Kiara (also known as 970 Denny Way) is a

residential A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

skyscraper in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. The 40-story, tower has 461 apartments and was completed in 2018. It is first skyscraper in the

South Lake Union South Lake Union (sometimes SLU) is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the southern tip of Lake Union. The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which is Den ...

neighborhood and is one of the few highrise buildings outside the traditional boundaries of Downtown Seattle. The building is located at the intersection of

Denny Way Denny Way is an east–west arterial street in downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. It forms the northern end of the Belltown street grid as well as the boundaries of Belltown, Lower Queen Anne, South Lake Union, Denny Triangle, and ...

and Terry Avenue, near the headquarters of ''

The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...

'' and the

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914. History Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of pi ...

. Kiara is owned by Pontegadea, who acquired the building in 2022.

Design and features

Developer Holland Partner Group contracted architecture firm Weber Thompson to design a building that reflected both the industrial origins of the neighborhood (as seen in the six-story brick

podium A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...

) as well as the

high-tech High technology (high tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or the newest te ...

future (as seen in the tower's glass exterior). The building will feature a 374-stall parking garage, as well as 188 bike spaces, and amenity spaces such as an outdoor porch and rooftop deck. The podium will house of retail space. The building's penthouse is and has a monthly lease of $19,265.

History

Holland Partner Group announced plans for a 40-story residential skyscraper on the site in December 2014, and purchased the site in March 2015 for $20.1 million. The design was approved by the city of Seattle in December 2015, allowing for construction to begin in January 2016 with the demolition of a three-story

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

on the project site that was built in 1927. The building was opened on September 1, 2018. Kiara was sold by Holland in 2020 to

Oxford Properties Oxford Properties is a Canadian multinational corporation, with operations in real estate investment, development and property management. Its portfolio includes office, retail, industrial, multi-residential, life sciences and hotel assets. Esta ...

, a Canadian real estate investor, for approximately $320 million. Spanish investment firm Pontegadea, owned by

Amancio Ortega Amancio Ortega Gaona (; born 28 March 1936) is a Spanish billionaire businessman. He is the founder and former chairman of Inditex fashion group, best known for its chain of Zara and Bershka clothing and accessories shops. As of November 202 ...

, acquired the building in December 2022 for $322.2 million. Oxford stated to the ''

Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce The ''Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce'' is a daily (six days per week) newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Specializing in business, construction, real estate, and legal news and public notices, it began publication in 1895 as the ''Bulle ...

'' that they intended to invest the proceeds in other types of properties, including those in the Seattle area.

References

{{Seattle skyscrapers Residential buildings completed in 2018 Residential skyscrapers in Seattle South Lake Union, Seattle