West Seattle Blog…

City updates: 5020 California land use; Kenney street vacation

From this morning’s Land Use Information Bulletin, just sent by the city: First, key land-use approvals have been granted for 5020 California SW, a 91-residential-unit/4,000-sf-retail project south of The Junction, once being developed as “Spring Hill” (rendering at right) by BlueStar, the original Fauntleroy Place (Whole Foods etc.) developers, then foreclosed on last year, as reported here. The decisions are linked here; the contact listed for a project is a representative of Shoreline Bank, which owned the site (home to three vacant multifamily buildings) at last report, and put it up for sale last fall (reported here). – we have a message out to ask if they plan on proceeding, but in the meantime, the city documentation notes that anyone interested in appealing the new decisions has until February 22nd – how to do that is explained here. (P.S., before you ask, nothing major new on the Whole Foods site, just a continually growing sheaf of legal documents in the ongoing lawsuit – 269 separate documents; we check the file frequently.) 11:35 AM UPDATE: Just talked to Shoreline Bank’s contact re: 5020 California. He says they are pursuing the permits while continuing to offer the property for sale; the bank does NOT intend to develop the site itself.

Also from the land-use bulletin: The city has officially received the street-vacation petition for 46th Place SW (Google Street View map), as part of The Kenney‘s redevelopment. That means it’s time for public comments. The petition, and comment process, are explained here, on the notice.

West Seattle development: Kenney, Admiral Safeway updates

THE KENNEY: From last night’s Morgan Community Association meeting (full report to come) – A West Seattle consultant working on the retirement center’s redevelopment project says they’re working toward having its next Design Review meeting in early March (no date formally set yet). The latest comment period for the proposal is open until Feb. 3; the consultant says the project team is looking at all the comments as they come in – “We just went (downtown) and picked up another batch (Wednesday), 16 more.” He says traffic and parking concerns are generating the most comments right now.

ADMIRAL SAFEWAY: The lone West Seattle item on today’s Land Use Information Bulletin from the city finalizes the Design Review meeting date first noted here a week ago – 6:30 pm February 11, Youngstown Arts Center. Here’s the official notice.

New deadline for comments on The Kenney’s proposed rezoning

Thanks to Cindi Barker from Morgan Community Association for the update that the city has granted a request to extend the comment period for The Kenney’s redevelopment-rezoning request, reported here earlier this week. The comment period now will be held open till February 3rd; the notice posted online includes a link you can use to send in your comment(s). The Kenney project also will be discussed at the quarterly MoCA meeting next week (as noted here last night).

Next step in The Kenney’s redevelopment: Rezoning request filed

As pointed out by Cindi Barker in the latest Morgan Community Association bulletin, The Kenney has now officially applied for the “contract rezone” it needs to carry out the current redevelopment plan (above), which the online notice summarizes:

Council Land Use Action to contract rezone 228,490 sq. ft. of land from LDT & L3 to MR and to allow a 387,450 sq. ft. expansion to an existing independent living apartment, assisted living and nursing home facility (The Kenney). Project includes three, 4-6 story multifamily structures containing 202 independent living apartments, 112 assisted living units, and 35 skilled nursing units. Parking for 279 vehicles to be provided below grade. Project includes 57,681 cu. yds. of grading and street vacation (46th Pl SW). Existing landmark building (Seaview) to be modified and relocated on site. Ten existing multifamily structures to be demolished.

A “contract rezone” means that a site would be rezoned under specific terms for a specific proposal, and, like any zoning change, requires City Council approval. Comments on the proposal are being accepted through January 20th; the online notice has a link for submitting them. As for the status of the project overall, here’s our October report on its most recent Southwest Design Review Board meeting – at least one more SWDRB meeting is still required for final approval. The date for that is not set yet. It’s been almost a year and a half since our first report on the project at The Kenney; all WSB coverage is archived here (newest to oldest).

