Seattle planning officials have signed off on a new Fremont development that will bring roughly 170 housing units to the Stone Way corridor while keeping a midcentury office building that many neighbors know by sight. The project pairs an eight-story apartment building with a four-story townhome stack, a stepped setup that designers say keeps the older structure in view instead of burying it behind a wall of new construction. The site sits just off Stone Way North, a commercial spine already in the middle of a makeover as offices and new housing fill in the gaps.
What the city approved
According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the approved plan covers about 170 units, with active ground-floor uses and small plaza spaces meant to keep the street from feeling like a dead zone. Project renderings on the architects' site show the taller volume stepping back to preserve sightlines to the Shannon & Wilson building and show existing surface parking shifted underground to open up landscaped areas. Those visuals are on file with the design team at Urbal Architecture. Earlier filings name Pollard Entities as the developer, working with local architects through several cycles of design review.
How the landmark was handled
Design-review packets and meeting notes from the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections outline multiple massing scenarios and show board support for a "wrap" approach that keeps the Shannon & Wilson office building in place while adding new construction around it. The public documents also detail alternate concepts that went in front of the Landmark Preservation Board and neighborhood reviewers, reflecting a multi-year evolution of the proposal. Local trade coverage followed those earlier versions and the decision to retain the landmark while still boosting residential capacity in Fremont, providing the backdrop for how the current design took shape.
Neighborhood context and next steps
The project site sits a short walk from Brooks Running's global headquarters at 3400 Stone Way North, a reminder of how Stone Way has been tilting toward office space and higher-density housing. As more people move in, neighborhood advocates have pressed the city for better pedestrian and bike safety along the corridor, a push detailed by Seattle Neighborhood Greenways. Final permits and construction timelines still need to be locked in, but project filings state that builders plan to seek standard permits once remaining reviews wrap up. Residents and street-safety advocates say they will be watching to see whether the promised ground-floor activity and plaza space actually translate into a more walkable stretch and safer crossings along Stone Way.
