housing

70-unit apartment building proposed at corner of Franklin and Olympia

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The Site Plan Review Committee yesterday reviewed a proposed project that would build 70 multifamily units on a 14,375 square-foot parcel lot at 303 Franklin St. NE at the NE corner with Olympia Avenue

According to the project's presubmission detail, the current site is a city-owned parking lot used as a tiny home village that provides temporary housing, otherwise known as the Homeless Mitigation Site.

Corey Baldwin, who represents Aberdeen Capital LLC, said the 303 Franklin Workforce Housing project would have at least 70 units.

It would consist of 20 studio, 30 one-bedroom, and 20 two-bedroom apartments in a six-story building. The ground floor would have 20 parking spaces and 3,000-square-foot of office, amenity, and lobby space. There is a proposed courtyard on the second story and five floors of housing above the ground floor.

EV-ready parking

Erik Jensen, Olympia building official, informed the developer that Washington State is just a year away from implementing the new building code, which requires commercial and residential buildings to have electric vehicle-ready (EV) parking.

"Depending on when you turn in your application and is accepted [that] will be the code that will be reviewed under," Jensen said.

He added the new building code may be implemented on July 1, 2023.

The state building code, Jensen said, requires 10% EV charging.

"Understand that the city council is working on options for a possibility of 100% EV charging requirement…that could be a situation and I want to bring attention to it," Jensen said.

Planning evaluation

Casey Schaufler, assistant planner with the Community Plan and Development, said there is no vehicle parking requirement for the project, but there should be bicycle parking.

Schauflernoted that the developer included the balconies and decks in the calculation for common open space.

"If you are including the balconies in the calculation, they have to meet a certain size requirement – 35 square feet," he said.

Schaufler said he would send the developer notes including all details on balconies, open space calculation, and design review requirements for the streets.

According to Schaufler, the site has a strong likelihood of inadvertent discovery of cultural resources. He recommended that the developer work closely and communicate with tribal partners in the area.

"The entire area was once part of the timber industry. So there is a high likelihood of cultural resource findings once you break soil on the site," Schaufler said.

Schaufler discussed the area's historical background on behalf of Olympia's Historic Preservation officer Marygrace Goddu, who was absent from the meeting.

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