November 15, 2013 — Source
The Argens building on Seattle’s waterfront was home to a 113-year-old locksmithing business until earlier this year. Goodman Real Estate plans to tear down the building and replace it with a seven-story apartment project.
Goodman Real Estate will build a seven-story apartment building on a Seattle waterfront site where one of Seattle’s oldest businesses, Argens Safe and Lock Co., operated until earlier this year.
Meanwhile, another company, Mack Urban, is moving ahead with its plans for a 16-story residential building on the waterfront.
George Petrie, president and CEO of Seattle-based Goodman, said his company plans to build the seven-story project at 80 S. Main St., with units for people who make 100 percent of the area median income. The Seattle area’s median income was $65,677, according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2012 American Community Survey.
The Argens building in Pioneer Square is a stone’s throw from the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which will be torn down in the coming years and replaced with a 26-block promenade. Real estate investors and developers, including Goodman and Mack Urban, are positioning themselves to capitalize on the situation.
Mack Urban, formerly known as Harbor Urban, is proceeding with a 16-story residential project at 1301 Western Ave. A city board is scheduled to review on Dec. 3 the early design of the 165-unit project with retail at the base.
Goodman has been particularly active on the waterfront.
About two weeks ago, the company bought the 6,000-square-foot Argens property for $1.85 million, a price that was close to double King County’s $961,000 assessed value of the property.
In addition, Goodman this fall re-acquired the Grand Central, an office and retail building a half-block east of the Argens site, for $11.5 million. Goodman had sold this building six years ago; the buyer ultimately was foreclosed on; and the property was bought in 2011 by a Canadian group, which sold it back to Goodman.
In addition, Goodman completed construction of the Post, a 16-story apartment building at the north edge of Pioneer Square. The building was completely leased in about seven months, and company officials this summer said they were getting average rents of just over $3 a square foot.
Petrie said Goodman will tear down the mid-20th century Argens building to make way for the new apartments. The project will have mostly one-bedroom units and not much parking, he said.
Under current zoning, the building could be up to 12 stories tall, though Petrie said Goodman is planning a seven-story building with 46 units.
The Argens company was started in 1880 by Henry Argens, an immigrant. The company moved from across the street to the 80 S. Main building in 1977. Fourth-generation owner Jeff Argens sold the business last summer to Watson Security of Seattle.