Comments on: First development proposal for upzoned South Admiral site: 166 apartments at 3210 California SW

By: JWang

JWang — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:17:00 +0000

FYI, you can go to the “Permit and Property Records Search” on DPD’s site and see what documents have been submitted for EDG.

http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/edms/
Search for project #: 3014176

By: Resident of 42nd

Resident of 42nd — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 23:53:04 +0000

JLWS83, I am trying very hard not to think about how many tens of thousands of dollars our home of 10 years will lose as a result of this development. It kills me. If we do have any recourse, I would love to know about it, but I think the loss of value would be measured by the difference between a fully-developed building under the NC30 zoning and what they plan to build now under the NC40. (In other words, they could have built something 30 feet tall even before the upzone, but no one did because evidently it wouldn’t have been profitable.) Sigh. I’m trying not to be a whiner, but it’s tough not to feel completely screwed by the city. Changes in zoning are supposed to advance the best interests of the community, but the costs of those “advancements” should not be borne by private individuals.

By: JLWS83

JLWS83 — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 03:35:11 +0000

Having a 5 story apartment building built 8 feet from ones previously zoned single family back yard has to impact resale values of such homes. Do homeowners have any recourse in this matter? What ever happened to the Neighborhood Management Act?

Cayce&Gayne, I don’t like what you did and I will not be doing any kind of business with you.

When it comes time to vote for a new mayor and city council members I’ll be looking for those candidates willing to use some common sense.

By: pjmanley

pjmanley — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 18:46:36 +0000

The City sees more $, the developer sees more $, and local businesses see more $ too. That, I expect. It’s the chorus of sheep who laud the almighty, supposedly *green* density without giving an ounce of thought to its impacts on the surrounding neighborhood that I will never understand. Scale or proportion anyone?

I grew up near a once delightful small town surrounded by nice neighborhoods, horse farms, and woods, which was taken over by large scale apartment developments, now has the worst traffic in the state, and like West Seattle now, has constant gridlock, stoplights every 1/2 block, and is the proverbial butt of every joke about the worst places in Washington. That place is called Lynnwood. I would’ve never dreamed our congestion would be as bad, but we are well on our way toward it with such extreme developments.

By: About to be Homeless

About to be Homeless — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:59:56 +0000

Thanks! Please keep us posted if you learn anything further.

By: WSB

WSB — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 03:42:07 +0000

ATBH – we haven’t reached the developers yet (trying multiple paths to reach them) so we haven’t heard their timeline yet. A commenter on our Facebook page posted a comment that seemed to say she had been given the deadline of November 1st to be out. – TR

By: About to be Homeless

About to be Homeless — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 01:58:23 +0000

Any idea what the timeline will be to start demolition? Living in the tear-down zone and want to know when we’ll need to plan a move! I imagine they’ll wait as long as legally possible to tell us so we don’t vacate and leave them rent-less.

By: Peter on Fauntleroy

Peter on Fauntleroy — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:22:06 +0000

Height guidelines for NC2-40 zone:
http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~scripts/nph-brs.exe?d=CODE&s1=23.47A.012.snum.&Sect5=CODE&Sect6=HITOFF&l=20&p=1&u=/~public/code1.htm&r=1&f=G
Depending on the arrangement of the building, they can have an additional 4 to 7 feet over the 40 foot zoning. They could fit five stories within the height limit and still have a 9 foot-to-floor height, very typical for residential buildings.

By: WSB

WSB — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:41:01 +0000

Thanks, Dwar. Actually March 14th. The first place to find Design Review meeting dates is always here:
.
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/Design_Review_Program/Project_Reviews/Upcoming/default.asp
.
Since the Land Use Information Bulletin only publishes on Mondays and Thursdays, the meetings don’t usually turn up there for some days after we first spot them on the above link. That’s still technically a “tentative” date so there’s always a chance it will change again. I’ll update the story, since I don’t have enough to write the promised followup yet. – TR

By: dwar

dwar — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:30:53 +0000

How can five stories be allowed in a 40 foot zone?? Where is this project listed in the Land Use Information Bulletin?? I have not seen it. The meeting date has been changed to March 4th.

By: N.A. Neighbor

N.A. Neighbor — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 16:26:20 +0000

And one more thought. This is EXACTLY why the school levies need to pass. 166 units replacing space where there used to be much less. You can be certain there will be school aged kids in those units and guess where their neighborhood school will be? Already-busting-at-the-seams Schmitz Park. Developers do not care about overcrowding schools with higher density developments. They won’t quit building if we don’t pass these levies and the schools will get even more crowded and even more decayed. Pass the levies because this kind of thing won’t stop happening even if you think you’re sending the school district or tax man some sort of message.

By: Resident of 42nd

Resident of 42nd — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 06:52:00 +0000

I am very curious to hear more about the 40 foot/50 foot issue, if anyone finds out additional information. I live in one of the roughly six homes on 42nd right behind this proposed development. They will build this 166 unit complex eight feet from our back fence; there is no alley. Four stories was bad enough. Now maybe five?

By: lala2mom

lala2mom — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 22:39:31 +0000

Cayce and Gain were very nasty in pursuing the proposal. They ignored all input by the neighbors on 42nd right behind them who will lose their views. I doubt they care about what is aesthetically pleasing.

I’m with wsea–until we get light rail, all they are doing is adding more congestion to the WS Bridge. Only so many people can take the bus–during the morning commuting hours they tend to be full already!

By: N.A. Neighbor

N.A. Neighbor — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:09:13 +0000

Eek. That many units, that many more cars and people on an already busy corner – especially before and after school. It’s so crazy around there when Madison and WSHS get out of school. Not crazy about this plan.

By: kgdlg

kgdlg — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:03:13 +0000

I actually like the NOVA building a lot. I think part of my feeling is about the materials used, which are attractive and part of it is the site itself, maybe because it is on a hillside it just seems like it “fits” the area really well.

I still feel so underwhelmed by the 35th and Avalon project – what a colossal disappointment. Such a big bland building. Their lease up must be going really slowly as I have only seen one unit with a light on since they started.