Quarterra, MacNaughton Start Huge Apartment Project in Seattle

Construction started this week on one of the largest multifamily developments in Seattle.

Lennar Corporation subsidiary Quarterra and Hawaii-based real estate investment and development firm MacNaughton expect to spend $400 million on the development, at 3040 Northeast 45th Street near the University Village mall, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported.

The project will bring 796 units across 944,700 square feet. That includes 26,000 square feet of retail space next to University Village. The development is in the Laurelhurst neighborhood near the University of Washington.

The development will consist of three mid-rise buildings, and the complex will have amenities like a pool, fitness center, club room, cinema and dog spa. The commercial space will have a public plaza with outdoor art, landscaping and sidewalks.

The housing portion of the development will include more than 200 below-market-rate apartments using the city’s multifamily tax exemption and Mandatory Housing Affordability programs. In King County, low-income is generally defined as making 80 percent or less of the area median income, or $84,850 for a household of one.

A Safeway operated on the development site for decades before closing in 2023. Parent company Albertsons Companies paid more than $25 million for the 1.8-acre site in 2021. Lennar acquired the property from Albertsons in March for $70 million, the outlet said.

The first phase of the development is expected to open in early 2028.

The multifamily market in the Seattle area is bouncing back after a sluggish past two years.

In May, Carmel Partners paid $121 million for the 289-unit Urbana Apartments complex at 1501 NW 56th Street in Ballard. That same month, the Sobrato Organization bought the Soma Towers in Bellevue for a whopping $192.9 million, marking the largest commercial real estate transaction in King County so far this year. That deal outdid the sale of the Riverpark apartment complex in downtown Redmond at the top of the year for $147 million.

— Chris Malone Méndez