Another office building proposed in South Lake Union

Developer Skanska USA has filed preliminary paperwork for a
12-story office building on a half block in South Lake Union
that it bought earlier this week.

The building, on Fairview Avenue North between Harrison and
Republican streets, would have about 339,000 square feet of
office space, shops or restaurants on the ground floor, and
four or five levels of underground parking, according to city
records.

Skanska acquired the one-acre property, now the site of a
vacant warehouse, for about $11.6 million.

Zoning now limits buildings on the site to 65 feet, about half
what Skanska is proposing. But city officials are considering
zoning changes for South Lake Union that would allow Skanska to
construct an office building up to 160 feet tall.

A Skanska spokeswoman said the firm, a subsidiary of a Swedish
construction giant, hopes to start building next year, but
couldn't say whether construction would start without a signed
lead tenant.

Skanska is the latest firm to join what has become a
development stampede in Seattle's South Lake Union
neighborhood.