Now it’s a few gravel lots and an abandoned gas station-turned coffee shop. But if all goes according to plan, in a couple years Jet City Espresso and those five downtown Renton lots will be transformed into a multimillion dollar, six-story apartment and retail building.
Suzanne Dale Estey calls the proposed mixed-use complex a “big deal development.”
“We’re viewing it as kind of the next big thing downtown,” she says.
The proposed building is called 2nd and Main Apartments, and will go up exactly where its name suggests: the corner of South Second Street and Main Avenue South. At 69 feet tall, the building will feature one level of underground parking, one story of retail space and five stories of apartments. The 101 apartments will occupy nearly 95,000 square feet and the retail a little over 9,000 square feet.
An environmental determination and public hearing is Tuesday. Renton’s hearing examiner will consider the site plan and conditional use permit at this time. He has two weeks to issue a decision, and the appeal period will also last about two weeks. If all goes smoothly, 2nd and Main Apartments could move quickly into utility and building permits, which Dale Estey says are the final steps of approval. The City of Renton Environmental Review Committee has ruled that the project would not have a significant adverse impact on the environment. The window to appeal the environmental determination has closed.
N & C Investments LLC owns the five downtown lots. The Mercer Island company expects construction to begin in August or September. The complex should take about 16 months to build, says Iolanthe Chan-McCarthy, developer and one of N & C’s principal owners. She estimates the complex will cost about $13 million. Work on the complex has been going on about a year and a half, she says.
“It’s going to be a beautiful building,” Chan-McCarthy says of the craftsman-style complex, by TSA Architects.
Chan-McCarthy says the proposed complex will be a “gateway to the downtown area.” Dale Estey says the project will be part of the revitalization of downtown. The city also plans to add a public art piece at the corner of Second and Main, Dale Estey says.
“The city views it as a significant next step in continuing to foster a revitalized 24/7 vibrant downtown,” Dale Estey says.
But Jet City Espresso will no longer be a part of this revitalized downtown — or at least not part of the revitalized Second and Main corner.
The offbeat coffee shop could move into the retail floor of the 2nd and Main Apartments, but Jet City owner Debbie Natelson says the rent would likely be too high.
The city has offered Jet City help in relocating, and Natelson says she’s working with some downtown property owners to find a new spot. But for now, the future of the 18-year-old kitsch-filled coffee shop is unknown.
“I’m just trying to think good thoughts,” Natelson says. “We need a lot of community support for it to happen.”
Jet City is the only business occupying the five lots. The remaining four are vacant. The property is bordered by South Second Street to the north, Pounders Bar & Grill to the south, Main Avenue South to the east and an alley to the west. Pounders rents a gravel lot for parking.
Emily Garland can be reached at emily.garland@reporternewspapers.com or (425) 255-3484, x. 5052.
Public Meeting
An environmental determination and public hearing for the 2nd and Main Apartments is Tuesday, 9 a.m., Council Chambers, 7th floor City Hall, 1055 S. Grady Way.
