The long-languishing, almost-complete building on the southeast corner of 35th and Avalon not only has a new contractor, as the banner says, it has a new owner.

The Daily Journal of Commerce reported today (thanks to Diane for the tip) – and online records confirm – that it was purchased a month ago by an entity of Chicago-headquartered Randolph Street Realty Capital, whose website touts its expertise in buying “distressed,” “unfinished,” and otherwise-challenged sites.

Four and a half years have passed since work started at the site that was once to be part of the eventually killed Seattle Monorail route. It was owned at the time by fugitive developer Michael Mastro; the project stalled in 2009, as Mastro’s money troubles mounted. Two years ago, a Bellevue company bought it for $4 million and announced it would finish the mixed-use building; the new owners are paying almost $7.3 million. According to a webpage for the project set up by its previous owner, the building has 60 apartments and 122 parking spaces.

It’s the second Chicago-based firm to recently buy into West Seattle development in a big way, after Equity Residential bought the former Conner site on the southeast corner of California/Alaska, and in fact, both of Randolph Street’s principals are former Equity Residential managers. Meantime, the potential completion of that building isn’t the only change ahead for that area; there are signs of work starting soon on the 120-unit 3261 Avalon Way project, and right across the street, three apartment buildings are for sale: Terrace Villa (36 units for $5.3 million), Westridge (26 units for just under $4 million), and Avalon West (same size/price as Westridge).

(Sketch described as development team’s preferred ‘concept’ – click image for larger view)
4724 CALIFORNIA: We told you 3 weeks ago about the meeting date for this Junction project, so this is just a reminder – Thursday night, 6:30 pm, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW), is the first design review for the proposed 100-or-so-unit development at the ex-Petco site in The Junction. Last Thursday, we brought you the first look at concept sketches that the project team has shown to community members in advance of the formal meetings, as well as the “massing” – size/shape – options in the “packet” put together for Design Review (see it here).

9051 20TH: This planned two-phase, 40-plus-unit project in South Delridge had its first Design Review meeting on March 8th (WSB coverage here). It’s now tentatively scheduled for a second meeting on June 14th, 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle.

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

One week from today, the 4724 California development proposal goes before the Southwest Design Review Board for the first time.

Today, we have two views of the ex-Petco site’s potential 7-story future. One is in a set of sketches from the development team – to whom we spoke for stories published here on April 20th and April 30th, following up first word of the plan four weeks ago, as well as the latest version of the packet for next week’s meeting (see it here). Above is the project team’s “preferred” early-concept sketch.

We also have what you might call a packet of “alternative” concepts put together by one of the community members who recently previewed the early sketches in their first round of unofficial community meetings. He wonders what you think about HIS design guidelines.

First, more from the development team, which is comprised of prospective owners The Wolff Company (whose completion of the purchase is conditioned on assurances the project will go forward), “on-the-ground” project reps Urban Evolution, and architects Weber Thompson. Their caveat: “This is all very early concept work and in no way intended to represent final designs.” These are concepts they have showed to community members, for the building envisioned at about 100 units (a fifth of them “live-work” on the second floor), and wanted you to see as well – beyond the usual “massing” size/shape renderings that are typically shown at an Early Design Guidance meeting. Here’s what they describe as a “traditional” take on the “preferred” sketch:

And this is a potential layout for the first floor of the building:

Those two are not in the official material for the “Early Design Guidance” meeting next Thursday (May 24) – it’s meant “to give some indication of how we envision the street-level interface to start to take shape and to provide some very early context for what are otherwise yellow blocks from the massing studies in the EDG pack.” Like this one, looking eastward toward the front of the “preferred” massing option:

From that package, the “design narrative”:

The new project will enhance the fine grained retail found along California Ave. SW as well as relate thoughtfully to the emerging higher density buildings in the neighborhood. The entire ground floor facing California will be devoted to retail frontage that will relate well to the existing pedestrian environment and commercial uses. Live/Work units will line a portion of the alley façade at the ground floor and occupy the second floor along California and the alley. Vehicular entry to the garage and building loading/service will also be located on the alley.

In elevation along California the podium will be comprised of ground floor retail and Live/Work units at the second floor. This will be architecturally differentiated from the upper five levels of residential program by expressing a more commercial language at the base of the building. The residential lobby and access to the Live/Work units will be located along a proposed mid-block pedestrian walkway on the project’s north property line. In order to daylight the walkway the majority of the project will be pulled back 10’ from the north property line. The mid-block walkway will provide access from California east to 42nd Ave. SW and continue the linkage started by the Mural project to the east.

