West Seattle Blog…

West Seattle development: 1st listing, post-Triangle-area upzoning

For the first time (that we have seen in public listings, anyway) since the recent Triangle-and-vicinity upzoning/rezoning was finalized by the City Council, one of the upzoned lots has been put up for sale. It’s a 11,500-square-foot site on the east edge of The Junction at 4731 40th SW (map), south of Bank of America. County records say it is owned by the Andresen family; the listing says it is offered for $1.6 million. Here’s the flyer; it notes that the property was rezoned to NC3-85 (the latter is the maximum height) in December, 20 feet higher than previously allowed, and the listing says, “New zoning will allow density of plus or minus 70 units with views from upper floors.”

Design Review date set for proposed South Delridge project

Also from land-use land this morning: The Southwest Design Review Board finally has another meeting more meetings on its schedule (which has been sporadic since development slowed a few years back). It’s tentatively scheduled to meet March 8th to discuss what’s described on the city website as a three-story, 20-unit residential building proposed for 9051 20th SW (map). The site currently holds an old house that went through foreclosure in 2010 (county photo at left) and was bought by the developers for $137,500 last year. No meeting location listed yet. (added) Since first publishing this story, we also discovered a March 22nd date set for the second design review on the DESC project at 5444 Delridge Way SW (see this earlier story).

West Seattle development: Land-use approval for 3261 Avalon

(From the “design proposal” packet for the project’s Design Review Board meeting)
Once again tonight, we’re squeezing in a few non-weather stories before what’s likely to be one final (for now) round of overnight/morning coverage. The six-story, 120-apartment building planned at 3261 SW Avalon Way has won final approval for its land-use permit. The decision (read it here) was published in today’s city Land Use Information Bulletin. The project passed Design Review in July and November (here’s the final report), but this is the city Department of Planning and Development‘s final word, pending a two-week window for any appeal to be filed (here’s how). You can watch the permit toplines for the project on the city website, here.

West Seattle development: Harbor Ave. project no longer stalled

(WSB photo by Tracy Record)
It’s nowhere near the scale of “The Hole,” but this once-stalled West Seattle development project now has new ownership and has finally been completed. It’s “Harbor Work Live,” designed by Junction-based Nicholson Kovalchick Architects, built in the 2400 block of Harbor Avenue SW (between Salty’s and 7-11). The permits were granted back in 2006; exteriors appeared mostly complete when the project suddenly idled a ways back; there they sat, obviously missing some final touches, for many months. Now they’ve been purchased and completed, and instead of being sold, they’re available for lease, and immediate occupancy, according to the agent representing them, Jacob Menashe. We met him at the site for a quick tour. On the corner (Harbor/Fauntleroy) is a space where he says they’re hoping to attract a small café that might appeal not only to nearby residents but also to pedestrians on the Harbor/Alki trail:

(Next two photos courtesy Jacob Menashe)
That space, Menashe says, could either be leased just for the ground-level retail – or with the living space above. (The units in the back not-street-front row are four stories, and almost 2,000 square feet.) Depending on whether they are leased separately or as live-work, there’s up to 19 units on the property, all with garages and decks, and an industrial-modern interior:

Views, too. There’s more info on individual units – including prices and photos – on the project’s website.

New owners of ex-Conner Junction site: Groundbreaking this year

(Sketch of California-facing view taken from project renderings last year)
We’ve just heard from Chicago-based megadeveloper Equity Residential for the first time since the company closed the deal to buy the California/Alaska/42nd site long owned by Charlie Conner. The day the deal was finalized, we’d sent an inquiry looking for comment – no response, but we renewed the request today, and just heard back from Equity spokesperson Marty McKenna.

He says Equity expects to break ground “within the next year.” He also confirms they are going ahead with the project as per the plans already approved by the city, two buildings totaling almost 200 apartments, and says they will honor the agreement made with community members regarding external elements of the project.

The remaining business tenants are renting month-by-month, he says, adding that since the new development “will have a retail aspect,” they’re also open to the possibility that all or some of them might want to be part of it. (Some have already found new locations, as most recently mentioned here just yesterday.) Though the site has its land-use approvals, a demolition permit would have to be sought before any construction could start; you can watch the project’s city webpages for signs of that as the year goes on.

