According to a Seattle Times report, developer Bentall Capital is pausing their Summit III project, which has been planned to be a 15-story, 330,000 square-foot office building at 108th Ave NE & NE 4th St. The project is across the street from Tower 333, also known as the Expedia Tower.
The project began in early 2008 and had early whispers of potential tenants of Expedia or Microsoft. Neither these, nor any other tenants have panned out, now pushing Bentall Capital to pause the project; it is now about 13 months from being finished.
Those living and working in the area will be happy to hear that according to the report the developer plans to finish the sidewalks, street trees, a plaza, fountains, flagpoles, benches, and a sculpture. Currently the sidewalks are closed, and it has become a hassle to get around near the construction site, not to mention its lack of beauty.
In addition, the city has given the developer permission to rent out the 600 spaces within the parking garage that is almost complete.
This is yet another victim of the down economy, but it’s better to see developers be smart about halting projects, rather than finishing them and leaving them frighteningly vacant. Bentall Capital says that construction could be halted for 2 or 3 years.