Followup: Design Review details on The Kenney, and what’s next

During Wednesday’s celebration of The Kenney’s grand-opening centennial, attendees also were invited to look to its future as well as its past, with renderings of its latest redevelopment proposal set up on easels around the room. That proposal was presented to the Southwest Design Review Board one week ago, along with the latest layout for the Admiral Safeway project. We reported the meeting’s headlines that night but never the details – several have asked, so for starters, here’s the rest of the story on The Kenney’s review, and what’s next – read on: Click to read the rest of Followup: Design Review details on The Kenney, and what’s next…

West Seattle scenes: Kenney centennial; P-Patch kid gardeners

At The Kenney’s celebration this afternoon of the 100th anniversary of its grand opening, Kaia Hlavacek portrayed the senior-living center’s co-founder Jessie Kenney, in turn-of-the-20th-century garb. Meantime, just blocks away, the Solstice Park P-Patch hosted young gardeners and their adult assistants:

A group of students from the Fauntleroy Children’s Center before-and-after-school-care program – headquartered at the old schoolhouse – have a plot at the P-Patch where they are growing produce to donate to food-bank clients. Today, they were “winterizing” the plot, as FCC’s Kim Sheridan put it – with the help of a generous donation of soil-amending material from Burien Bark.

Today/tonight: Short school; Kenney 100th; HPAC; “Dow Chow”

EARLY DISMISSAL DAY FOR MANY SCHOOLS: It’s officially an “early dismissal day” for Seattle Public Schools, with many independent schools following suit, while some tweak the schedule to suit what needs to be done (at Chief Sealth High School, for example, no classes – it’s parent/teacher conference time).

(August 2009 photo by Christopher Boffoli)
THE KENNEY’S 100TH: Big celebration today at The Kenney (7125 Fauntleroy Way) – marking the 100th anniversary of its grand opening. Here’s the invite:

In honor of Samuel and Jessie Kenney, please join us as we celebrate 100 years of The Kenney’s Grand Opening!

4:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m., Community Rooms at The Kenney

It will be an open house with a short program at 4:15 p.m. in the Community Rooms. If you are unable to make it for the program, please stop by later for a glass of wine and some food.

The Calvary Lutheran Choir will also be performing songs from the early 1900s and will be dressed in clothing from that time period.

A chocolate fountain and champagne bar in the Historic Seaview Building, along with a historical timeline and Samuel and Jessie Kenney (volunteers dressed up), will also be in attendance.

HIGHLAND PARK ACTION COMMITTEE: 7 pm tonight, Highland Park Improvement Club building – the agenda note from HPAC chair Dan Mullins:

This month we will have 2 speakers and a twist on Nicole’s Local Business Spotlight that will surprise you.

Our first Speaker will be Susanne Friedman from Seattle Parks Dept. to give us an update on the progress and future plans for Westcrest Park. Our second speaker will be Amy Shaflik from Treehouse to let us know about the great work they are doing for foster children in our community. And Nicole’s Spotlight will be very different and fun and I predict that you will want to get involved.

Please come and meet your neighbors, enjoy a little potluck dinner and help make our neighborhood a great place to live!

“DOW CHOW”: No, this has nothing to do with a certain candidate. In this case, “Dow” stands for “Dow Jones Industrial Average.” 5-11 pm tonight, Endolyne Joe’s (WSB sponsor) is raising money for Arts Corps with a fun contest that’s paired with special discounts. First – the discounts: Whatever the Dow closes at today, no menu price will be higher – for example, yesterday it closed at 9882, so the most expensive menu item would have been $9.88. Now, the guessing: Guess tonight what the Dow will close at TOMORROW – $1 per guess – and the person who comes closest will win the closing number worth of meals at Chow Foods (parent company of Endolyne Joe’s) restaurants – if it closes at 9900, you get $9,900 worth. Read more about the contest, promotion and fundraiser here – then go to Endolyne Joe’s between 5 and 11 tonight (maybe right after visiting the not-far-away Kenney!).

Design Review tonight: The Kenney, Admiral Safeway decisions

First Southwest Design Review Board meeting in three months tonight – if there are no projects to review, they don’t meet – and it was a 3 1/2-hour doubleheader. Toplines while we work on the longer story: The Kenney’s redevelopment (see the presentation here) advances out of “early design guidance” after four meetings, which means one more meeting ahead for what could be a final review; most of Admiral Safeway’s redevelopment (see the presentation here) needs to come back for at least one more look – main objection is that the California side of the store doesn’t have openings/entrances/features with which to engage – but the board gave thumbs-up to the request for final approval for the smaller retail building on the site, which Safeway wants to build fast so it can house the pharmacy while the rest of the store is closed during construction. More to come in the morning! (From left in photo: Kenney CEO Kevin McFeely, Design Review Board members Myer Harrell and Joe Hurley, city planner Michael Dorcy) P.S. One reminder: Friday (10/23) is the deadline for comment on the “alley vacation” that is part of the Admiral Safeway proposal, requiring a separate type of approval. Here’s our original story about the proposal and the call for comments (with info on how to send yours).