The preferred massing option will provide a signature corner element to mark and animate the mid-block crossing. Both North and South elevations will pull off the property lines to minimize blank walls as much as possible and provide corner glazing for the units.

Again, much of that won’t officially show till the second round of Design Review – the first one, next Thursday (6:30 pm at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, 4408 Delridge) is to talk about the building’s “massing” (size and shape) and other general aspects. Here’s another of the “massing” renderings for the first round on May 24th, from the “packet,” this time looking from the southeast, and note the gray shading further north, representing where the Equity Residential building is scheduled to be built at California/Alaska:

The public is welcome at Design Review – but comments must stick to design aspects; traffic, noise, and other effects of a development are considered “environmental” and do not generally get a public hearing – you will be able to send those to the city planner assigned to the project, Shelly Bolser, who will be at the Design Review meeting.

Now, the “alternative” packet – not specifically offering a vision for the Petco site, but rather some guidelines overall. Rich Koehler sent WSB what he had put together earlier this month, after reviewing some of the early concepts with the project team. We asked if he’s an architect or otherwise in the business; no, he replied, he just sent a comment to the project team early on, and he was invited to meet with them, along with others, including Junction-area community-group and business-group leaders.

Koehler says he is interested in YOUR thoughts about his ideas. His 29-page “packet” – see it in its entirety here (PDF) – includes not only some suggestions to the 4724 California team, but also his thoughts on existing Junction development, what he sees as “good” and “bad.”

His examples of “good” Junction-area design include the Osborn building:

His examples of “bad” include Mural (east of where 4724 California is scheduled to go up):

Rich’s packet (four more than the Early Design Guidance packet from the development team, though less text-dense) – includes these suggested guidelines (this is also a screengrab from his “packet”):

He also refers to the West Seattle Junction’s official codified design guidelines – which are mentioned in the official project “packet,” too.

So what’s next? Unless the SWDRB sends the project team entirely back to the drawing board, their approval of its “early design guidance” will allow the team to proceed in the permit application process, during which the city also will take comments about the aforementioned environmental impacts. If the process goes as they hope, construction would start in spring of next year. The project team also reiterates they welcome your direct comments to them – the contact info is on their website.

(Tuesday evening photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
One year after a new plan was circulated for Oregon 42 - the mixed-use building at 42nd SW/SW Oregon in The Junction that’s been in the works for four and a half years – construction is about to begin. We confirmed that this morning with Mike Mahoney from ConAm, the San Diego company that is developing the 131-unit building; we called for an update after getting word that the construction fence had gone up around the site (photo above).

It’s a four-lot site; three houses will be demolished, probably starting next week, according to Mahoney. The fourth lot formerly held the house that was moved to another site in an operation that created something of a spectacle in summer 2010. (The site also made news here in March when one of the remaining houses was used for SWAT-team training.) Here’s one of the Oregon 42 renderings circulated last year, when the number of apartments was increased and the amount of retail decreased (now 3,000 square feet):

(That’s Hope Lutheran at the lower left, Capco Plaza – QFC & Altamira – at upper right.) Mahoney says the plan hasn’t changed since the revised version was made public last year. But now they’re ready to proceed. Once demolition begins, he says, “that’s really going to kick off the full construction – we will move right into excavation and shoring work.” He expects the construction crane to go up in about two months, and the project to be complete after about 16 months of work – which would mean fall of next year. SD Deacon is the general contractor; Junction-based Nicholson Kovalchick Architects joined the project before last year’s round of publicized changes, but was not involved when the project was first proposed back in 2008. This project, by the way, is among those in West Seattle granted the city’s Multi-Family Tax Exemption (see the agreement, finalized by the City Council last year, here), for agreeing that 20 percent of the units will have what the city deems “affordable rents” accessible to people slightly below the median income.

Two other major apartment projects are under construction in West Seattle right now – Youngstown Flats in North Delridge, and Harbor/Urban’s 62-unit Nova in The Triangle – and others are on the drawing board, including two within just a few blocks, the Equity Residential project at California/Alaska, and 4724 California, which has its first Design Review Board meeting one week from tomorrow.

