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The large multifamily project on tap for the former Wonder Bread bakery site at North Williams Avenue and Cook Street will soon move ahead – but likely with a new owner.

Seattle-based Lake Union Partners, under contract to purchase the full-block property from an affiliate of Woodinville, Wash.-based Sierra Construction Co., plans to begin constructing a six-story, 206-unit apartment building in early June. Sierra received the Portland Design Commission‘s approval for the project this past October after a long appeals process.

Sierra – which previously developed the site immediately north for New Seasons Market – is now slated to serve as the multifamily project’s general contractor.

Lake Union Partners entered the Portland market in mid-2013, when it began construction of The Addy – a 104-unit apartment building at Northwest 18th Avenue and Northrup Street. Work on that project finished in February, and Lake Union Partners is now looking to sell the building with the help of Jones Lang LaSalle.

The development firm has searched for additional development sites in Portland since it began work on The Addy.

“We started looking in the North Williams area over a year ago and we just weren’t able to find the right site,” said Scott Roberts, a principal at Lake Union Partners. “We talked to a number of different sellers, and got a ways down the road with some of them, but never got anything under contract.”

About six months ago, Roberts learned that Sierra’s CEO, Roger Collins, was perhaps looking to sell his development site. Brendan Lawrence, development manager for Sierra Services Inc. – a development arm of Sierra Construction – said it’s selling the property in order to reallocate resources for other projects.

“From our standpoint – assuming we do move forward and sell – it’s really a recapitalization to (meet) some other needs,” Lawrence said. “We have a couple other sites around the Greater Seattle area, and one in Sun Valley, Idaho that we’d like to get moving on.”

While the sale is not finalized, Roberts said it’s expected to close next week. He expected to formally waive contingency clauses on Thursday.

Roberts said the North Williams Avenue project’s design will be largely unchanged from the one approved last fall, but Lake Union Partners will apply for Type II design review to initiate some minor revisions. For one, the building’s exterior color is expected to switch from the previously approved pistachio green to something “a little bit better,” he said.

Other changes may involve adding: cedar soffits to the exterior canopies; a dark-colored storefront system; a NanaWall system in the retail spaces; and a more visible bike room on the ground floor.

“We like to applaud the bike room and make it sort of an amenity,” Roberts said. “Like on The Addy, instead of stuffing it in the garage somewhere, we put it right there in the front and put windows in there so people can see all the pretty bikes.”

Roberts said Lake Union Partners is continuing to look for potential locations for office developments. He is keeping his ears open.

“Cook Street was a large project for us in that market, and I think we filled our cup for the time being,” he said. “But if the market stays strong, and this gets off on the right foot, and another opportunity comes along, we’d certainly take a look at it.”