Standing in front of a brick wall with rubble strewn behind him, Brad Padden kicked off construction of a project that he hopes will transform the Chinatown-International District (CID).
“I’m honored to be here and to be accepted into the community to bring a brighter future to this corner and hopefully more,” he said.
The development is a pioneer in a number of ways.
The building at 701 South Jackson Street will transform an unused vacant lot into affordable housing. It also takes advantage of Seattle’s progressive regulatory codes that allow builders like Padden to develop apartments without a requirement that he create parking spaces for the tenants.
Finally, the development is the answer to the hopes of many in the community for more activity on the streets—the density of the apartments will encourage the roughly 250 new residents to flood the streets—including going to local restaurants.