Skanska USA Plans Office Tower for South Lake Union

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

South Lake Union is continuing its run as a regional hot spot for development. Skanska USA has started the entitlement process for construction of a 339,000-square-foot, 12-story office building, the Seattle Times reported.

The property would include ground-level retail and restaurant space and underground parking. Zoning presents a potential hitch, as current regulations limit any building on that site to a height of 65 feet, an aspect that the developer hopes to be modified by city officials. The accelerated development projects in the neighborhood could convince officials to raise the site’s building ceiling to 160 feet.

If it comes to fruition, the Skanska project will join other high-profile developments like the final phase of Amazon’s 1.7 million-square-foot headquarters and the 130,000-square-foot office building that Spear Street Capital recently kicked off. Veteran local developers Touchstone and Vulcan Real Estate have projects pending totalingaround 1 million square feet.

The infusion of office space has also attracted apartment development. About 400 residential units are currently under construction in South Lake Union, and another 1,300 units are in the pipeline.