20 May Chainqui’s 42-story Belltown tower back to design review
May 19, 2021
By BRIAN MILLER
Real Estate Editor
Chainqui Development is now into its sixth year of planning a high rise at 2005 Fifth Ave., on the corner of Virginia Street in Belltown.
It owns the site, but the mixed-use project has been hindered by two main obstacles. First, the two old buildings it had hoped to remove were landmarked after the 2015 land sale. Second, there are tower-separation issues with Vulcan Real Estate’s planned apartment tower to the north, at Lenora Street.
MZA Architecture last briefed the city’s Landmarks Preservation Board in December on the 42-story, 329-unit plan, which would raise a new tower above the protected old facades. Now it’s going back to the city’s design review board, in a virtual meeting to be held on June 15. Nothing much has changed from December, and we’ll recap a few details below.