DESC ‘redesigning’ Delridge project after city cuts number of allowed units

(June 2011 photo of DESC Delridge project’s proposed site)
The Downtown Emergency Service Center‘s proposed Delridge Supportive Housing project is suddenly undergoing a redesign, according to documents filed with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission as part of the next round of financing DESC is seeking – and that redesign will be for a project with 66 units, not 75 units as originally proposed.

The city Office of Housing had originally granted a waiver to DESC, allowing it to propose a 75-unit project even though the amount of “extremely low-income housing” in the area was supposed to max out at 63 units beyond what it currently has. Neighborhood advocates had questioned the information on which the waiver was based – and now, according to a city document also on file with the WSHFC as part of the DESC application, it appears they had grounds for concern.

Documents from the city, dated in mid-December, say that newly available 2010 census information superseded what DESC had been working with, and that the site now could only support 66 units in this income range. This notification came just as DESC was about to submit its application for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits to the WSHFC, and since there wasn’t enough time for them to completely redo the application, they are redesigning the project right now, and expecting to submit new information by the end of this month. The documentation we just reviewed at WSHFC offices downtown includes this DESC explanation:

This late change creates both capital and operational inefficiencies. It is also driving the total development costs over the WSHFC cost limits. Our team is currently redesigning the project with a new cost estimate, and a revised development budget will be shared with WSHFC and other public funders by january 31, 2012.

We attempted to reach DESC leadership by phone and e-mail earlier today for comment, and so far have not heard back. We are still reviewing a few more documents related to this and will add any additional information of relevance.

The Delridge project first came to light last June and has since moved through stages including property purchase – $768,000 for three lots in the 5400 block of Delridge Way SW, with the sale initiated last April and closed one month ago – as well as city, county, and state financing approvals, plus the first round of city Design Review (with a second round to come, though no date is set). Our coverage of the project is archived here.

City to study substation-turned-restaurant site for development

(1st & 3rd photos from King County Assessor’s Office; 2nd, from Seattle Municipal Archives)
Did you know the site of Beni Hoshi (formerly Yasuko’s) Teriyaki, at the 35th/Fauntleroy entrance to the West Seattle Bridge, is a Seattle City Light-owned site that once housed this substation?

We didn’t, until a bit of research prompted by an online update from City Council President Richard Conlin, revealing that the city is eyeing this spot for possible development. He wrote, in part:

… the City is undertaking a pilot project to identify locations where city-owned properties and buildings would be suitable for joint development agreements. Such joint development could include leveraging multiple city funding sources to achieve community benefits, developing mixed-use urban infill on public parking lots, and identifying public/private development opportunities on public land. This could provide revenue for the City, but, more importantly, better utilize scarce resources of land and buildings, especially in denser urban neighborhoods where infill can be a major asset.

In his update (read it here in its entirety), he goes on to say that as part of the “Sustainable Community Development Pilot Program,” the city will “begin analyzing the feasibility of developments on five pilot sites” around the city. The list in his post included a “West Seattle Substation on Avalon Way.” We couldn’t find any records of a substation, past or present, on Avalon Way, so we asked Councilmember Conlin and his staff for location clarification. His staff is out but he replied – and pointed us to the Beni Hoshi site, which was known as the “Avalon Substation” with a long-ago address on SW Genesee:

County records reveal that City Light actually owns three parcels there, totaling about 17,000 square feet; the Beni Hoshi site is zoned for 65-foot mixed-use development, while two parcels to the east are zoned single-family. While this abuts The Triangle, it is not part of the rezoning the council just approved.

So what kind of possible development might be considered there? No specific proposals at this stage, but Councilmember Conlin’s writeup mentioned past examples of “joint developments” including the Delridge Library/Brandon Court site that includes a city-run Neighborhood Service Center, somewhat ironic since the new city budget is moving the NSC out of there and over to the about-to-be-former Southwest Community Center, and the Delridge NSC space is up for lease, as is the suite of offices formerly occupied in that building by the city’s partner in the project, Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association. Meantime, we’ll keep an eye on this study in the New Year.

