4 Junction developers, 8 projects, all in 1 place

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It’s the second-furthest-along of the Junction megaprojects – Capco Plaza, which longtime local businessman Leon Capelouto is building between 41st and 42nd on the north side of Alaska. Capelouto was one of four developers, with 8 projects between them, who spoke to the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s monthly luncheon today, and we were there to get the latest:

Capco Plaza is the project with the QFC and Office Depot, 67,000 square feet of retail in all — including 7,000 sf that aren’t leased yet and “haven’t been marketed,” Capelouto explained — under 157 residential units.

Capelouto told the Chamber lunch crowd that Capco Plaza will be done in about a year. The Office Depot entrance will be at 41st and Alaska, and because of the grade change, the west end of the store will actually be under the QFC store where its customers enter at 42nd/Alaska. In addition to underground parking, there’s also parking immediately over the QFC, 116 spaces with an elevator that will go down into the grocery store and then, if shoppers choose, on to Office Depot.

Capelouto’s presentation also pointed some of what he described as “giving to the community” — to address concerns about pedestrian unfriendliness (voiced in this Design Review Board meeting we covered in June 2007), he says the sidewalk around the building will be at least 10 feet wide; at the southwest corner, by the QFC entrance, there will be a public outdoor seating area where people can “hang out,” intended to “integrate with the (Junction Plaza) park across the street.”

The lobby entrance for residents will be on 42nd, north of the supermarket. One more tidbit – plans for its exterior materials: So far, lots of “beige brick,” metal, and Hardy board. Next developer to take the stage was the other one with “only” one Junction project on the drawing board – although this one includes two buildings – Conner Homes, represented by Jim Miller, for the project going into this spot on 42nd/Alaska/California:

Miller announced that Conner has just submitted its request for a Master Use Permit (here’s the official city webpage showing that). He didn’t bring up the controversial alley-vacation request (the comment deadline is a few days away) his company is making, in order to close the north end of the alley so Conner Homes can dig it up to build one 300-plus-space underground parking garage for both buildings; that’s still part of the approval process that the project is going through – but he did mention the “departure” the project needs for its proposal to put the garage entrance on 42nd rather than on the alley.

The buildings have yet to get final Design Review approval, as well; Miller had some new drawings showing at least one feature addressing concerns that came up at the last DR meeting in May (WSB coverage here) – setback of the residential units – so the ultimate height of the building is not as apparent from the California/Alaska corner. As for the retail in both buildings, it seems to still be in flux – Miller mentioned there’s about 27,000 square feet of space, and while one big chunk of that is shown in drawings of the eastern building as, well, one big chunk, “it could be divided,” he said.

He also noted the first-level retail will be 17 feet high, four feet more than is customary; the housing units will total almost 200, averaging about 750 square feet each. No date is scheduled yet for the project’s next public Design Review meeting.

Miller was followed by Denny Onslow from Harbor Properties. Most of what he had to say was covered in this article we published earlier this week (after a recent meeting with him and with Harbor’s Steve Orser and Emi Baldowin, both of whom also were at today’s event), focusing on the company’s three planned West Seattle projects, starting with the one that’s furthest along, Mural on 42nd just north of Edmunds:

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What you see in that photo we took after today’s luncheon is as tall as it’s going to get, according to Onslow. A few things he mentioned that weren’t in our earlier article: Its 136 apartments will be “smaller, trying to keep rents affordable,” averaging 700 square feet, with about a 1-1 ratio of parking spaces to units — “we’ll have Zipcars, we’re encouraging transit,” Onslow explains.

Regarding Link, Harbor’s 38th/Alaska property, a plan for rooftop P-patches is the only thing not mentioned in our earlier story; Link’s expected to be done by June 2010, a few months after Harbor hopes to break ground on its third project, the mixed-use building for the motel site at 36th/Alaska. That, he reiterated, is in a “much more formative” stage, no name, no sketches.

Last but not least was Eric Radovich representing BlueStar, which has three projects in the works. Tomorrow night, 5020 California – aka Spring Hill, “no relation to the restaurant … and we might change the name” – goes back before the Design Review Board (6:30 pm, Hiawatha Community Center; see the presentation here); it’s got 90 apartments and 4,000 square feet retail, replacing two old houses and one old apartment building. “The view from this location is unbelievable,” Radovich rhapsodized. If the rest of the permit/review process goes smoothly, he envisions demolition work at the site this winter, and 18 months of construction.

