By Ruth Bayang
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Four Seas restaurant at 8th and King. (Photo by Ruth Bayang/NWAW)
InterIm Community Development Association (InterImCDA) is working to develop an affordable workforce housing mixed-use project at 714 South King Street — where the Four Seas restaurant and parking lot currently occupy.
The restaurant, owned and operated by the Chan family, will have to close in order for the development to happen. The family is partnering with InterIm on this project. The partnership came about a couple of years ago when King County had a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking funding for transit-oriented developments that provided affordable housing.
Evan Chan told the Northwest Asian Weekly, “We ended up partnering with InterIm, who has a long history of providing successful affordable housing in the International District. Our family has been in the neighborhood since 1935 and thought this would be a great opportunity to provide affordable housing and to remain in the neighborhood for many years to come.”
The project is planned to be seven stories high, and include approximately 104 units, ranging from studios to three bedrooms. To be eligible, residents must make no more than 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).
InterIm’s associate housing developer, Rie Shintani, said the ground level will include commercial space. It will be approximately 6,500 square feet and be operated by the Chan family.
Evan Chan said it’s too early to tell if the Four Seas restaurant will reopen in that space. He did say, “The intent is to design the commercial space to be able to accommodate a restaurant and lounge.”
Shintani said InterIm and the Chans agreed to an 80-year lease. The assessed value of the property, according to King County records, is $2.6 million. Real estate developer Ryan Gibson told the Northwest Asian Weekly it’s worth roughly double that.
The name of the building hasn’t been decided yet, but it will likely be an homage to the late Bob Santos.
InterIm anticipates construction to begin in the fall of 2019 with occupancy scheduled for spring 2021. They will hold public meetings in the months leading up to the actual groundbreaking.
Ruth can be reached at editor@nwasianweekly.com.
Congratulations to the Chan Family, Evan, Iolanthe , Harry, Al and others who will make this a monumental shift in Chinatown keeping low income and affordable housing in the core where it’s desperately needed and get away from corporate greed on taking over and building Chinatown into something other than what the people need here! Praise their endeavors!