Sep 7, 2022, 10:14pm PDT
Additional details of the Seattle Sounders FC headquarters project at Longacres in Renton have dribbled out since the landmark project was announced in February, but one undisclosed detail is who will build it.
On Wednesday, Venture General Contracting office coordinator Melinda Ryland said the Seattle company has been awarded the contract for the project, whose overall capital cost is now estimated at $1.5 billion. That's according to a document that project developer Unico Properties submitted to the city. Earlier, Unico pegged the cost at over $1 billion.
Unico declined to comment for this story, though in one submittal said the aim of the project is to "revitalize Boeing's abandoned office campus and activate the 115-acre site with updated office, new housing, retail, dining, recreational facilities and open space amenities." Unico late last year paid $100 million for the property.
Other details of the project — now called Seattle Sounders FC Performance Center at Longacres — have been updated.
Initially, Unico said the transit-oriented redevelopment on the former Boeing Commercial Airplanes headquarters property would have up to 3,000 apartment units. But the pre-application states this has increased to nearly 3,460 units. The project site is next to Tukwila Station, which is served by commuter rail and bus-rapid transit.
In addition, Unico is evaluating the financial feasibility of building a parking structure. There are 2,150 parking stalls today, and options include adding between 3,035 and 5,035 stalls.
In a submittal to the city, Unico said it wants to continue conversations with the city about the parking garage "because the garage is the key to securing high-quality tenants, creating the right 'feel' at the site, and providing generous public amenities at Longacres."
The apartments will be in seven eight-story buildings, according to project documents, which indicate Seattle-based GGLO is the architect for the multifamily and new commercial space.
In addition, the existing Longacres office buildings will be rehabbed along with the potential construction of a new restaurant/pub and small boat/kayak launch on a lake.
As previously reported, Generator Studio of Kansas City also is working on the design of the center, which will have four to five practice fields — two with natural grass and the others with synthetic turf.
The performance center remains a work in progress. A complete application has not yet been filed with the city, Renton Senior Planner Jill Ding wrote in an email.
In one submittal, Unico wrote it anticipates executing a new development agreement with the city to allow for phased development of the project. The fields, along with a goal keeper's practice facility will be built in one to two phases over the next five years, according to one document.
Earlier, Unico said construction of the pitches is expected to begin in early 2023 with the performance center opening in 2024, the 50th year of the soccer club.