He also gave a brief update on Fauntleroy Place, which is now into the “digging a big hole” stage:

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If you’ve somehow missed all the previous coverage, this is the Whole Foods/Hancock Fabrics project, plus 186 apartments, ranging in size from 500 square feet to 1200 square feet, with 500 underground parking spaces, and a conveyor system that will run groceries to the garage. Current projected opening date – February 2010. Right across 39th, “Gateway Center” remains in the “very early stages,” as Radovich put it, with nothing more than this drawing that was released when the project (at the site of the old Huling Buick showroom) was first announced last March (WSB coverage here):

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Gateway Center – a name that Radovich says also “could change” – will have two floors of retail, 105 apartments, 320 underground parking spaces. The retail floors, with about 50,000 square feet, have drawn interest so far from potential tenants including fitness, restaurant, and drugstore companies. But he reiterated that it’s very early, saying they haven’t even chosen an architect yet (CollinsWoerman, who finished designing Fauntleroy Place, made the drawing you see above).

Chamber president Dawn Leverett kept the presentations on a tight enough schedule that there was a bit of Q and A time afterward; two questions in particular stood out: One, West Seattle Internet’s Bill Hibler noted that these projects together will bring in 2,000 or so new West Seattleites, and it would be preferable for retail to address what residents really need, so they don’t have to leave WS to find something. Radovich suggested it’s important for groups like the Chamber and West Seattle Junction Association (whose president Dave Montoure and executive director Susan Melrose were at the lunch) to compile information on what’s needed and who needs it, to help developers “close” deals with tenants.

Onslow then reiterated what he told us during that recent conversation — “When you get good residential (development) … jobs follow the people.”

The second question of note had to do with rents. An attendee confessed the new development left her “excited” yet “scared,” wondering if people will be able to live in West Seattle. Harbor’s Emi Baldowin said her company “tries to think how people can get to live in a great building” — and their solution is to offer some smaller units that have lower rents, 500-sf apartments at the lower end. “That gives the renter an option, sacrifice space to get the amenities,” she said, adding the financial big picture: “(For renters) it’s also about how much do you pay for gas, insurance, bus passes …”

Here’s the bottom line on the developments mentioned today:

CAPCO PLAZA (QFC, Office Depot, 41st/42nd/Alaska): “Halfway done,” open in about a year
CONNER HOMES BUILDINGS (42nd/California/Alaska): Applied for MUP, in Design Review, pursuing “alley vacation”
MURAL (42nd north of Edmunds): Open next spring
LINK (38th/Alaska): Site work likely to start next February
36TH/ALASKA: Construction likely to start in 2010
FAUNTLEROY PLACE: Expected to be open in February 2010
SPRING HILL: Design Review meeting tomorrow, demolition likely by year’s end
GATEWAY CENTER: “Formative stages”

We continue to watch permit applications, the Design Review calendar, and other sources so we can tell you as soon as a new project is proposed or a new meeting is set – you can also keep an eye on our Development category (all development-related WSB stories archived, newest to oldest).

28 Replies to "4 Junction developers, 8 projects, all in 1 place"

  • Jack Loblaw September 11, 2008 (6:18 am)

    One question: what does Gridlock Greg intend to do to move all of these new residents in and out of West Seattle ? The City of Seattle killed the monorail which would have allowed transportation to move above Greg’s gridlocked streets. The commute is going to be amazingly worse once all of these units are complete and the viaduct comes down. Buses are not the solution — Seattle needs to build transportation such as the London Tube, New York Subway or Chicago elevated trains. Light rail is a great first step but it does nothing to help us in West Seattle. Greg if you are listening– how about a light rail branch line to the central station to and from West Seattle ?

  • CB September 11, 2008 (7:02 am)

    Jack,

    That makes too much sense. Only the most ridiculous ideas are allowed on this forum. Please keep your ideas to yourself. ;-)

  • concerned September 11, 2008 (7:04 am)

    I hope we do not become like the rest of Seattle….a BIG over developed mess of traffic and no parking which has caused people to become rude and angry while driving. To much growth and no foresight as to the problems it will cause. We all must sit in traffic driving on the roads while the developers make the big bucks and give nothing back to our community.

