Downtown Olympia’s busiest developer is at it again with a new project

Downtown Olympia developer, Walker John, who currently has two projects rising from the ground, now has a third in the works, according to the city of Olympia.

The city announced his newest project this week, alerting interested parties via a notice of application for Market Flats as well as future public meetings about the proposal.

Market Flats is proposed as a 5-story building, with four floors of apartments — studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units — plus a first floor for retail space, a lobby and parking at 312 Capitol Way N.

That location is a parking lot north of 222 Market, a collection of restaurants.

John is no stranger to Olympia. The two projects rising from the ground are The Laurana at Columbia Street and State Avenue and, if you listen closely, you likely can hear the piles being driven for Westman Mill on East Bay.

Previous projects include Annie’s Artists Flats, the Franklin Lofts and the 321 apartments.

Now that the city has received a land-use application for Market Flats, the first comment period runs through April 17. Comments can be sent to associate planner Paula Smith at psmith@ci.olympia.wa.us or to Olympia Community Planning & Development Department at P.O. Box 1967, Olympia, WA 98507.

Two public meetings have been set for the proposal. The first, a neighborhood meeting, is set for 5:30 p.m. April 10 at Olympia City Hall, 601 Fourth Ave. E. The second, a design review board meeting, is 6:30 p.m. June 13. It’s also at City Hall.

This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 3:38 PM.