Conner Homes’ Junction property sold to Equity Residential for $11 million

(WSB June 2011 photo looking at Conner site from QFC steps – it’s on Alaska’s south side, 42nd to California)
Four months after we first told you that Conner Homes was selling its property in the heart of The Junction – planned for a two-building mixed-use megaproject – the site has a new owner. Equity Residential has purchased the property, according to documents filed this week with King County. The company already owns more than 30 apartment complexes around the Puget Sound metro area, though none of the others are in West Seattle, and it’s just started building the Market Street Landing project in Ballard, with almost 300 apartments. Equity’s corporate headquarters are in Chicago. In the letter Conner shared with WSB when he announced the plan to sell the site, he said he didn’t expect construction to start any sooner than next summer. The online documents list the sale price as $11,400,000; Conner and partners bought the site for $1.4 million more than a decade ago, and finalized land-use permits for the two-building project earlier this year.

Update: City Council passes Triangle rezoning, plastic-bag ban

2:07 PM: Click the “play” button and you’ll see the live video stream of this afternoon’s Seattle City Council meeting, which has just begun, with two items of particular note on the agenda: West Seattle Triangle rezoning (approved by the council’s Committee on the Built Environment three weeks ago) and the plastic-bag ban. We’ll add updates here if and when the public-comment period at the meeting’s start includes Triangle comments, as well as when the Triangle and bag-ban items come up.

2:22 PM: The public-comment period ended with no one stepping up to the podium to talk about Triangle rezoning, which is a few items away on the agenda. Most of the commenters talked about the plastic-bag ban, including, as seen in our framegrab above, the “Bagmonster Singers,” who serenaded councilmembers with a song to the tune of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

2:31 PM: And here’s the Triangle item, which is actually two items – rezoning/changing development standards, and recommending a parking study for the area. Councilmember Sally Clark opens by saying it all dates back to the closure of the Huling Brothers auto properties (briefly Gee Automotive after Huling) and concern over what would happen to the area with so much vacant land. She hands the microphone to Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who as she said has been closely involved in planning for the area’s future. He says RapidRide (scheduled to start in 2012) also was a spark to get the process going, beginning with an “urban-design framework.” He notes that it included a plan for The Triangle’s “streetscapes,” including the Fauntleroy Way “boulevard” concept (the new city budget includes planning money) and SW Snoqualmie as a “festival” street. And of course, it includes rezoning – “neighborhood commercial” that “encourages pedestrian-friendly development” for much of the heart of The Triangle, which he says will also strengthen the pedestrian connection between The Junction and The Triangle. The latter was not recommended for more height, he explains, so as not to put “more pressure” for sales/development of existing commercial properties – but the Fauntleroy/Alaska/Edmunds area includes more than 2 blocks that will be rezoned to 85 feet (20 feet higher than the current zoning).

2:40 PM: Council President Richard Conlin says “congratulations” and notes the importance of the legislation to West Seattle’s future, before Rasmussen reads the list of Triangle Advisory Committee members and also acknowledges DPD and Council staffers for their work. No comments from other councilmembers. The rezoning/development standards bill (read it here) passes unanimously 9-0, as does the recommendation for a parking study. No other councilmembers comment.

2:45 PM: Now Councilmember Mike O’Brien is explaining the plastic-bag ban. You can still use plastic bags for meat and produce in grocery stores, he notes. For this too, no councilmembers are commenting or asking questions, except for Council President Conlin, who thanks O’Brien, who in turn thanks “partners” for help with the bill (including WSB sponsors PCC Natural Markets and Metropolitan Market). The bill passes unanimously; there’s applause in council chambers.

3:15 PM: The official news releases from council staff: West Seattle Triangle rezoning, here; plastic-bag ban, here. The bag ban takes effect next July 1st.

