Designed and built as a public-private partnership between a real estate development company and the University of Washington Tacoma, Court 17 provides housing and additional parking for the university. The five-story structure, completed in 2006, contains 128 apartments and a three-story parking garage.

The apartments were originally planned as market-rate units to be operated by Lorig and Associates of Seattle. The garage was paid for and is operated by the university. Since Court 17’s opening, the university assumed management of an increasing number of the apartments to provide on-campus housing for students. As of 2016, the university owns and operates the entire building as student housing. It is the only residential building on campus.

Seattle-based Mithun designed the building to blend in with the surrounding historic brick buildings, but also to serve as a functional residential space. The large brick-faced structure has a central recessed entrance on Market Street and a shallow U-shaped facade on its east side to create open space over the reinforced concrete parking garage that is accessed from Court C Street.