Apartments planned for J&M Hotel Building

The saga of the mostly vacant J&M Hotel Building, at 201 First Ave. S. in Pioneer Square, stretches back some 136 years. The basic red-brick structure, on the corner of South Washington Street, dates to 1889. Various additions followed until 1905; the upper hotel floors have been vacant since 1969. The namesake J&M Cafe closed five years back, while the Mediterranean Mix restaurant improbably survives by catering to the lunchtime trade.

Prior to January’s sale to a New York investor with Seattle roots, there had been an approved plan to convert the upper floors to a boutique hotel. The architect was then BuildingWork, and the same firm will take a new apartment plan before the Pioneer Square Preservation District Board today. That future residential component isn’t being discussed specifically in today’s meeting. Instead, the owner is asking to demolish the west annex on the alley, which is in danger of collapsing. Today, as with the 2017 hotel plan, the intent is to preserve as much of the old bricks as possible, then reuse them in a rebuilt three-story annex (matching the height on First).

BuildingWork writes in its board briefing materials that “the annex building has continued to deteriorate, and is currently in high risk of collapse, representing a significant life safety risk.” A future seismic upgrade would come under Swenson Say Faget, which also previously assessed the J&M’s creaky instability. (Later removing the nearby viaduct surely didn’t help.) Thus, says BuildingWork, “As a first step to the rehabilitation of the J&M and the residential construction in the upper floors, the owner needs to demolish the annex building because of the risk of its collapse.”

Assuming the demo is approved, “The new owner intends to rehabilitate the building, reopen the J&M Cafe and convert the upper floors to residential apartments.” That would require separate future approval from the board. That plan puts the residential entry where Med Mix is today, and would expand the J&M Cafe within a slightly larger new footprint. Above would be about 18 to 20 units, which look to be studios and one-beds. A total gut renovation and new systems, including an elevator, would be required.

Says BuildingWork, “Once completed, the rehabilitated J&M Hotel Building will restore this important historic building, and provide much-needed new housing in the neighborhood, making a significant contribution to the ongoing revitalization of the Pioneer Square Historic District.”

Owner of record Harbor Lane LLC is associated with Michael Savage. About the same time as the J&M sale, for a bit under $1.6 million, he also purchased the nearby Marathon Building, two doors south, for about the same price. No plans have emerged for the latter; the Marathon has offices over the vacant former Alstadt beer-hall space.