West Seattle Triangle rezoning: Final council vote Monday

If you have anything to say to the City Council before their final vote on West Seattle Triangle (and vicinity) rezoning, Monday afternoon is your last chance – in the public-comment period at the start of their 2 pm meeting (here’s the agenda). If you’ve missed the previous coverage, the rezoning is detailed in the ordinance the council will consider. You can read it here (that’s where we got the map you see above). Two of the main points: Most of The Triangle itself is rezoned from “commercial” to “neighborhood commercial,” which means different standards for future development, particularly stipulations about street-level features; several chunks of land, including some that are west/southwest of The Triangle itself, get 20 more feet of height, to an 85-foot maximum. That includes, for example, what are currently the sites of Les Schwab Tires, Cycle U (future Highline Medical), West Seattle Produce, WSP’s former site across Fauntleroy, the two gas-station sites across from each other at Alaska/Fauntleroy, Howden-Kennedy, and more – see the map (sorry we don’t have a larger version, but many browsers can zoom). The council also will vote on a resolution asking SDOT to do a parking study for The Triangle, since the topic came up so often in the process that preceded this. Side note: Right after taking up The Triangle, the council moves to a final vote on the plastic-bag ban.

Video: DESC Delridge project passes 1st round of Design Review

(DESC project site on Delridge, from “packet” for Thursday night meeting)
9:19 PM: We’re at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, where the first Southwest Design Review Board meeting looking at the proposed DESC homeless-housing project at 5444 Delridge Way has just ended. About 20 members of the public were there; about half a dozen spoke. Board members had many suggestions for the architects, but none were enough to stop the project from moving forward in the design-review process, so it has officially cleared “early design guidance,” which means DESC can apply for its master use permit. Next step: They will have to develop a fully fleshed-out design to bring to a second SWDRB meeting, date not yet set. We have video of the meeting and full details to come.

FIRST ADDITION: Interim update – The six-minute clip above is the very end of the meeting, with SWDRB chair Brandon Nicholson summarizing the recommendations the board is making to the architects and the city Department of Planning and Development. The letters/numbers he mentions right at the beginning refer to the codes on this page (scroll down).

SECOND ADDITION: Here’s the entire meeting on videotape, with two small gaps – between clips 1 and 2, our first camera ran out of power during a public comment; clip 2 picks up during that same commenter, and ends when the room shifted for the board to begin its deliberations, which are done in the open; clip 3 picks up at the start of those deliberations. Click the lower-right area of any clip to watch it either bigger-screen on the YouTube site (the logo will take you there) or fullscreen:

Work begins for Harbor Properties’ Nova in The Triangle

Thanks to Josh Sutton from the West Seattle Y (WSB sponsor) – he took the photo as demolition began on the site kitty-corner from the Y that will become Harbor Properties‘ next West Seattle apartment building, Nova. Harbor opened Link a few blocks away earlier this year and also owns Mural in The Junction (both are WSB sponsors). Nova’s at 4600 36th SW (just north of The Grove) and is designed for five stories, 62 apartments, 36 parking spaces (it’s close to the forthcoming RapidRide, and the city now does not require parking for developments close to major transit).

Harbor’s contractor is Compass Construction; its major financing is from Bank of the West. Construction is expected to take a year.

West Seattle Triangle rezoning: One more chance to comment

When the City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment voted unanimously last week in favor of West Seattle Triangle rezoning (WSB coverage here), they approved a few amendments to the previous proposal. Before the full package moves on to the full Council for a final vote, they’re inviting you to comment on those amendments, and a two-week countdown starts today. Here’s the official notice, explaining the amendments and requesting comment, as issued by the city today.

Delridge DESC project: ‘Design Review 101′; NDNC’s role

Two updates today for those following the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) plan for a 75-unit “supportive housing” apartment complex in the 5400 block of Delridge:

‘DESIGN REVIEW 101′ TOMORROW: The next major public-input milepost regarding this project is its first Design Review Board meeting next Thursday (6:30 pm December 8, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center). Anyone interested in finding out more about how that process works, whether you want to comment at next week’s meeting or not, is welcome in Youngstown Room 111 at 6:30 pm tomorrow (December 1), where, according to the announcement, “A Land Use Supervisor from the City of Seattle’s Dept. of Planning will spend an hour talking with neighbors about the Design Review process, followed by an informal discussion regarding neighbor’s design concerns.” (You can preview the architect-prepared “packet” for the Dec. 8th meeting here. And there’s more about this meeting, plus the comment process for next week, here.)

