A seven-story, 76-unit apartment project at 600 E. Howell St. recently received its certificate of occupancy from the city. It broke ground about two years ago. Blueprint Capital developed the project.
Now the Low Income Housing Institute says it’ll buy what it now calls the Clay Apartments. King County hasn’t yet recorded the sale. Terms and brokers weren’t announced. The Clay isn’t publicly listed for sale. Owner Blueprint Howell LLC assembled the site for about $2.4 million during 2016 – 2017.
LIHI says the Clay will house formerly homeless individuals and veterans making 0% to 50% of area median income.
The nonprofit said on its website, “The acquisition of the Clay Apartments is an unprecedented opportunity to capitalize on the current market conditions to quickly and cost effectively provide housing for the most vulnerable populations.”
Units are mostly SEDUs (small efficiency dwelling units). Six apartments are live/work units. Sizes run from about 286 to 411 square feet.
What had originally been programmed as 1,476 square feet of restaurant space will be repurposed. LIHI says, “The seller has also agreed to build out the commercial space into community space that will host additional case management offices, a computer lab, a community kitchen, and a communal sitting area.”
Still included are a roof deck, bike, room, lounge and other amenities.
The Clay team also included SHW, architect; Swenson Say Faget, structural engineer; Terrane, surveyor; True Scape Design, landscape architect; Geotech Consultants; Greenlake Engineering, civil; Evergreen Certified, Built Green consultant; Patrick Hayes, energy consultant; and Weber Thompson, interiors.
The corner project, at Belmont Avenue, replaced the Redwood bar and Howell Street Grocery. SHW estimates the total project size at 36,122 square feet. The site is a little west of the Broadway commercial strip and Capitol Hill Station.