131 Rainier Valley units move closer to MUP, if not start

Acting as its own architect, Koz Development recently received design approval from the city for a 131-unit apartment project in the Rainier Valley. A master use permit doesn’t look to be far behind.

Koz already owns the mostly vacant land at  3803 S. Warsaw St., via a 2020 sale to an affiliated investor group. Koz mentions a possible fall start on its website. Detailed plans have been filed for the five-story Koz on MLK Seattle, though there’s no sign yet of a general contractor.

As of now, the team includes Swenson Say Faget, structural engineer; AHBL, civil engineer and landscape architect; AWA Electrical Consultants; and Abossein Engineering, MEP.

The site is a small trapezoidal block facing Martin Luther King Jr. Way South; Koz owns all but a small Sound Transit-owned corner. It’s also bounded by 38th Avenue South, Warsaw to the north and South Holly Street to the south. It’s also in a federally tax-favored Opportunity Zone.

There is no parking, but tenants will have about a seven-minute walk south to Othello Station. The bike parking will have 112 stalls.

Units run from SEDUs (small efficiency dwelling units) to small two-bedrooms. Sizes range from around 280 to 615 square feet.

One retail/commercial bay on the building’s north end will have about 1,900 square feet. That all contributes to total project size of almost 60,000 square feet, with a Mandatory Housing Affordability payment of nearly $406,000.

The Snohomish-based multifamily developer is currently building projects in Portland and Tacoma, and planning others on Capitol Hill, in Lynnwood, Lower Queen Anne, and Spokane.