NDNC CLARIFIES ROLE: As reported in previous WSB coverage (all archived here), the North Delridge Neighborhood Council has been trying to decide what its role is in the process, as it has not taken a position, and apparently historically has not taken positions on projects. A decision has been made, according to this statement:

A new Executive Council has taken positions for the North Delridge Neighborhood Council. Nine neighbors have filled every position on the Council, this being the first year for the new Council-Committee format to be filled. They have held an Executive meeting and voted to take an active role regarding the DESC project slated for 5444 Delridge Way SW. Moving forward, the North Delridge Neighborhood Council’s role will be to inform neighbors on the process, how and when to engage in effective participation..

DESC’s timeline, as shared at the recent unofficial meeting we wrote about here, would have the building opening in about 2 years. In addition to the Design Review/permit process, it has one more round of funding to obtain.

Update: Council committee OKs West Seattle Triangle rezoning

(This is now the archived video of today’s meeting, time-coded to start when this agenda item began)
10:40 AM: Click the “play” button and you’ll see the Seattle City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment, talking about the West Seattle Triangle rezoning proposal for the second time this month. (The agenda includes links to the documents and maps they’re discussing.) They may or may not vote today; they need to vote on it before it can go to the full council. Whatever decision is made by the city will affect the face of that section of West Seattle for decades to come – part of the area, including some lots around the Triangle edges, including the west side of Fauntleroy for a stretch south of SW Alaska, is proposed for upzoning to 85 feet. We’ll note highlights and the meeting results, as this goes along. (The meeting started at 9 am, but the committee had another weighty item to get through first – a zoning change in the Roosevelt area of North Seattle – so they didnt get to the Triangle till 10:40 am.)

10:45 AM: They’ve just voted to amend the proposal to include 85-foot zoning on both sides of Fauntleroy for the stretch between Alaska and Edmunds. (See this “map amendment” here.)

10:56 AM: They’ve just approved some amendments, including extending the “pedestrian” zone to 35th, whereas previously it ended at 36th SW. As they get ready to vote on the entire bill, Councilmember Sally Bagshaw says not everyone is happy with everything, but it’s a “give and take” process. Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, who’s been involved in Triangle planning for more than three years, says he’s excited, “while there are still some outstanding issues … and I don’t think we’re going to get back to that … the community was heard (relating to height issues, in that some areas will stay at 65-foot zoning).” He thanks the community for spending “a lot of time on this.”

10:59 AM: The rezoning proposal passes the committee with a unanimous vote. The committee also has approved a resolution calling for SDOT to do a parking study in The Triangle as the result of issues that came up during the last leg of the planning process. Next step: This all goes to the full Council next month.

West Seattle Triangle rezoning: Possible vote tomorrow

Rezoning for the West Seattle Triangle and part of the adjacent area – including increasing some parcels to a maximum of 85-foot-high development – is back on the agenda tomorrow morning for the City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment (9 am, CIty Hall downtown). They are scheduled to discuss potential changes to the plan presented two weeks ago, and they may vote on whether to send the plan to the full council for final action. The information package, including proposed map and text amendments – with an area of Fauntleroy between Alaska and Edmunds proposed for 85-foot zoning on the east side as well as the west side – is linked from the meeting agenda, which begins with a public-comment period for anyone interested in speaking to the members about this.

New name for new North Delridge project: Youngstown Flats

In a recent update on the almost-200-unit project that’s begun construction in North Delridge, we mentioned they were working on a new name, since “Cooper at Youngstown” turned out to have a nearby conflict. Today, Steffenie Evans from Legacy Partners says they’ve chosen one: Youngstown Flats.

After initially spending a lot of time and energy to find a name that was both rooted in the history of the neighborhood and not already in use, we were a bit surprised to learn that the artist housing at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center was called Cooper Artist Housing at Youngstown.

We immediately scheduled a meeting with the artists in residence to discuss the name we had chosen an what impact it might have on their community if we kept the name. It became very clear that even though their brand is not visible in internet searches or on-site signage, they had a strong identity with the “Cooper” name.

Wanting to be sensitive to our community, and a community that we had especially hoped to engage in our search for incorporating local art into our building, we decided the right thing to do was to re-name our project.

We had initially included “Youngstown” in our name because it was the historical name for the North Delridge neighborhood and ties back to the Youngstown School that has been at the heart of the community for decades, and to the energy of the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. The name “Youngstown Flats” celebrates the history of the community and the immediate neighborhood that the project is joining. Like the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, it provides a connection between nature, the arts and history.

