West Seattle development: See the new 3210 California plan

(TUESDAY UPDATE: The full “packet” for next week’s hearing is now available here.)

(Click image for larger view)
Next time the Southwest Design Review Board meets, on June 27th, its second round of “Early Design Guidance” for 3210 California SW will be on the agenda (as noted here last month). That’s the proposed South Admiral building with a face longer than a city block, the first development proposed for the area upzoned in 2010. Taking into account the feedback from members of the board and the public at the first meeting two months ago (WSB coverage here; official city report here), they’ve come up with a new plan that, along with other changes, breaks the building into three parts rather than two – as seen in the new “massing” image above (the colors are NOT representative of any final look – they are just used in the rendering as highlights). We talked about the new proposal with Lis Soldano from Intracorp, the project’s Seattle-based developer:

The major changes:

-The building is now in three parts instead of two
-The commercial space (4,700 square feet) has been moved to the north end, to be closer to South Admiral’s busiest area
-No more residential units at street level
-The live-work units (totaling 3,400 square feet) have been moved to the south end, in space that could be converted to “true commercial.”

Here’s the new ground-floor plan:

(Click image for larger view)

None of this changes the baselines on the project – it still will have 140 to 160 apartments and about 170 parking spaces, according to Soldano. But Intracorp believes the new massing will make for a better “pedestrian experience,” as the commercial space will all be at street level, rather than elevated as the grade changes.

Between the second and third buildings, there will be a landscaped courtyard, visible from the street, and the much-discussed big tree on a property behind the project will be visible through a skybridge area.

Soldano says the plan maintains “lots of landscaping at the street level,” too. Here’s one of the new sketches, including the landscaping plan:

(Click image for larger view)
The plan now includes two rooftop gardens, rather than a central one as originally proposed – one is shared by the first two buildings, and the other one is atop the third building.

We asked what, if anything, is changing on the side that will face the residents of the single-family neighborhood to the east. The two breaks in the building are the major change for that side, Soldano says, and the landscape buffer remains; otherwise, they have “pushed and pulled the modulation a bit” so the same number of apartments will fit, despite adding a break between buildings.

In April, board members also asked them to reconsider the steepness of driveways into and out of the building, so, she says, they have done that – “we flattened out the driveway approach as much as we could so it’s safer,” especially regarding pedestrian visibility, but those changes are all within the garage.

The presentation on June 27th will also show other developments “on longer sites,” as requested by the board. One that they plan to show, while not their own project, is Curve in the U-District, another example of what they are aiming for – the “flow of architecture between the buildings.”

There will also be a small “step in building height between the southern and northern buildings, about two feet.”

We asked about current plans for amenities in the building; they’re planning a bicycle lounge “that directly accesses the street,” as well as bike parking in the garage, and likely a dog wash there too, which is something they’ve been providing in their projects.

While it’s too soon for commercial leasing, they hope the spaces will appeal to local businesses, particularly established businesses that might want to move up to new space. Some of their other projects in the region have included local coffee shops such as Uptown Espresso and Cherry Street.

If the review process proceeds without a major hangup from here, Soldano says, they expect to break ground in summer 2014. The site purchase is not yet completed. Meantime, as we have previously reported, Intracorp is looking at two other possibilities in the area – apartments across the street, and townhouses at the former Charlestown Café site – but both are in a very preliminary exploratory stage, and Intracorp’s West Seattle focus right now is the 3210 California project.

HOW TO HAVE A SAY: The Design Review Board meeting is at 6:30 pm Thursday, June 27th, at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon in The Junction). The official notice is here. You can send comments to the city planner, about design or any other aspect of the project, at any time – michael.dorcy@seattle.gov.

17 Replies to "West Seattle development: See the new 3210 California plan"

  • justme June 17, 2013 (1:31 pm)

    Looking forward to a coffee shop on this block! Nice landscaping plan too.

