North Delridge development: 2 sites to watch
Two sites to update in North Delridge — one more mysterious than the other. That would be the one shown above, right behind the DSHS/Kidney Center building. Its official address is 4040 26th (map), and we got a few notes after that fence went up around it a week or so ago. No activity has ensued — yet — and its official city webpage doesn’t show any recent permit-granting; most of the applications were from a few years ago, save a “phase III” construction permit application last May. In the original 2005 application, for which a land-use permit was issued in 2006, this was proposed as a “six-story, 154-unit apartment building with 2,500 square feet of retail and 11 live-work units.” We contacted Anka Developments, listed as the applicant on most of the DPD pages, and a spokesperson wrote back that the company is no longer involved with the site, noting that it was sold a year ago. The purchaser, PortVue LLC, has the same address and phone number as Woodinville-based Sierra Construction, where we have left an inquiry that has so far gone unanswered; we’ll keep working it. Meantime, there’s a fuller picture of information about this nearby site:
From the corner of Delridge/Dakota, that’s a look across the street toward the site that’s in city records as 4106 Delridge, subject of its first “early design guidance” meeting this past week – reviewers told the architect they want to see the project for a second round – read on to see why:Read More
Satterlee House ruling: Owner loses appeal of development denial
ORIGINAL 11:27 AM POST (followed by updates): We’re at the King County Courthouse downtown, where Superior Court Judge Suzanne Barnett has just announced her ruling on Satterlee House owner William Conner‘s appeal of the city’s denial of his proposal to build three houses on its front lawn. The ruling comes a week and a half after both sides presented oral arguments (WSB coverage here), as part of Conner’s court challenge, filed following the city Hearing Examiner‘s affirmation in April of the Landmarks Board decision to say no to this specific development proposal. (Conner needed board approval because the Satterlee House, at 4866 Beach Drive [map] and also known as “The Painted Lady,” is an official city landmark.) Now, the ruling: The judge has affirmed the Hearing Examiner and Landmarks Board decisions against the development proposal. She said she did not agree with any of the reasons made by Conner and lawyer Richard Hill regarding why they felt the decisions were in error. We’ll add more details shortly, and we also will be following up on whether Conner plans to appeal the decision (the next step would be the Court of Appeals); important to note, again, this does not represent a ruling that no development can happen on the site – only that this it was legal for the city to deny this particular proposal for three 3,000-square-foot-average houses (which the judge termed “mini-mansions”) on the home’s front lawn along Beach Drive. 12:40 PM ADDENDUM: We talked to Hill outside the courtroom; he said they would “digest” the ruling before making a decision on whether to challenge it (they have 30 days to do that). 1:19 PM ADDENDUM: Here are details of what Judge Barnett said today in court:Read More
The Kenney’s Design Review debut: “Complicated”
Isn’t there some way to save The Kenney‘s century-old original building, Seaview, as part of the redevelopment project? That was one question heard repeatedly Thursday night from both Southwest Design Review Board members and concerned neighbors, dozens of whom packed the project’s first official SWDRB review. After two hours of presentations, questions, criticisms, concerns, and suggestions, reviewers told The Kenney’s CEO and consultants to try again, ordering a second round of “early design guidance.” Board chair David Foster pronounced the situation more “complicated than any (he’d) seen in (his) 3 1/2 years on the board,” but in the end, the meeting was more constructive than confrontational — read on:Read More
Quick update: Another “early design” meeting for The Kenney
Detailed report to come. Bottom line, though, after two hours laden with thoughtful public comments and concerns about the major redevelopment project at The Kenney – the Southwest Design Review Board (with only two of its five members in attendance) asked The Kenney to come back for a second round of “early design guidance” — that means at least two more meetings before it passes all the way through Design Review.
Three Thursday night notes
DESIGN REVIEW: We’re midway through tonight’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting. First project, a mixed-use building proposed for what’s currently a sloped, treed site at 4106 Delridge, is being sent back for a second round of “early design guidance” – board members said they weren’t seeing enough distinct options for the site. The Kenney‘s redevelopment project is next up. More details on that, and the Delridge review, later. (The Delridge writeup will be later Friday, after we can get some on-site photos of points raised during the review.)