The crew working on the site at 26th/Dakota is wrapping up excavation for the building’s garage, and the construction crane is expected soon. Legacy and Barrientos LLC took over the site after it had been granted permits a few years ago as a condo project; it’s being built as apartments with a few live-work units and a relatively small commercial space, as well as a mini-park on unused right-of-way across the street. They also recently announced art-procurement plans that will get into high gear around February.

Date set for possible council committee vote on Triangle rezoning

One week from tomorrow, the City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment will again take up the proposal for West Seattle Triangle rezoning – primarily upzoning part of the area to 85-foot height, and a significant part of the Triangle itself to “neighborhood commercial.” The committee was briefed last week (WSB coverage here). Based on that discussion, some changes to the proposal are expected, and we’ll publish an update when they’re available, though it probably won’t be till early next week. The committee meeting is set for 9 am Wednesday, November 30, in City Council chambers downtown.

26th/Dakota project: ‘Green, welcoming place’ across the street

Last Monday, we published an update on the 193-unit apartment project that’s now under construction at 26th/Dakota. Then that night, developer and architect representatives visited the North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting to present their newest plan for undeveloped city right-of-way across the street that they see as a neighborhood mini-park with access to Longfellow Creek. They said they are hoping to create a “green, welcoming place” as an asset for not only residents of their building, but others who live in the area.

The design is above (see an expanded version here); they are asking for comments before they take it to the Seattle Design Commission for review, which is required since it is city right-of-way. (They are not seeking a street vacation, anticipating instead to have an annual permit for use of the area.)

The area connects to a stairway, and also has to provide access for city crews to change lights. Other than that, the project team hopes the improvements will “create some clarity for the space,” which currently isn’t even recognizable as potential public access. They’re suggesting a simple walkway topped with as-yet-undetermined material, “maybe even asphalt”; the dark green you see in the rendering is “grass-crete.” The project team says the trees they hope to plant are no taller than 15 feet, and the shrubbery would be below knee-level. They’re also working to have as little impact on west-side-of-the-street parking as possible. They are proposing a curb-bulb feature to help pedestrians and provide “traffic-calming.”

In addition to paying to create it, the project/ownership/management team (headed at this phase by Legacy Partners and Barrientos LLC) will be accountable for paying for the annual permit and maintenance. They are also extensively landscaping their side of the street (where dozens of pre-existing trees were taken out for the parking-garage excavation) in hopes of “trying to add a lot more lushness to the area,” as Hewitt Architects‘ Kris Snider told the NDNC meeting. If you have comments on the “mini-park,” send them to Steffenie Evans at Legacy Partners, sevans@legacypartners.com.

(As previously reported here, the project team also is gearing up for an extensive art-procurement process targeting local artists; here’s that story from earlier in the week.)

West Seattle development: 3261 Avalon Way clears Design Review

From tonight’s meeting of the Southwest Design Review Board: One project on the agenda, 3261 SW Avalon Way, six stories and about 120 units, not too far east of 35th (in the image above, that’s the not-entirely-finished 35th/Avalon building at right). This was the second Design Review meeting for the project, and the meeting concluded with the board recommending approval, with conditions. As was the case in the previous review, they are still concerned about the neighbors on either side (West Seattle Stadium is downslope on the south side), since the building is proposed to take up most of the lot; the only member of the public to speak at the meeting was a resident of a neighboring meeting, concerned about the proximity. Traffic challenges were mentioned too; the building is proposed for two parking entrances off Avalon, and will have about one space for each unit. The project site spans five lots, four of which currently hold single-family homes.

Update: City Council committee takes up Triangle rezoning

10:55 AM: Proposed rezoning for the West Seattle Triangle – and adjacent areas – is going before the City Council’s Committee on the Built Environment during the meeting that’s under way right now (the meeting started at 9, but they had a big agenda). You can watch the live video feed here – click “play”:

Here’s the presentation they’re being shown about the proposed rezoning, which would rezone some parts of the Triangle/east Junction area to allow 85-foot-high buildings, as well as changing an even-larger area from “commercial” to “neighborhood commercial” zoning, which doesn’t change the height but does change expectations at street level, for example. The Triangle Advisory Committee did not endorse the upzoning, as council staffers are noting in the briefing, but DPD council staff is recommending expanding that upzoning beyond what had previously been discussed. You can read their extensive memo here. It mentions a bombshell dropped recently by the Seattle Planning Commission, which suggested that the concept of a “single iconic tower of 160 feet or more” be considered for the Fauntleroy/Alaska vicinity. That is NOT currently part of the rezoning proposal, but something to keep an eye out for. We’ll add some notes once the meeting is over.