  • WSratsinacage September 11, 2008 (7:20 am)

    Ahhh, this feels good to see others feel as I do.

  • Beach Drive September 11, 2008 (7:38 am)

    1. Does anyone have a link to a site showing what this QFC ‘thing’ is supposed to look like? I can’t seem to find any site showing the final product.

    2. It wasn’t the “City of Seattle” that killed the monorail…it was it’s lovely citizens. They just kept voting on the thing year after year until one no vote finally killed it. They could have just restructured the financing, that would have been smart since we already had spent $100 million. Oh well. The light rail, running next to the current bridge would be a semi-descent 2nd best.

  • Mark September 11, 2008 (8:06 am)

    I may have missed it, but what are they building at 35th and Avalon???

  • rjb September 11, 2008 (9:58 am)

    so, by my tally, 874 new units all squeezed into the junction. Kiss the free parking bye bye.
    .
    And I can’t imagine what the commute will be like. A couple of weeks ago it took me an hour to drive the bridge to 1-5. A 7 mile commute took me 2 1/2 hours. Throw in another 1,000 or so cars…

  • DW September 11, 2008 (9:58 am)

    Is Sur La Table still a possibility for the Gateway Center?

  • Stacey September 11, 2008 (10:05 am)

    “I hope we do not become like the rest of Seattle….a BIG over developed mess of traffic and no parking which has caused people to become rude and angry while driving”

    I’m pretty sure we’re there.
    West Seattle used to be a nice little community that was close enough to the city yet far away. Now, there are 4+ more people to every 1 that was here before (tearing down houses and rebuilding w/Townhomes). I’m all for sharing our wonderful home but it’s getting a little crowded.

  • Stacey September 11, 2008 (10:12 am)

    …one more thing… I think a monorail/above ground transportation to the city from West Seattle would be a great thing. However, there needs to be a better financing plan. The tab thing based on the kind of car you have was RE-DIC-U-LOUS!

  • ebaer September 11, 2008 (10:35 am)

    This could be interesting for the schools in West Seattle. I believe Pathfinder, Alki, Schmitz Park, Lafayette, Sanislo, and Gatewood are already full and have waiting lists. That leaves West Seattle Elementary and chronically under-enrolled Cooper to take elementary-aged children from these 1000+ new apartments. At the middle school level, Denny was full last year and Madison has historically had a waitlist. On the other hand, given the size of them, probably there will be relatively few children. Still, with a few thousand new residents, I would think there would be several hundred kids living in these projects. (Right now 8.5% of Seattle residents are between 5 and 14 years old.) Are there any estimates for the number of kids living in these projects?

  • Gene September 11, 2008 (11:53 am)

    I’m love to see a map of all the new development going on, with the pictures/drawings/stats on what is going in. Maybe if I have some copious spare time I’ll start to put one together.

    There still seems to be a LOT of development going up in West Seattle – even with quite a few things sitting on the market for a while.

  • Johnny Davies September 11, 2008 (12:28 pm)

    Speaking of increasing traffic – the morning commute on the bridge has been horrifying lately. Is that becuase school is back? Is it that mom’s & dad’s all have to go to work now, whereas they didn’t during the summer? I don’t understand.. My work is year round.

  • LB September 11, 2008 (12:39 pm)

    35th & Avalon is going to be an apartment building.

    http://www.marktraversarchitect.com/underAvalon.html

    On that subject, is there any reason as to why that project is going so slowly?

  • Sue September 11, 2008 (12:54 pm)

    Gene, WSB had such a map of the Junction construction a while back: https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=6505

  • WSB September 11, 2008 (1:19 pm)

    I need to update that map – no projects have been added but if you click the individual links, they might not have the newest info – am doing that shortly because I want to include it with a related story I have just posted – just confirmed that the developers and Chamber and Junction Assoc. leaders will be at a City Council briefing a week from Monday:
    https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=10384

    p.s. re: the avalon project, some go fast, some go slow. We get notes on it from time to time but they do seem to be proceeding, whatever the rate.

  • Rasmus September 11, 2008 (1:52 pm)

    This may have been posted here already, and I just missed it. Either way, since this is a general follow up on the various building projects, here goes…

    Has there been any news on what is going to happen to the former Huling Bros area at the Fauntleroy/Alaska junction?