Followup: Design Review date for Safeway, Kenney confirmed

When we reported this last week, the date was labeled in the city system as “tentative” – but the official notices came out in today’s Land Use Information Bulletin, so you can mark your calendar: On Thursday, October 22nd, the Southwest Design Review Board will get its next look at two major West Seattle redevelopment proposals: The Kenney (6:30 pm; here’s the official notice) and Admiral Safeway (8 pm; here’s the official notice). The meeting’s at Youngstown Arts Center, 4408 Delridge (map). For The Kenney, this is the 4th “early design guidance” meeting, so the Design Review Board will look at the project at least one more time after this; Safeway passed EDG, so this could be the last look. Public comment will be taken on both. (What’s Design Review, you ask? The city explains, here.)

Kenney, Admiral Safeway set to return to Design Review

A sign of the development slowdown – the Southwest Design Review Board hasn’t met in 2 months – no projects to review. But now the schedule shows encores for two redevelopment projects that have both been before the SWDRB at least once: The Kenney and Admiral Safeway (each of those links will take you to the official city project page). The city’s scheduling page cautions that this date is tentative, but for now, they’re both on the schedule for a SWDRB meeting on October 22nd at Youngstown Arts Center in North Delridge. The last review for The Kenney was in May (WSB coverage here); since then, its iconic cupola-topped Seaview building has been declared a city landmark. The last review for the Admiral Safeway project was in November (WSB coverage here); last Tuesday, the city announced it’s seeking comments on the request to “vacate” an alley section that goes through the site. If the scheduling doesn’t change, The Kenney is scheduled for a 6:30 hearing October 22, followed by the 8 pm review for Admiral Safeway.

Saturday highlights: Sales galore, Holy Family street fair, more

(Thursday night photo by Christopher Boffoli)
KENNEY SALE: West Seattle’s newest official city landmark, The Kenney’s cupola-topped Seaview Building, marks the site of one of today’s many sales – Household goods, treasures, more, 9 am-4 pm, with this sale at The Kenney benefiting its fund taking care of residents who “outlive their financial resources.” 7125 Fauntleroy (map).

LOTS OF OTHER SALES: Other fundraising sales (like one for PAWS) and garage/yard sales happening TODAY are listed in the WSB Forums’ Freebies/Deals/Sales section – any time you have a sale, whether yard or business, you’re welcome to post there for free too.

HOLY FAMILY STREET FAIR: Holy Family School is on the line between West Seattle and White Center and inviting everybody in both communities – and beyond – to its El Carnaval street fair today and tomorrow, 10 am start both days. 20th SW will be blocked off just south of Roxbury for the fun (map).

MORE EVENTS/ACTIVITIES/ATTRACTIONS! … listed in the latest West Seattle Weekend Lineup.

AND A TRAFFIC REMINDER … The South Park Bridge is scheduled to be closed 7 am-7 pm today for repair work.

The Kenney’s Seaview Building becomes an official city landmark

We’re at the Municipal Tower downtown, where the Landmarks Preservation Board has just made its decision: The century-old, cupola-topped Seaview Building at The Kenney will be designated as an official city landmark. Much discussion centered on whether the site itself (with the stipulated exclusion of four other buildings) should be included in the landmark designation, which would mean the Landmarks Board will have more of a role in decisions to be made regarding The Kenney’s redevelopment project. Board members expressed particular interest in the “west gardens” outside The Seaview. In the vote, they decided the site WILL be part of the landmark designation too. (This is the second meeting in a row at which the Landmarks Board has voted to designate a West Seattle facility as a landmark – two weeks ago, The Sanctuary at Admiral, formerly Sixth Church of Christ, Scientist, was designated.)