(2011 WSB photo of ‘The Hole’)
Once Trader Joe’s opened on the northeast corner of 39th/Fauntleroy/Alaska, the “what will we all talk about NOW?” attention turned, for some, to the northwest side of the intersection, home to “The Hole,” the project known as Fauntleroy Place when it was excavated and then entangled in a court fight. That battle ended with a settlement that resulted in a foreclosure auction last October, with 3922 SW Alaska LLC as the only bidder – an entity of Madison Development. Since then, though, nary a word about what Madison – which recently completed the Element 42 apartments east of Admiral Safeway – intends to do with “The Hole.”

For quite some time, we tried to find out through the PR agency that had been speaking for Madison. They said they’d see what they could find out – but no updates ensued. Finally today, while working on various followups, we tried contacting Madison’s Tom Lee directly. His reply was short, but full of promise:

We are still working very hard on the project and hope to have an update for you soon.

As for the site’s DPD file, the only even-remotely-recent activity has been a renewal of permits in late March.

This week, we’re likely to learn a lot more about what’s envisioned for the 4724 California development on the ex-Petco site in The Junction.

For starters: 10 days after WSB first reported the plan, the “fact sheet” promised by developers is now available- see it here – and the official website’s look and contents have evolved too.

Most significantly, the development/ownership team continues to circulate for conversations with community leaders, as they were doing before we even found out about the proposal. West Seattle business-community members met with the development team last week. This time in addition to the “on the ground” Seattle team members from Urban Evolution (who talked with us for an April 20th followup), the group included Peter Wolff of The Wolff Company, the privately held firm that’s buying the site and funding the development.

The morning after that meeting, he sat down for an interview with WSB, in which he explained, among other things, why he believes his company is “the right firm to do this”:

Peter Wolff is a member of the third generation to run the company, founded by his grandfather Alvin J. Wolff in Spokane in 1949. The company – which just relaunched its website – still has a Spokane office, but is headquartered in Arizona, which is where Peter Wolff lives now, though he has ties here: He’s a former Seattleite and has an architecture degree from Washington State University.

“It’s important that people know our company is behind this 100 percent – it’s not just another project,” Wolff says. “We care deeply about how we’re perceived; ultimately that perception will arise out of what we do.”

What they’re doing right now is getting ready for the first Southwest Design Review Board meeting for the project; Chris Rossman from Urban Evolution, who accompanied Wolff to his interview with us in The Junction last Wednesday, said they are hoping for May 24th (as of this writing Monday at midday, nothing is on the Department of Planning and Development’s online schedule). The project is being designed by Weber Thompson (which also designed the forthcoming California/Alaska project up the block).

The new FAQ outlines the plan with language similar to what we had originally found on the DPD site and what the Urban Evolution partners had described in our first interview:

The plan is for a mixed-use residential building with approximately 100 total units plus ground-floor retail along the full front of California Avenue SW. The property is zoned NC3P-85, which allows 85 feet in height. The current plan is to build 7 stories, with five floors of residential, one floor of live/work, and one floor of retail at the ground floor.

But back to “perception.” Wolff says he understands that some will be suspicious of, or at least skeptical about, developers. (Particularly, we note, in a community with a four-years-stalled development excavation, just blocks from the 4724 California site.) So why should you trust they’ll be different? One factor cited: The family ownership, for one. “It’s rare that you have four brothers and a father who work together, and we do it well. That’s extremely rare – there are five of us running around who are principals. We love it, we breathe it, it’s in our blood. We’ve been a very intense real-estate family for a long time.”

And the company has “deep bench strength,” says Wolff, ticking off other attributes, from “well-capitalized” to “can get the job done.”

He says they strive to leave a site “better than we found it” and hope that their projects will help “stitch together and enhance the community in a way that only we have done. … We want to be part of making this a great place.” And he says they have a longterm stake in that, since “the better the place becomes, the better the investment becomes – not altruistically, but from a personal-gratification standpoint: We want to look back and say we were part of that.” And he repeats what the Urban Evolution team had said in our interview with them: “We do intend on holding this one forever.”

The Wolff Company has not built in Seattle before – and now they are embarking on not only this project, but also another one on Capitol Hill. Overall, Wolff says, the company is moving toward more in-city development (other projects are mapped here). “We’ve tried to get into Seattle for a long, long time. The economic environment hasn’t been right for a long, long time.” His family’s company does a lot of research in deciding on its “target” markets, evaluating a variety of factors. “In Seattle right now, the conditions are perfect,” he says, noting that in addition to starting development projects like this one and Capitol Hill, they also “have been buying,” usually apartment buildings.