11:51 AM: Meeting’s over. Council staff will draft a bill to be voted on by the committee on November 30th if possible (the sentiment expressed was that they would “like to get this wrapped up by the end of the year” – watch the agendas here). West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen expressed concerns about zoning in the area of 40th/Oregon, where he expressed appreciation for old bungalows that have townhouses built behind them; he thought that was a more appropriate and “pleasant, unique” use of the land than changing the zoning so those bungalows are all facing demolition and replacement with what he called “schlocky townhouses.” Council President Richard Conlin said he wanted to be sure the “canyon effect” – taller buildings, both sides of the street – wasn’t going to result from changes here. Councilmember Sally Clark (the committee’s chair) said she favors DPD’s proposal and appreciated the firsthand look she got during a recent Triangle walking tour (WSB coverage here). Conlin and Councilmember O’Brien said they’ll probably come out this way for their own firsthand looks.

One other thing discussed, the issue of “hide and ride” parking – Clark said that was raised during the walking tour, and she supports the proposal to have SDOT study the area for potential parking regulation to reduce that possibility.

26th/Dakota development: Construction update; art plan

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Unless you live, or drive, by it, you might not know that West Seattle’s next major development is well into the first phase of construction. It’s at 26th and Dakota in North Delridge (map), right behind the Kidney Center building. Its original owners went all the way into the permit phase before the project was put on hold and then sold. Unlike the infamous “Hole,” no work was done on this site before it stalled – but its new owners are working fast now.

We first wrote about the revived project three months ago. It’s being built with 193 units, including 11 described as live-work (here’s the project page on the city website), being developed by Legacy Partners Residential, Inc.,and Barrientos LLC.

We met this morning with representatives from the project partners at Uptown Espresso in Delridge, not far from the project site. They will be at the North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting tonight, but even if you can’t be there, they wanted to get out new information about the project, including an extensive plan to procure art for the building. Read on for the updates:

Click to read the rest of 26th/Dakota development: Construction update; art plan…

2nd Design Review Board meeting set for 3261 SW Avalon Way project

The next design review is now set for the six-story, 120-apartment project that is now in the records as 3261 SW Avalon Way (different from the address used during its first review three months ago). It’ll come back before the Southwest Design Review Board at 6:30 pm Thursday, November 17th, at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon in The Junction); here’s the official project page.

Video: What’s missing in the Triangle plan? Councilmembers get an earful in West Seattle

As was pointed out in the walking tour/casual chat preceding last night’s official City Council Committee on the Built Environment public hearing, the current plan for the West Seattle Triangle’s future has been more than three years in the making. But, as you’ll hear in our video of the hearing, some feel it’s still missing major components.

Fall 2008 was when the Triangle’s potential burst into the spotlight, with three meetings in West Seattle. Of particular note – as a reminder of how things can change – is a September 2008 West Seattle Chamber of Commerce-convened meeting to review eight key Triangle and Junction developments that were in the pipeline then (see the story here, for a trip back in the time machine). Three mixed-use projects have since been completed – Harbor Properties‘ Link and Mural (WSB sponsors) and Leon Capelouto‘s Capco Plaza; the plan for two sites have changed (what was going to be BlueStar’s Gateway Center is now becoming Trader Joe’s, and Harbor is developing Nova on a smaller 36th/Alaska parcel); while three other sites’ futures are still in play (“The Hole,” sold last Friday at auction; the property Conner Homes is selling at California/Alaska/42nd; and “Spring Hill” at 5020 California).

Even earlier that year – before a pivotal November 2008 meeting to semi-officially start a city-involved process – the area had been under discussion as the “West Seattle gateway,” as noted here. And that’s the point it’s not addressing well enough, councilmembers were told.