  • DWS June 17, 2013 (2:21 pm)

    Lovely

  • DTK June 17, 2013 (3:58 pm)

    I just took the C-line home from downtown at 2:30 pm and it was PACKED! Wall-to-wall standing room only at 2:30 pm! (Name your deity here) help us all.

  • cj June 17, 2013 (5:32 pm)

    I like the new design. :)

  • SD June 18, 2013 (5:42 am)

    It looks too tall.

  • w.s. maverick June 18, 2013 (5:49 am)

    bellevue is that you

  • community member June 18, 2013 (9:55 am)

    For anyone who hasn’t followed the whole process, a big issue has been that the block is zoned for 40-feet, yet the building is clearly taller than 40-feet. They’ve been able to get the height through by measuring the building height from the back of the lot, which may be legal, but is not what many neighbors expected when the street was zoned for 40 feet. Additionally, the block lacks an alley so the commercial buiding has far less setback in the rear than is normal.

    Other issues such as pedestrian safety seem to have required an unusually large amount of community involvement, as if the developers didn’t really think about those aspects. So the community has been forced to give free time and energy to bug-test the developer’s work.

  • mike June 18, 2013 (10:30 am)

    Looks great! The height of a property is never measured from the low point of the lot. That should not come as a surprise to anyone. I think the developers listened to the community and made really good changes to accomodate their requests. Breaking it into three buildings and having the parking lot at the back of the project with all the additional landscape gives better seperation between the new project and the neighbors. It gives more separation and in my opinion is going to be better than having an alley. It gets an A+

  • Rkelly June 18, 2013 (12:33 pm)

    This building is just too tall for this area. I could see this size and scope of building better suited for the triangle. 4 stories seems more than adequate. I’m all for development and more coffee shops or what ever businesses can make this community a better place to live, but the right kind development. This design appears to change the entire feel of this street/area. Not to mention, has a negative impact on the homes to the east. This is California Ave, not Broadway or Market.
    Furthermore, who do they envision living here? I lived in apartments in my 20s and not sure this is where I would want to be. It is not close to job centers(south lake union, Queen Anne, Fremont) or trendy urban centers (ballard, cap hill). There are plans for multi-unit buildings closer to the junction and triangle where there is better transportation and places to go and see.
    Seems a bit overkill.

    • WSB June 18, 2013 (1:07 pm)

      Rkelly, they do not expect this to be “first place of my own” type renters. That was articulated earlier in the process and it was mentioned again when we spoke with Lis from Intracorp the other day. – TR

  • Diane June 18, 2013 (2:02 pm)

    as one of the many life-long apartment dwellers in West Seattle, I welcome more apts (and I am definitely not in my 20’s); more options for us to continue living in Seattle; will drive down apt rates; but we REALLY do need more transit, asap

  • w.s. maverick June 18, 2013 (3:43 pm)

    goodbye west seattle as we know it

  • community member June 18, 2013 (5:04 pm)

    Mike said, “having the parking lot at the back of the project with all the additional landscape gives better seperation”. mike, that sounds good, but I believe you have quite misunderstood what they are showing in those pictures. That parking is INSIDE the building. It is NOT a parking lot.
    .

  • Stuart Little's House June 18, 2013 (5:23 pm)

    It’s 5:15 and I’m sitting in the sun in my back yard. When this Hulk is complete, I’ll be in the shadow of that five story formica wall by 4:00 (never mind the mountain view). Has anyone else noticed how much empty commercial space lines this section of California?

  • Neighbor June 18, 2013 (11:52 pm)

    The parking is underground. It does not create any separation at all between the development and the adjoining homes.

  • community neighbor June 19, 2013 (12:23 pm)

    this blows and is taking away character from west seattle!

  • community neighbor June 19, 2013 (12:26 pm)

    yes, and i agree with the ‘bellevue’ comment above…there’s a reason i never go over there or live there and now my neighborhood is slowly turning into it!
    **side note***hey new people to west seattle–remember there is no turn on red light at the alaska junction! read the sign and pay attention!

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