We point out that West Seattle has more than a few apartment projects under development – Youngstown Flats in North Delridge, Nova in The Triangle – and on the drawing board, and that some are warning of the possibility of overbuilding (including economist Matthew Gardner, speaking to the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s awards breakfast earlier this month).

Wolff acknowledges there’s “a lot of news about overbuilding and (what’s in the) pipeline; it’s also true that there continues to be a lot of great news on the demand side as well. We’re very encouraged by the general demographics of the region, this being a gateway city – people are generally tending to choose lifestyle locations … We’re very bullish on Seattle for that region.” As they are, he adds, on Colorado and the San Francisco Bay Area, to name two other locations where they are focused right now. “There probably will be some overbuilding, but we’ll hold this for a long period of time, and it tends not to be a problem for us. We’ll be there when times are good and when times are bad.”

Trends and overviews are one thing. But what about the people whose only concern is the face of change – a low-rise business district, long zoned for higher development but only now seeing it starting to arrive, with both this proposal and the two-building Equity Residential (ex-Conner) project planned at California/Alaska? We ask Wolff what he would say if a local resident asked him about it face to face.

“I get why people like the single-story (buildings),” he begins. “It’s romantic. It harkens to the past. Sweet little streets. The reality is, it speaks to a time when there was less density, many fewer people in the city. The most sustainable urbanism can be very, very good if done right, especially in something like this. The key there is, it needs to be done carefully. Indeed, tall buildings jammed together can be done poorly, can ruin an area. I acknowledge that. But done well, this kind of density can magnify the positive effects, including having a better street front. More engagement, more people to bring up the shops, better shops and sidewalks and better street furniture, better transit …”

Bottom line: “The small street like this in the middle of a city is not practical, not sustainable, not environmentally or economically sustainable. The demand (will come in), the supplies aren’t able to meet it, and people will go somewhere else, the dollars will go somewhere else. It has to grow. You can’t fight urbanization – it’s happening, no matter what.”

Here’s what else he would say to someone who’s worried:

“We are the firm you want to do this. You can’t fight urbanization – it is happening – but you can fight who does that. We need to convince everybody that we are the right firm to do this. It’s not the building itself, it’s who’s doing the building. We ‘get it’.”

Is there a particular Wolff Company project to which he can point, we ask, as evidence that they “get it”?

Since their company’s “move to urbanization has been relatively recent,” he says the most comparable example is a project in Boulder, Colorado (Gunbarrel Center), but it too is in design right now. In Boulder, too, he explains, people are passionate about their community, as in West Seattle, and how it’s changing and growing.

What about the traffic – building in an area that has a rush-hour bottleneck, aka the West Seattle Bridge? “We acknowledge the traffic, for sure,” he says, but doesn’t see it as a dealbreaker. He also points out that they are planning to build parking into the project – “we would have an issue with our residents if there is none” – even though the newest city rules do not require a development like theirs to offer ANY parking. (While the Urban Evolution team had mentioned .8 spaces or so per unit during our previous conversation, the new fact sheet says they’re looking at .7-.8 – that would mean, if they build 100 units, 70 to 80 spaces.)

Acknowledging that it might “feel like we’re playing into a bad situation” regarding outbound traffic jams, Wolff has a glass-half-full view, hoping that as the population increases, transportation authorities “will allocate funding to solve the transportation problem. … Urbanization is a series of iterative steps; there’s more incentive to build the right kind of transportation infrastructure if it serves more and more population density.”

And the conversation comes back to our question of, what would you say to someone who feels that new development is costing them a place, a feeling that they love? “We do hear that and we understand it. We’re not blind to it. All we can do is acknowledge that fully, and the reasons why (people feel that way). Don’t just say, ‘big buildings are bad.’ What are the aspects (of the area) that you love currently? What are the pieces that you love? How can we preserve that as best we can, (knowing that) nobody can stand there and hold back the tide of growth? How do we take the best of what we have and make sure we do the best we can, in a big building, to preserve that? That’s all we can do. Simply not acting is not an option, for us or for the next guy who comes along, so let’s do the best we can.”

