Seattle developer turns difficult site into eco-friendly apartments
By Marc Stiles – Senior Reporter, Puget Sound Business Journal
May 29, 2025
Would you buy a noisy site under a freeway in Seattle that also required a shoreline variance to develop?
Seven years ago, Eastlake Real Estate Partners did exactly that—paying nearly $6.4 million for an Eastlake property formerly occupied by the Ross Laboratory building.
Today, that site at 3150 Fairview Ave E. is home to Flow Eastlake, a five-story, 103-unit apartment building next to the Bezos Academy headquarters, a public stair climb, and a network of bioswales that filter an estimated 1.3 million gallons of Interstate 5 runoff into Lake Union each year.
“We loved everything about the property but the noise,”
— Mike Yukevich, Managing Partner, Eastlake Real Estate Partners
The location also provides direct access to Good Turn Park, an informal lakeside green space. Flow is collaborating with neighbors and Seattle’s transportation department to improve the park, located just across Fairview.
The nearly $40 million project survived:
Rents for market-rate units range from the low- to mid-$4s per square foot, with about 20% of homes income-restricted through Seattle’s multifamily tax exemption program. As of May 15, the building was 85% leased.
Engineer Jeremy Febus of KPFF proposed a biofiltration system similar to the one at Northlake Commons. The swales and stairway—linking Fairview Avenue East to Eastlake Avenue East—cost about $671,000.
These features helped address a shoreline variance issue that initially threatened to eliminate most of the top-floor, high-rent units.
“Land use attorneys just pretty much laughed at us… but I think [state officials] saw what we were doing with the stair climb and bioswales and felt like this is a good project,” said Yukevich.
While the project skipped certifications like Salmon Safe, Yukevich has pursued them elsewhere—such as the Inspireproject in Fremont, which achieved Living Building certification.
For Flow, the team chose to invest directly in community improvements rather than certification processes.
Flow has 27 equity investors. Sound Community Bank financed construction, later adjusting rates downward as they climbed:
They are preparing to lock in a seven-year Fannie Mae loan in the low- to mid-5% range with interest-only terms.
“We haven’t lost money… we’re fortunate just to not have the bank knocking on our door,” Yukevich said.