West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen has been involved along much of the way, and last night he was one of the four councilmembers listening to public testimony (along with Sally Clark, who chairs Built Environment, vice chair Tim Burgess, and Sally Bagshaw) at the Senior Center of West Seattle. What is in the works now involves an “urban design” vision that the city may codify – and some zoning changes, including “neighborhood commercial” for much of The Triangle itself, and an area mostly on its west side that may be upzoned to 85-foot buildings (which, the way the rules really work, could be even taller).

What’s next with the Triangle proposals? Councilmember Clark said it was too soon to say whether a final vote might come by year’s end; it’s expected to come up again at a November 16th meeting downtown. Last night’s presentation graphics/documents, by the way, are linked from the meeting’s online agenda.

West Seattle development: Groundbreaking soon for Nova

A rainbow appeared over The Triangle just as a walking tour preceding tonight’s zoning-change public hearing began.

Also as the tour began, Harbor Properties‘ Denny Onslow revealed that groundbreaking will happen soon for their new development, all-residential Nova, at 36th/Snoqualmie (if our rainbow photo atop this story were wider, Nova’s site would be on the left, north of The Grove). According to Onslow, if all goes as planned, construction will start around Halloween. Here’s the design shown at its second and final Design Review meeting last summer:

Nova is planned as 62 apartments, no retail. Right now, City Councilmembers Sally Clark and Sally Bagshaw are at another Harbor building, the 5-month-old mixed-use building Link (WSB sponsor), in a casual conversation with community/business reps preceding the hearing.

More notes to come – with full coverage of that hearing later. If you have something to say about the Triangle’s future – should some areas be upzoned to 85-foot buildings? for example – be at the Senior Center of West Seattle, 6 pm.

BULLETIN: ‘The Hole,’ aka Fauntleroy Place, goes for $32 million

(WSB photo of ‘The Hole,’ May 2011)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
We’re at the King County Administration Building downtown, where the stalled development site formerly known as Fauntleroy Place, better known in West Seattle as “The Hole,” has just been auctioned off, three years after development stalled and collapsed into a court fight.

After the case was settled back in June, the resulting foreclosure sale was scheduled for today, and happened without much fanfare, shortly after 10 this morning, as part of the regularly scheduled foreclosure auctions.

Pending completion of paperwork, payment, etc., 3922 SW Alaska LLC is the winning (and only) bidder, announced by King County Sheriff’s Office fill-in auctioneer Dave Easterly, at $32.3 million. See and hear for yourself:

3922 SW Alaska LLC has been the on-the-record noteholder; it’s an entity linked to Madison Development. Its bid was submitted in writing.

Now what? We had checked with a spokesperson for 3922 earlier this week, and the response we got back yesterday was: “We are confident and hopeful that the next steps determining the future of this site will take place soon, but it would be premature to discuss any details at this time.” We are of course checking again; it should be noted that Madison has a page on its website for Fauntleroy Place, listed as 64,000 square feet of retail, 180,000 square feet of apartments. They also have a project under way in West Seattle right now – Element 42, the apartments on the southeast side of the Admiral Safeway site.

Under previous developers, the project was scheduled to have a Whole Foods Market as well as a Hancock Fabrics store (the latter, to replace one torn down on the site), but Whole Foods formally pulled out of the project in July 2010, since terms of its lease – to have a store ready to go by a certain date – were not fulfilled.

More to come! (Footnote: No official comment from Madison by day’s end. Hopefully next week.)

Delridge homeless-housing proposal: Date set for 1st forum

It wasn’t just celebration at Saturday’s Delridge Day festival, presented by the North Delridge Neighborhood Council – it was also about information, including one of the hottest current topics in the neighborhood, Downtown Emergency Service Center‘s proposal for 75 apartments in the 5400 block of Delridge Way SW to house homeless people living with mental illness (and in some cases, sustance abuse). One week earlier, we reported on Delridge neighborhood advocates’ tour of two DESC facilities in Columbia City and Cascade, and mentioned their plan for a town-hall-style forum. The date has now been announced: Tuesday, October 11th (evening, time TBA), at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. NDNC distributed flyers on Saturday in multiple languages. They also have launched a website with info about the forum; see it here.