A four-story addition would rise behind the old St. Nicholas building under the plan

(Image: City permit filings)

Capitol Hill’s next major affordable housing development may come on the holy ground of North Capitol Hill.

Early permit filings show a plan for a four-story adaptive reuse project with around 109 affordable apartment units in a development that would create a new twin to the landmarks-protected St. Nicholas building on the grounds of the St. Mark’s Cathedral along 10th Ave E.

CHS reported here in November on renewed efforts around the long-planned development effort as Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral announced it received a $100,000 grant from Trinity Church Wall Street, an organization that helps churches and faith organizations fund feasibility and predevelopment costs.

For St. Mark’s, proceeds from the development would provide crucial funding while also furthering its social mission by providing much needed new affordable housing in the city.

The St. Nicholas building dates to 1926 and was built as a new home for the exclusive St. Nicholas School, “a private nonsectarian girls’ school founded in 1910,” Historylink reports. Four years later, St. Mark’s completed its rise on the land to the south of the school. Set back by the economic crash in 1929, the cathedral remained unfinished until a project to finish the limestone interior and upgrade the structure’s Depression-era glass was completed in 2018.

St. Nicholas is also in need of crucial upgrades and the development would include “a significant addition or phased new building” that would rise four stories behind the older structure, according to the early permit paperwork. The new building would be about 61,000 square feet — around 22,000 square feet bigger than the existing structure it will join.

Organizations that have been utilizing the old building are marking news plans. Over the weekend, Gage Academy held a “yard sale” to help clear out its holdings as it prepares to move into a South Lake Amazon office building where the 35-year-old school will become the ground-floor presence below floors of tech workers above. The Bright Water School and Amistad School have also been calling the building home.

There are still many months of Seattle process including public design review to move through before works begins on the project. The development could be one of many new affordable housing projects in the city pairing developers and community organizations like St. Mark’s. The Seattle City Council is considering legislation that would create a Connected Communities program to ease affordable housing development by “community-based organizations.” CORRECTION: Affordable muliftamily development is exempt from design review in Seattle.

The pilot program would run through 2029 or create 35 housing developments — whichever comes first — by pairing “community-based organizations with limited development experience” with nonprofit and for-profit developers “for development of low- and moderate-income housing with neighborhood serving equitable development uses.”

St. Mark’s is working with the Atelierjones architecture firm on early planning for the development.

UPDATE: As noted in comments below, the Seattle landmarks preservation board will hear a briefing on the project next week.

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