Onni pivots from offices to residential in Seattle

Onni Group has shifted gears from offices to apartments or condominiums after halting its redevelopment of a former Seattle Times headquarters.

The Vancouver, Canada-based developer led by Rossano De Cotiis has pivoted toward residential after stopping construction of two towers with 1 million square feet of offices at 1120 John Street, the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce reported.

The firm now plans to build two residential towers above its partially built parking garage, which stalled a year ago.

Onni envisions a 49-story tower and a 14-story highrise containing a combined 814 homes, ground-floor shops and restaurants and four levels of underground parking, according to a filing with the city Department of Construction and Inspections.

An overall project update will be outlined in late November, according to Onni Senior Development Manager Tim Hamann in an email to the Puget Sound Business Journal.

One unidentified source who lives in the neighborhood said he attended a briefing by Onni officials, who intend to make the project “half residential and half commercial.”

Onni bought the former Seattle Times headquarters property and the parking lot covering a block to the south in 2013 for $62.5 million.

The developer has already completed a first phase including a Level Hotel and two highrises with 827 apartments. The hotel has furnished apartment-style units, giving guests the option of nightly or monthly stays.

Onni owns another development pad next door at 121 Boren Avenue N. where it plans to build a 41-story, 432-unit apartment tower where 13 Coins restaurant once operated.

Last year, an Onni sales director said at a public meeting that the company planned to break ground in the next six months. But online city records showed the construction permit still was in review, according to the Times.

The media-shy company, founded in 1965 by the late Italian immigrant Innocenzo De Cotiis,, has become a real estate powerhouse, with a major presence in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Phoenix, Toronto, and Vancouver, according to its website.

Since then, it has developed 15,000 homes, taken on 11,200 rental apartments, built more than 18.4 million square feet of office, retail, and industrial space, and has 28 million square feet of space in the pipeline.

— Dana Bartholomew