PARKS BOARD: Meeting at Parks Department HQ downtown tonight, the board is taking public comments on its “request for proposals” that will soon be issued to seek a private operator for West Seattle Stadium. 
According to Morgan Junction‘s Cindi Barker, Parks Superintendent Tim Gallagher also had another West Seattle note in his informal briefing at the start of the meeting – artists who are being displaced by the Magnuson Park redevelopment project might be moved to the Hughes School site (photo left; it temporarily housed South Lake High School for the past few years but is vacant this year). We’ll be checking to find out more on the status of that proposal.
FIRST IN-STORE TASTING: The two photos below are from the first wine tasting Thriftway in Morgan Junction hosted as part of its participation in the state’s pilot program of beer and wine sampling in grocery stores. We dropped by just as the event was starting at 4 pm. Thriftway charged $5 for the tasting plus snacks from the lavish appetizer spread you see below; the tasting’s theme was “Washington vs. Italy – Taste the Difference.”
Happening today/tonight: LOTS of options, from wine to design
It’s all on the WSB Events calendar, but for extra emphasis, a few highlights: West Seattle Democratic Women lunch; first in-store wine-tasting at Thriftway; Design Review for The Kenney and 4106 Delridge; city Parks Board looks at West Seattle Stadium private-operator search; South Delridge/White Center Community Safety Coalition; WS Ministerial Association’s Initiative 1000 forum; Alki Idol; West Seattle Pins and Needlers. Plus two open houses: Family Promise (previewed here) and Explorer West Middle School. For times/places/links, just go here. ADDED: Seattle Lutheran High School has an open house tonight too, 6:30-8 pm in the gym, on Genesee east of 42nd.
Junction/Triangle development: Next public update set
WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli captioned that recent photo from the Fauntleroy Place worksite as, “They put the ‘hole’ in ‘Whole Foods’.” The developers behind that project and two others are part of an all-star slate lined up by the Fairmount Community Association for a meeting to which you’re invited: Reps from BlueStar and Harbor Properties (six Triangle/Junction projects between the two) will be there; the association plans to ask them to speak specifically about the projects closest to its neighborhoods, the ones planned along SW Alaska. Also expected to attend, City Councilmembers Tom Rasmussen and Sally Clark. The Fairmount Community Association meeting is at 6:30 pm November 6th in the chapel at The Mount. Those six projects are all in various stages — for BlueStar, Fauntleroy Place is well under way, Spring Hill has finished Design Review, Gateway Center hasn’t gotten to DR yet; for Harbor, Mural is in its final months of construction, Link has finished Design Review, the motel site hasn’t gotten there yet — and this will be an excellent chance to hear what’s new, as well as the latest on new development rules (like the multifamily code proposal — aka townhouse design — Councilmember Clark helped unveil three months ago).