For starters, if you haven’t already, send your thoughts to them via the contact form/address on the 4724California.com website. Wolff and Rossman say they are all being read: “We will do our best to try to balance the neighborhood concerns, the urban planning and architectural considerations – it’s a complicated puzzle to put together. Our pledge is not that we’re going to do everything that everyone asks; we’ll do the best we can. That’s the most we can do. The location demands it – it is a core location in the neighborhood, and it needs to be manifested … that great care was taken.”

Second, participate in the Design Review process, and the rest of the feedback process (we’ll have city contacts on those as soon as they are formally posted) – follow that through the city website, by watching this page (which is where we got the original details).

If the process moves at the expected pace, it will be about a year before construction at 4724 California begins.

If you have something to say about the proposed apartment/retail development for the ex-Petco site at 4724 California SW, the development-team leads want to hear it.

So insist Chris Rossman and Matt Corsi of Urban Evolution, who spent almost an hour and a half talking with WSB this afternoon as a followup to our Thursday story breaking the news that this development is in the works – albeit in the very early stages, with the city webpages we mentioned last night little more than placeholders..

They already have been reaching out (quietly) to local groups such as the Junction Neighborhood Organization and the West Seattle Junction Association, to find out what people want to see in the development.

Ahead, what we found out, but first, who they are and how the proposal came to be:

WHO OWNS THE SITE: The property is being purchased by The Wolff Company, a Spokane-founded, family-owned firm. It’s been under contract, Rossman and Corsi say, since late last summer, but the deal will not close until they get to certain points in the process ahead – guaranteeing the project can be built. Wolff is spending its own money – no lender/partner involved – and intends to hold this “in perpetuity,” not build it and flip it. And they say a “significant amount of earnest money” already is involved, so they’re not working on spec. Wolff, they say, has been moving out of suburban projects to focus on urban projects, recognizing that “people are moving into the cities.” And since the project/prospective owner is “fully capitalized,” Rossman says, “You won’t see any stops and starts with us” (as in, no Hole II).

WHO’S URBAN EVOLUTION? Wolff actually didn’t know about the site till Corsi and Rossman, both Queen Anne residents, brought it to their attention. They say they had been working last year with a particular broker on another possible West Seattle development site that wasn’t working out, when this one came up. The broker told them it wasn’t officially for sale “but could be,” with Petco moving out last November. And things progressed from there: “We loved the location.”

Their role is to be the “boots on the ground” for the project. They met in the University of Washington‘s commercial-real-estate-development program but both had experience in the industry. Corsi said that during his 20 years of working as an engineer, he was involved with many much-bigger projects (such as the baseball and football stadiums), but they want to work on “meaningful neighborhood infill .. Our goal was to find a great piece of property, a fun project, provide some density where density will be going, where it’s zoned, so we put the project together.”

This is their firm’s first project, but they’ve known each other a while.

WHAT DO THEY PLAN TO BUILD? They say there are no renderings yet, and the outline on the city website – about 100 units, possibly up to a fifth of them live-work – is just a rough draft of their ideas, as submitted to the city in the “pre-application” process. They are not expecting the 5,000 or so square feet of retail space to be taken by one tenant. And the live-work units might not be in the traditional “first two levels” format – they might be over the street-level retail, for example, perhaps on the second story. They say they have been listening to community advocates’ requests – many familiar from the discussions involved with the Equity Residential (ex-Conner) project further north on the block, such as “don’t put the residential entrance right on California.”

As we surmised from online information yesterday, they are ONLY working with the ex-Petco building, on its existing footprint – adjacent properties are not involved. (The only one they had looked at, they said, was the dental building to the north, but in the end, it didn’t work out “timing-wise.”) They hope to “create a unique, interesting scale” that can be “sensitive to adjacent properties … it’s an opportunity to make that block unique.” Corsi said the midblock crosswalk next to the property creates “an opportunity for really cool retail” while “right now there’s no street presence (with the ex-Petco site).” Their vision for the California SW frontage could include something “really engaging, open, transparent, with high-ceilinged retail, something that will glow at night, something you can see by day.” They’re wondering if there would be any sense in a “midblock passthrough” like the one planned on the California/Alaska site.

What about recurrent concerns that new retail space will be priced too high for independent local businesses to occupy that “cool” space? While not guaranteeing low rents, they said the retail space itself isn’t meant to be its own profit center in the project – “not just another line item; we look at it as an amenity to renting the units above” – implying that rents might be more affordable than you would guess. (Speaking of affordable rents, we asked if they, like some other local developers, planned to apply for the city’s Multi-Family Tax Exemption; while not ruling it out, they didn’t expect to, since “this is going to be a perpetual hold.”)

