Sunday, August 26, 2018

The Roost Gets Discussed at City Council Hearing


We got a nice complement from the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture last week when our work came up in the context of a city council meeting about creating and preserving cultural space. The project they are discussing is The Roost at 901 Hiawatha PL S, where we are offering the building commercial space to an arts non-profit at below-market rent. In doing so we hope to both make a contribution to strengthening the arts in our city, but also to secure an arts identity for our building and provide our tenants with goods and services that are enriching for the folks living upstairs. As they allude to in the discussion, we think we are very close to announcing a deal with a tenant for the space.  Stay tuned...

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Introducing The Roost - A New Affordable Urban Co-Living Community




Introducing The Roost - 901 Hiawatha Pl S (See here to apply)
The Roost is an innovative new micro housing development designed from the ground up as affordable market rate housing aimed at supporting and strengthening Seattle's arts community.  As part of our launch, we are doing extensive outreach to artists and arts organizations. We hope that you will assist us in spreading the word about this project via your own social network.



Affordable Urban Co-Living
The Roost is a unique project, unlike anything we have ever designed before. Most of the units are double height spaces with a small bed loft, freeing up room on the main level for work space or living room furnishings. They function more like one-bedroom apartments than micro-units. Nine of the units are set aside as income and rent restricted units, available to qualified applicants at rents significantly below market rate. The building also has a large commercial space on the first floor . We have reserved this space for an arts non-profit, furnishing the non-profit with a long-term home while also providing our tenants with services and/or cultural resources for artists and people in creative fields.


Pricing:
The rents listed below are averages. Individual unit prices may vary slightly based on unit size and location.  Wi-Fi service and utilities are included for all units (at no additional charge). MFTE units are available to individuals with annual incomes of less than $28,100.

Unit Type
Quantity
Avg Unit Size
Avg Monthly Rent
Small Units
2
160sf
$950
Small Units - MFTE
2
160sf
$702
Large Units
2
330sf
$1300
Units with Outdoor Patios
2
250sf
$1350
Loft Units
18
245sf
$1200
Loft Units - MFTE
7
245sf
$702




Unit Features:
Most of our units are double height lofts, with the bed space lifted up to provide a clear space at the main level for a work area or living room furnishings. The loft units feature thoughtful built-in amenities, unique custom finishes, and generous natural light and ventilation. Each unit has a private bathroom, a built-in wardrobe, and a kitchenette with a compact refrigerator, sink, and microwave. The cabinets were built out of fir plywood by a local cabinetmaker on Vashon Island. The flooring was custom-made using photographs of cedar fronds that we collected from Al Larkins Park in Madrona.


Typical loft space fits a queen sized bed

Custom fir plywood cabinets and cedar frond photo-print flooring


Common Amenities:
Just off the main building entry is a large common area containing a kitchen, dining table, laundry, mail room, TV lounge and a meeting space. The common room is a public counterpoint to the smaller, private units. It provides a community center for gatherings, casual meetups, movie nights, weekend dinners, and more.

Smaller common kitchens on both the 2nd and 3rd floors provide tenants with some additional food preparation areas convenient to their rooms. These features create more opportunities for chance encounters among neighbors as part of the day-to-day living experience.

A secure room for 26 bikes is located in the lower level and is accessed directly from the alley. Small rental storage areas are available as well. Building-wide Wi-Fi is provided free of charge for all tenants

Sustainability
The project is targeting Built Green Five Star certification, a comprehensive third-party verified green building program. Built Green requires performance above and beyond conventional building standards in a number of categories, including site development, water conservation, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and resource efficiency. Based on our modeling, we expect energy usage to be about 1/3 that of a conventional apartment building. A rooftop solar array will provide 85-90% of the domestic hot water for the building.

Support for the Arts
We are currently looking for an arts-oriented nonprofit organization to become our primary commercial tenant. We aim to provide a long-term home for an arts organization while also providing our tenants with services and/or cultural resources that would be useful to artists and people in creative fields.

Contact:
To inquire about renting a unit at the Roost or to schedule a tour, contact Revel Property Management at: http://revelrealtymgmt.com/contact/
To apply for a unit:
https://www.on-site.com/apps/criteria.jsp?goal=6&attr=x20&property_id=227612&lease_id=0&unit_id=0&required=


Monday, February 12, 2018

Hiawatha Artworks in Search for Commercial Tenant and Artists

Street View from S Charles St


Construction is rapidly progressing on our latest project at 901 Hiawatha Pl S, the latest evolution of our work in micro-housing model, aims to create a new live-work community for working artists. With a June 2018 completion date just around the corner, we are stepping up our outreach efforts to the artist community.

Commercial Storefront Space
One key component to our arts-based building is finding an arts-based tenant that can provide a facility, services, or cultural resources that would help secure an arts identity for the building and provide services useful to the working artists living in and around the building.  By offering a below market rate rent for the space we hope to attract a tenant that can fulfil this mission.

Commercial Space

The commercial storefront is a double-height, 1,236 SF space ideal for  exhibition space, open work area or light hazard maker-space.  Large windows along Hiawatha Place South and South Charles Street flood the space with natural light….. Overlooking the storefront is 600 SF of mezzanine suitable for additional workspace, private offices, conference rooms or storage.  The space could be leased to a single tenant or shared among multiple smaller organizations.

Commercial Space


Artist Live-Work Units
There are 33 units over 4 floors, containing 4 daylight basement units and 2 ground floor ADA units. 29 of the units are double-height spaces allowing a sleeping loft, and providing a small work-space below. Each unit contains over-sized windows, a kitchenette, small bathroom and built-in storage.

The daylight basement units are the smallest in the project at 160 SF.  The remaining 29 units sizes range from 241 SF including loft to 359 SF (including the loft). Because the project is enrolled in the Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) program, we will be able to offer nine of these units at a rate of $672/month. The remainder of the project will be market rate with monthly rents likely in the $900-$1100 range.


Typical Loft Unit

Building Amenities
Just off the main building entry is the Commons, a communal space containing a large kitchen, dining area, laundry, mailroom, a flat screen TV and rentable cabinets.   This space is a public counterpoint to the smaller, private units and is designed to create community for the artists for gatherings, causal meetups, movie nights and weekend dinners.

Smaller common kitchens on both the 2nd and 3rd floors provide tenants with some additional cook-space closer to their rooms and create more opportunity for chance encounters as part of day-to-day living. 

A secure room for 26 bikes is located in the daylight basement and is accessed directly off the alley. Small rental storage areas are available as well.

Building Location
The building is located less than 1 ½ miles from downtown Seattle and the International District and in close proximity to two new development hubs at Yesler Terrace and Promenade 23.  Frequent transit bus service is currently available less than a block away on Rainier Avenue. In 2023, Sound Transit Phase 2 will open a light rail station two blocks south of the project.

Nearby Cultural Resources
In addition to Art Space Hiawatha Lofts across the street, Pratt Fine Arts Center, Inscape Cultural Center and Rainier Oven Building are all within a mile walk.

Nearby Arts Organizations

If you know of an organization or working artist that may be interested in our project, please pass our blog along. For additional information or to schedule a tour of the building, please contact David Taber at dt@neimantaber.com.

See below for project plans and sections