Details: Satterlee House court hearing
As promised, here are the details of Monday afternoon’s oral arguments in the case of Conner vs. Seattle — that’s William Conner, who founded Conner Homes and is now retired, challenging the city Hearing Examiner‘s decision upholding the city Landmarks Board‘s rejection of his proposal to build three 3,000-or-so-square-foot homes on the big lawn fronting the Satterlee House (4866 Beach Drive; map). That board has to turn thumbs up or down on changes proposed to official city landmarks, which require a “certificate of approval” before such changes can proceed to the next step in any development process. This case is unusual and potentially precedent-setting because, as was noted during the HE hearings we covered in the spring, Landmarks Board rulings are seldom appealed, and this one not only went to appeal, the ruling on that appeal is now being challenged in court. Here’s what happened in court Monday (expanding on our brief initial report published Monday afternoon):Read More
Design Review updates: High Point details; board member’s hiatus
Every little detail of the development process may not be your cup of tea; we chronicle it so the information’s there when you do want to find it (you never know when one of those big city signs might go up in your ‘hood). As you may know, for big projects in our city, the Design Review stage of the process is often the only time there’s a public meeting about a project (usually at least two) where you can show up and have a say. Each area of the city has its own board; the Southwest Design Review Board looks at West Seattle projects, usually the second and fourth Thursdays of the month, if there are projects requiring review (no meeting if there aren’t; this is usually decided several weeks in advance, and you can watch this page for word of upcoming meetings). Next SWDRB meeting is October 23rd at Madison Middle School, with 4106 Delridge reviewed at 6:30 pm, The Kenney‘s “reinvention” project (previous WSB coverage here and here) reviewed at 8 pm. Following up on the SWDRB’s last meeting this past Thursday, we have two things to report: first, details on a prominent board member’s hiatus; second, details on what led up to the decision to advance the 35th/Graham High Point project on to the next stage. Read on!Read More
Satterlee House case goes to court next week
Back in March and April, we brought you a series of reports about the city Hearing Examiner‘s consideration of an appeal filed by William Conner, owner of the city landmark Satterlee House on Beach Drive, challenging the city Landmarks Board‘s denial of his request to build three homes (averaging 3,000 square feet) on the house’s expansive front lawn. (The board has to review and approve changes proposed to official city landmarks.) After the Hearing Examiner ruled in April against his appeal, Conner filed a challenge in May in King County Superior Court. That case is finally coming before a judge, and we received word today that oral arguments are scheduled Monday afternoon. At the heart of the case is not whether Conner can build on the site, but what he can build on the site; he is asking the judge to rule that he has the right to go ahead with the original proposal. Meantime, online listings indicate the house remains on the market, listed for more than $2 million; listing agent AC Braddock had told us in May that Conner had approved one of the major repairs which he’d testified were needed, jacking up the house to fix major settling; the permit for that work was issued in July.
Quick update: 35th/Graham advances to next Design Review round
(Originally posted at WSB backup site) Short version just so we can get you the headline while we deal with tonight’s technical trouble: The 35th/Graham mixed-use project (see the presentation here) is advancing out of “early design guidance” after its second EDG meeting, tonight at Hiawatha Community Center, but not without a whole lot of suggestions by Southwest Design Review Board members, who all but redesigned it during an extensive session that sent tonight’s meeting into overtime. Lots of public comment tonight, too, though it mostly focused on pedestrian concerns and hopes/dreams for the project’s retail spaces, remarks targeted more at the developers and managers who were in attendance than the design reviewers looking at the project’s looks. More later.
Tonight: West Seattle Art Walk; 35th/Graham design review
Lots happening today/tonight, per the WSB West Seattle Events calendar – here are two highlights: A record 43 venues all over West Seattle (here’s the map) are joining in tonight’s monthly WS Art Walk, 6-9 pm, listed here (participants include WSB sponsors Hotwire Coffee, Dream Dinners, M3 Bodyworks, Seattle Wellness Programs, Skylark Cafe & Club, and Click! Design That Fits, where as we mentioned Tuesday, you’ll find the photography of Karen Derby). Also tonight: The second Southwest Design Review Board public meeting for the 35th/Graham mixed-use project (presentation previewable online here), 6:30 pm, Hiawatha Community Center.
Update: Permits granted for Harbor Avenue project
It’s the building boom that doesn’t get talked about nearly as much as the one in The Junction, but it’s also transforming an area: We told you in January about the permit application for 2775 Harbor (map), shown above in a photo we took at the time; this week, according to the city planning website, land-use and construction permits (here and here) have been granted for the project, described as “a 5-story 13,101 sq. ft. office building with an 800 sq. ft. caretakers unit … Surface parking for 15 vehicles to be provided.” Thanks very much to the architecture firm Shugart Bates for rapidly responding to our request for a drawing (the driveway goes to Harbor Ave, in case you were wondering):
This is one of several major projects in the area, including the rather extensive-looking WestBay in the 2200 block of Harbor (map), which has a sketch on its leasing listing.
began … Our first report: The 
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