What kind of apartments do they expect to include? They haven’t settled on the mix yet, but have heard that two-bedroom units have been very popular, with waiting lists at many other developments, since the market otherwise is “dominated by one bedrooms and studios.”

PARKING? As mentioned on the city webpages, they expect to have underground parking. Under new city rules, they point out, the development is not required to have any parking – but “people are going to drive cars, and we can’t get around that.” The ratio will likely be around .8 space for each unit – so if it’s 100 units, 80 to 85 spaces. The live-work units, for example, might be occupied by people who don’t need cars since their commute will be a matter of steps, and the neighborhood outside the building has so many businesses within walking range.

‘NO DEPARTURES’: They expect the proposal will follow city code – which means no “departures,” or variances from the code, that would have to get special approval. It also will not require a street or alley vacation; the Equity Residential/ex-Conner project did, because the planned underground garage beneath both its buildings is to veer into city right-of-way below the alley, so that means this project will not have an extra layer of SDOT/Seattle Design Commission vetting required, as that one did.

WHAT ELSE DO THEY WANT TO HEAR ABOUT? They realize many people are concerned with the “bulk and scale,” but would like to hear other “unique tidbits” about how the building could engage with the neighborhood. One local advocate, they mentioned, pointed out that under its previous ownership, Mural – immediately east of this site – had offered short-term “vacation” rental units that had been popular with people, since West Seattle remains short on lodging. We noted comment discussions about West Seattle’s lack of flex-work spaces.

WHAT’S NEXT: They hope to have their first Early Design Guidance meeting – the first of at least two Southwest Design Review Board meetings, as stipulated by city rules – as soon as late May. If everything moves as they hope, with a Master Use Permit granted by the end of this year, construction would begin about this time next year.

HOW TO SHARE YOUR OPINION: The website we mentioned last night, 4724California.com, has an e-mail form – and they’re reading what they receive (they had been reading the many comments on Thursday’s WSB story, too). They insisted, repeatedly, they want to hear it all – “I love discourse,” Corsi said – so if you have something to say, don’t hesitate. Corsi has been involved in neighborhood advocacy, as a member of the Queen Anne Community Council, so he has seen development from both sides – he recalled a “heated, intense neighborhood … process” involving a QFC store, which “wound up positive, not so adversarial … the developer got to do a great building because they understood how the neighborhood functions.”

Right now, they are seeking that kind of understanding here. While those who are mourning the impending loss of more single-level commercial space might not agree, they believe their project can be an enhancement of, not a detraction to, the “Main Street” aspect of The Junction, as the heart of the “big thriving neighborhood” that is West Seattle. They “think we can add something here that is of good quality.” Adds Rossman, “It’s one of the proudest neighborhoods in the city, with a distinct and defined identity, and people who buy into that and take pride in it, in who’s doing business, who’s supporting it.”

Even if you are skeptical, they hope to win you over. “(Development is) going to happen,” they say, but “we’re here to say ‘what works? how can we retain the character? bring in retailers you want to see, make The Junction more successful and more appealing rather than sterilized” – as they believe it would be if a national megadevelopment company were doing this, instead of a small Seattle firm like theirs.

Watch for a “fact sheet” to go public next week.

In every story we’ve published about the ex-Petco site in The Junction (4700 block of California), it’s been noted that the quirky Sound Advertising Group setup there – an office staff and ex-pizza-place animatronics! – isn’t there for the long haul. So why didn’t the owner seek someone who is? many have asked. Here’s the likely reason: A development proposal.

Even before the north side of the block – the future Equity Residential (ex-Conner) project – starts construction, a potential project is emerging further south. A few details are on the city’s Department of Planning and Development website:

New construction of a 7-story mixed-use building with approximately 80 residential apartment units, 18 L/W units, approximately 5,000 gsf of commercial space at ground level, and two level subgrade parking.

L/W is “live/work,” an increasingly popular development component – dozens of live/work units are open now on the north side of Morgan Junction, for example, with a variety of small businesses at ground level (some have moved there from elsewhere in West Seattle, like longtime WSB sponsor John Moore and his Northwest Insurance Group). Other details on the DPD page note that this is for “Lots 10-14,” which county records identify specifically as the ex-Petco building, so – pending further research – it doesn’t appear other parts of the block are involved, but we’re investigating further.

