July 13, 2021
No more! Oberto! Exxel Pacific starts on new school
Real Estate Editor
This view looks roughly southwest at the new building, with the main campus peeking out at right.
The old Oberto store property in the Rainier Valley has been demolished. Exxel Pacific is the contractor for the Hamlin Robinson School expansion project, at 1730 20th Ave. S. All permits are in place for the four-story building, which was designed by NAC Architecture.
The team also includes Warren Co., owner’s rep; LPD Engineering, civil; Weisman Design Group, landscape architect; Coughlin Porter Lundeen, structural engineer; Terracon, shoring; Advanced Geosolutions, geotechnical; Metrix Engineers, mechanical; and NAC Engineering, electrical.
The private school hopes to open the new building in time for classes in the fall of 2022. It’ll serve around 225 students in grades six through eight. It’s directly east of the school’s existing campus.
Total project size for the new building, including roof decks, is about 55,000 square feet.
The Oberto family’s first factory opened there in 1954; manufacturing moved to Kent in 1997. The family sold the west block in 2013 to the school; NAC also designed that main campus, which opened circa 2015. The family sold its business three years ago to Premium Brands. A year later, it sold the trapezoidal east block to the school. The store apparently closed during the pandemic.
Brian Miller can be reached by email at brian.miller@djc.com or by phone at (206) 219-6517.