Crescent Capital Group Plans Seattle Area Affordable Housing

As more companies double down on Bellevue for office space, multifamily developers are making plans to meet housing demand downtown, including one effort slated to deliver nearly 500 units.

Los Angeles-based Crescent Capital Group received approval from local officials on its master development plan for 491 units on 1.5 acres at 919 109th Avenue Northeast, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported, citing an announcement from the city. Crescent first proposed the project, known as Crest Holdings, in December 2023.

The effort calls for constructing two apartment buildings around the existing Pacific Regent Bellevue retirement community. The land in question is next to the 10-story U.S. Bank Plaza office building and across the street from Ashwood Park and the Bellevue Library. Other multifamily developments such as Belcarra Apartments, Avalon Bellevue and City Square Bellevue Apartments are within one block to the east or west.

The first phase of the plan calls for an eight-story building with 196 market-rate apartments. The structure would rise on a 35,000-square-foot site on the north side of the development along Northeast 10th Street. That building would also have four levels of subterranean parking with 223 spaces.

The second phase would dwarf the first.

Crescent Capital Partners is looking to build a 22-story apartment tower on a roughly 30,000-square-foot site at the corner of Northeast 10th Street and 109th Avenue Northeast consisting of 270 market-rate units and 25 affordable housing units as well as 2,780 square feet of ground-floor retail.

That portion of the project would also include a plaza on the southern end of the tower. By providing affordable units and retail space, the developer would benefit from exemptions for denser construction as permitted by Bellevue city ordinances.

To make it happen, Crescent is looking to redevelop parking lots and single-family homes surrounding the Pacific Regent tower that Ohio-based Welltower purchased in 2021 from Arizona-based Watermark Retirement Communities for nearly $26 million, the Business Journal reported. Crescent plans to buy the parking lots along Northeast 10th Street and 109th Avenue Northeast for the development, according to Bellevue city staff.

Approval for Crescent’s master development plan will last 10 years. Any appeals against the decision to greenlight the project must be submitted by April 1.

The housing push could help the city meet its need for housing as more tech companies commit to Bellevue. The city itself is planning for at least 70,000 new jobs and 35,000 new housing units by 2044.

Amazon is consolidating its Seattle-area operations in the Eastside city and has committed $100 million for affordable housing there. Artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, amid an expansion streak in the Bay Area, recently added 233,130 square feet of offices at City Center Plaza in downtown Bellevue. The Sam Altman-led company made its Puget Sound debut last year with 69,000 square feet at the office tower. Uber is also preparing to expand in the area. — Chris Malone Méndez