There’s not much other detail on the DPD webpages yet – not unusual for an early-stage proposal, and it should be noted that sometimes proposals appear and never come to fruition. There is an architect listed – Weber Thompson (which worked on the California/Alaska project) – and “ownership” is listed as The Wolff Company, an Arizona-based, Spokane-founded firm whose website is currently down but does have a cached description: “Acquiring, developing and managing investment real estate with a focus on multi-family properties.” They’re not currently listed in county records as owning the site, but we’ll be contacting them to try to find out more. (Looks like they have a sizable project going in Snohomish County.) Followups to come.

4:47 PM: Thanks to Peter, in comments, for pointing out that The Wolff Company is in the early stages of a Capitol Hill project, and actively seeking neighborhood feedback there. Here’s the story from our fellow community-collaborative neighborhood-news site, Capitol Hill Seattle. ::minutes later:: Taking cues from something mentioned in the CHS story, we have found a fledgling website for this project – 4724California.com – which includes a contact link and the slogan, “West Seattle Authentic.”

About 5 months into construction, we have a few updates from the developers of Youngstown Flats – the almost-200-unit building going up at 26th/Dakota in North Delridge, the biggest project under construction in West Seattle right now. For one, their design for turning the “right of way” across 26th (newest version here) into a parklet of sorts won Seattle Design Commission approval, required because they need a Street Use Permit from the city. For two, the sculpture above has been chosen for installation along 26th near the building’s main-lobby entrance (it’s “Continuity” by Jan Hoy), and another RFP for more art is going out. Last but not least, if you’re interested in more info before they open in a year or so, the project finally has an official website.

(A design rendering shown at the March 8th SW Design Review Board meeting)
Tomorrow’s the day the Washington State Housing Finance Commission will look at the tax-credit financing proposed to comprise most of the money for DESC‘s 66-unit Delridge Supportive Housing project. Full details are on the Delridge Community Forum website, but to summarize it: This funding would allow private investment in the project, with the private investor(s) getting Low-Income Housing Tax Credits in exchange. The project (5444 Delridge Way SW) already has been approved for public funding from the city, county, and state. The Thursday meeting, which includes a public-comment period (other ways to comment are explained on the DCF site), is at 1 pm, downtown at 1000 Second Avenue (28th floor).

In advance of the meeting, the anonymous “Concerned Delridge Neighbor” who has been diving into some of the issues the project has raised – such as, is Delridge already bearing more than its share of very-low-income housing? – published an open letter to the WSHFC, with data about the area’s poverty. (If you have already been following this via the North Delridge mailing list, where questions were raised about the data’s accuracy/source, note that “Concerned Delridge Neighbor” has published a postscript citing the source.)

(WSB photo of Mural, completed and opened in 2009)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The new combined entity that includes what was Harbor Properties, developer/owner of the Link and Mural mixed-use buildings in West Seattle (both WSB sponsors), confirms they’re in talks to sell both buildings.

We spoke this afternoon with executives from the new partnership, four weeks after our first report with some information about what was brewing.

Since that time, at least two citywide publications have reported that Mural had been sold – but in reality, it was a transfer to one of the entities with which Harbor is now merged, as part of the deal.

Our conference-call interview this afternoon – following the circulation of an official news release – included Harbor Properties president/CEO Doug Daley, as well as Matt Burton of Urban Partners and Jim Atkins, managing director of the newly named Harbor Urban LLC.

They say the deal, a purchase of Harbor more than a merger, is virtually complete.

“We started evaluating a couple years ago ways to provide a return to our shareholders,” Daley explained. “The new, combined company (will) be able to do more of the same thing Harbor’s been doing” – primarily mixed-use “infill” development on lots within urban areas, as was the case on Link (4550 38th SW) and Mural (4727 42nd SW).

Urban Partners’ Matt Burton explained his Los Angeles-based firm has “had an operation up in Seattle for six or seven years … We had recently formed a new venture with AREA Property Partners, and the opportunity to make an investment with Harbor rang a bell.” He lauded Harbor for its “foresight.”

Jim Adkins says Harbor’s Denny Onslow, a familiar figure in West Seattle, will “stay and continue to run development activities on a day to day basis.” Their team has been merged into the Harbor development team, he said. Burton added, “We love what Harbor’s done.”

