurally. Such strength allowed Schroth to add a two-floor penthouse to the top of the former warehouse.
Adjacent to the Trace Lofts, the Trace North project is unapologetically modern. Schroth said its design aims to connect with the neighborhood's industrial past and include a strong pedestrian connection, but does not try to replicate the feel of its nearly 90-year-old partner.
"Our thought was to let the old be old and have the new be new," Schroth said.
The units will not come cheap. For Trace Lofts, the average price is in the $450,000 range, a number skewed slightly by the top floor penthouse condos, some of which approach $1 million. Trace North's average cost is in the mid to high $300,000s. Given Seattle's, and Capitol Hill's, inflated housing prices, many of the units are targeted to first-time home buyers attracted to dense, urban housing.
Half the units in the Trace Lofts have been sold. As for retail, what is currently the Trace buyers lounge has been renovated to accommodate its future life as the Gun Club. Schroth said he wants to target local, independent retailers who are able to provide a neighborhood amenity.
Perhaps unusually, Trace is being marketed with the 12th and Pike project being undertaken by developer Liz Dunn on the other side of the street. Such cooperation led to the practical benefit of having the street's electrical wires put underground years ahead the city's intended date.
"It made sense to both of us to collaborate. We share similar values on the kinds of urban projects we want to do and the kinds of businesses we hope can move into these spaces," he said. "I think that larger, national retail doesn't work for this streetscape, and Liz thinks similarly. You can see this from the businesses that are in her buildings. A neighborhood will support local businesses over the long run."
Schroth acknowledged that not everyone favors development and the kind of urban infill his company creates. Not everyone can afford Trace condos, and not everyone wants to see the street become more crowded. But he noted that the Pike-Pine Neighborhood Plan welcomes density. New residents and businesses create safer and more active neighborhoods.
"This is an emerging neighborhood, and this street is the neighborhood nexus," he said. "I think most people will be pleased with what they see."
Doug Schwartz is the editor of the Capitol Hill Times. He can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com or 461-1308.[[In-content Ad]]