    And finally, what about the old Corner Inn and Beveridge Place buildings. What’s going on there?

  • Sarah September 11, 2008 (2:21 pm)

    Rasmus – Corner Inn is going to be a Zeek’s Pizza (opening next year), and the old Beveridge Place Pub is going to be the Feedback Lounge. Both were on here within the last week, so they should be easy to find with a quick search. I’m excited, since I might be moving back to the Morgan Junction neighborhood early next year :-)

  • WSB September 11, 2008 (2:55 pm)

    Hit the restaurants category (category list in right sidebar) and those will be among the first up. Former Huling, depends on which one you are asking about. The old Buick showroom is mentioned above, as Gateway Center. The old shop at 38th/Alaska is mentioned above as Harbor’s “Link.” The lots across from each other on Fauntleroy just south of Alaska, not determined yet – we might have word on one of them this month – the other one, 4755 Fauntleroy (right past the Shell station), has an open development proposal but it hasn’t advanced far enough for reviews … I’m almost done with updating the Junction development map, which will go on top of the mentioned-earlier-in-this-thread City Council developer meeting story.

  • J September 11, 2008 (4:18 pm)

    I’m curious about the kids, too. Good childcare and before-and-after school care is already quite tight here. We also need to make sure there’s plenty of green and play space in the neighborhood.

    Yes, that monorail is going to look like a missed bargain opportunity in hindsight.

    Note that the anti-Prop 1 folks are using the same “distort the costs” technique in their quest to kill all high capacity rapid transit in this area. Be wary: media like to repeat large numbers for their shock value, regardless of their validity.

  • Jeremiah September 11, 2008 (4:37 pm)

    I know that we’ve got some awesome parks here in WS, but man… wouldn’t it be really cool to drive up Fauntleroy, and have a huge park on the lot just south of Alaska?
    Perhaps a quaint little communuty/senior center, perhaps a pond, tables for playing chess.
    With all the impending new residents, perhaps a large newstand, something unique and beautiful to break up all that concrete.

  • WSB September 11, 2008 (4:45 pm)

    What Harbor points out is that Camp Long’s north end is hard to access and almost “secret” there at the east end of Alaska (by the totem pole viewpoint) .. their idea, as discussed in our article earlier this week (linked from this story), is to explore better connections with that.

  • Chuck & Sally's Van Man September 11, 2008 (4:55 pm)

    Johnny Davies–I think the terrible commute times have in large part been due to that most evil of morning maladies, SUN in the eyes. I suspect increased school traffic also has something to do with it. Luckily, as a bus rider I’m a bit more immune, but I have noticed the backups.

  • Rasmus September 11, 2008 (8:21 pm)

    Sarah: Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Sounds promising! :)

  • credmond September 11, 2008 (10:12 pm)

    Harbor should also consider a matching fund idea to build out the trail within Camp Long. Parks and Rec dollars are scarcer than any other it seems and that trail needs help if a lot of folks are going to be using it.

  • Jeremy September 11, 2008 (11:29 pm)

    What else do people expect? Where did you think all the people that lost their homes to foreclosures are going to live? The developers are banking that they’ll end up renting now that they are homeless.

  • thee September 12, 2008 (8:04 am)

    Office Depot? Wow. Thanks Leon. Can’t wait to see that big red pile of dump in the hood.

  • dawsonct September 29, 2008 (1:49 pm)

    As much fun as it would have been to have a Disney-style amusement park ride in the monorail, as a form of mass-transit it is seriously flawed from an engineering standpoint and would have quickly become a nightmare for commuters. Think being rescued over Fifth Ave. is an adventure? Imagine if your train failed on the single track over the Duwamish. Not only would the ENTIRE system be shut down until the train could be moved, but any rescue would have been logisticaly difficult, at the very best. Think your commute from WS is tough now!? This doesn’t even touch on the social aspects of having an elevated rail running in front of your home/business; everyone wanted to live within two blocks of the mono, but nobody wanted to live under it. Bus transit and a few main-line dual rail trunk systems will be much more flexible and reliable. Sorry to be a bubble burster. Looking forward to reading all the vitriol from those still believeng the monorail fantasy.

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