We asked for more specifics on what’s happening with Link and Mural. For the former, they said, it had a co-owner – “50 percent partner” – that had suggested selling it even before the takeover deal happened. “That individual had come to Harbor and said, Link has turned out great, it’s time to sell that investment, and Harbor had agreed.

While the properties are not currently “under contract” – “We are in discussions with a potential buyer.” But Atkins added, “In regards to West Seattle, it’s important to note that the potential sale of Link and Mural should not be interpreted as that we’re not bullish on the West Seattle area.” He said this area “would continue to be high on the list” of spots they’ll watch for potential projects, because of “all the things that drew Harbor to the West Seattle market.”

In case you wonder, by the way, both buildings are almost fully leased, we’re told.

And what of Nova, the 70-unit all-residential project that Harbor is building right now in The Triangle, on 36th SW just north of The Grove/West Seattle Inn? “The new Harbor Urban entity will manage it through construction and leasing, then will continue to manage it as a stabilized asset – there are no immediate plans to sell or dispose of it.”

There will be some job cuts as a result of the merger, they confirmed – not on the development team, they said, but in the “back of the house” departments, such as accounting, IT, human resources. (Harbor Urban’s offices are downtown, so its workers are not West Seattle-based.)

Their final message: “We’re planning to continue doing what we’re doing here in Seattle, just doing more of it,” which they expect will be possible because of the deal and the new “capital” ($) it’s brought in.

(Click for larger image)
The date is finally set for the Seattle Design Commission to hear from the developers of Youngstown Flats (the almost-200-unit project under construction at 26th/Dakota in North Delridge). But when they make their presentation to the SDC at 9 am this Thursday (in the Boards and Commissions Room at City Hall downtown), it won’t be about the building – it’s about the greenspace across 26th SW, which is actually a city-owned “street end.” The rendering above is what they hope to do to change it from a grassy lot, which you might not realize leads to a stairway down to Longfellow Creek, into a “green, inviting space,” as they explained earlier in the project. They are seeking a street-use permit to enable that, and that’s why the project is going before the Design Commission, which is required to review proposals for using city right-of-way as something other than traditional streets/sidewalks. P.S. The public is welcome at commission meetings, and is offered a chance to comment, too.

ADDED: The 20th SW recap:

The night began with early design guidance for 9051 20th SW (here’s the “packet”). No controversy here. No one in the audience except your editor here, until a family with young children arrived midway through the architect’s presentation; when the public comment section of the presentation arrived, they explained that they live across the street, to the south, and wanted to know about possible shading. The project team said that wouldn’t happen).

This project is proposed as two 3-story apartment buildings, to be built in two phases, on two lots in the South Delridge area. There would be 20 one- and two-bedroom “flats” in the first phase, 4 live-work units and 19 flats in the second phase. The project team requested one “departure,” an exemption from alley development, because they say the alley is steep and virtually unusable. They’re expecting to have 36 spaces for the 43 units, ultimately. The name of the project, Vesseliye, said the architect, is a Slavic word meaning “joy.” The family that lives nearby said they’re “looking forward to having the abandoned houses ripped out and something nice going in.”

In their deliberations, board members said it was too bad the project couldn’t take advantage of additional height; the city planner assigned to the project explained it was a result of current city rules. They also debated the ceiling height in relation to the project’s longevity, and the driveway that is envisioned inbetween the two buildings, given that the developers consider the alley not viable for their project.

This project has now cleared Early Design Guidance, but will have to return for at least one more Design Review Board meeting, to gain a recommendation for final design approval. The date for that is not yet set.

BREEZEWAY REPAIRS: The Junction’s south breezeway – between Puerto Vallarta and Northwest Art and Frame – is closed today (and possibly longer; we’re expecting an update later from Liz with the West Seattle Junction Association). A pipe problem has to be fixed. So if you’re parking in the 44th SW lot behind that area, you’ll either have to use a business’s back door, or walk around via Edmunds. (4:17 PM NOTE: The breezeway is expected to be closed for 4-5 days.)

SURVEY CREW: In case you wondered: The one that was working on the west side of California, around the SW Alaska intersection, says their work is on behalf of the new property owners on the southeast side of that intersection (Equity Residential, which, as first reported here in January, expects to start construction this year at the site they bought in December from Conner Homes).