Loft apartments planned for downtown lot near Fish Brewing

A 57-unit apartment project has been proposed for a parking lot at the corner of Legion Way and Jefferson Street in downtown Olympia.

Located across Legion Way from the Fish Brewing Company, the site used to be a drive-thru branch of the Washington State Employees Credit Union that was demolished several years ago.

Dubbed “Malt House,” the building will contain mostly 390-square-foot studios, in addition to 15 one-bedroom units of 600-square-feet, and three 960-square-foot, two-bedroom units, according to Josh Gobel of Thomas Architecture Studios.

Renderings show a loft-style building that will consist of steel and concrete with floor-to-ceiling warehouse-style windows.

The property is owned by Bryan and Kathleen Kolb, who also own a nearby mixed-use building that stretches along Adams street between Legion and Fifth Avenue, the former home to Gallery Boom.

Kolb bought the Jefferson Street site in 2017 for $463,125 and had previously planned to construct a commercial building on it, as The Olympian reported in 2018.

It’s being developed by Urban Olympia, a company responsible for many apartment projects in the immediate area, including the nearby Annie’s Artist Flats at Fifth and Adams, 321 Lofts at Legion and Adams, and Franklin Lofts, at Franklin and Legion.

Urban Olympia also is responsible for The Lurana on the old Les Schwab site on Columbia Street at Percival Landing, and the soon-to-be completed Westman Mill apartments at 510 State Ave.

Representatives from Urban Olympia were not available for comment.

This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 5:45 AM.