ADDED 5:17 PM: A few more notes: The Kenney was the work of Graham and Myers; one of the partners, John Graham Sr., is credited with designing many of Seattle’s best-known commercial buildings. The buildings excluded in the site designation were listed as Sunrise, Ballymena, Lincoln Vista and a collection of sheds; some features of the Seaview Building itself also are excluded, including its interior – which is proposed for renovation as part of The Kenney’s redevelopment – and a few other features added in the ’50s and ’60s, including an enclosed exterior staircase.

Today/tonight: More vote-counting; heat; The Kenney; Camp Long

WHAT’S NEXT FOR ELECTION RESULTS: Our previous five reports focused on last night’s first round of election results, and candidate reaction. But many more votes remain to be counted. Next step: 4:30 pm today, King County goes public with its next count. This will be a daily affair for a while (here’s the official schedule), with final certification expected two weeks from today.

HEAT: Could hit 90 today, and that would be a record for this date.

THE KENNEY: One air-conditioned place to be at mid-afternoon: The Landmarks Preservation Board’s meeting, 3:30 pm, Municipal Tower downtown. They’ll decide whether to designate The Kenney’s Seaview Building as an official city landmark. (Here’s our preview.)

CAMP LONG PUBLIC MEETING: From last year’s Parks Levy, a million bucks is earmarked for renovations at Camp Long Lodge. You can find out about the plan at a public meeting tonight, 5:30.

Early reminder: Landmark vote tomorrow for The Kenney

Publishing the reminder today, in case you want to attend tomorrow afternoon’s hearing: The city Landmarks Preservation Board is scheduled to decide at 3:30 pm tomorrow whether The Kenney’s century-old Seaview Building (left) should be designated an official city landmark (here’s the nomination document). Last month, board members voted to accept the nomination for consideration (WSB coverage here); tomorrow, they will see another presentation, ask questions, take public comment, and vote. At an early stage of The Kenney’s planning for major redevelopment, the building was proposed for demolition, but the latest plan calls for saving Seaview. The Landmarks Board meets on the 40th floor of the Seattle Municipal Tower (700 5th; map) downtown; if you can’t be there in person, you can send comments here.

West Seattle scenes: The Kenney’s annual barbecue

Later this month, The Kenney’s century-old Seaview Building will be considered by the city Landmarks Preservation Board for designation as a city landmark – but tonight, it’s a stately backdrop for the retirement center’s annual barbecue. What’s for dinner, you ask? Salmon and hot dogs, among other things:

And though “green” may not be a color you associate with sizzling barbecue, The Kenney’s been making headlines for its Green Team (as reported here last year), and that led to some showcasing tonight as well:

Tonight’s music is being provided by the Duwamish Dixieland Jazz Band, who you can catch tomorrow night at Providence Mount St. Vincent’s first show in this year’s Summer Concerts at The Mount (WSB sponsor) series (6 pm, free):

The Kenney’s guest list for tonight included hundreds of residents, neighbors, family and friends, and they’re scheduled to continue the celebration till about 7 pm.

Update: Kenney’s Seaview wins vote for landmark consideration

ORIGINAL 3:44 PM REPORT: We’re back in the city Landmarks Preservation Board’s hearing room on the 40th floor of the Municipal Tower downtown as The Kenney presents its landmark nomination for part of the property, including the iconic Seaview Building (2008 photo above). See the photo-laden nomination document here. This is part of the process for its redevelopment plan, which at one time included a proposal to demolish The Seaview; that proposal has been scrapped and the plan now calls for saving it. Those on hand for the hearing include The Kenney’s CEO Kevin McFeely and Ron Richardson from the Southwest Seattle Historical Society. We will update this item when the board decides whether to accept the nomination for consideration, which would then lead to a later public hearing and vote; landmark status brings some financial incentives (such as tax breaks) but also means restrictions on what can be done to the landmark in the future. 5:08 PM UPDATE: The Landmarks Board has just voted unanimously to consider the Seaview Building for landmark status. A hearing, at which the final vote will likely be taken, is set for the board’s 3:30 pm meeting on August 19th. No one spoke today against the proposal; those speaking for it also included SWSHS director Andrea Mercado and a representative from Historic Seattle.

Today/tonight: From Kenney to “Sweeney” to Morgan, and more

At left is The Kenney’s CEO Kevin McFeely, when we caught up with him at West Seattle Summer Fest in The Junction last weekend. This afternoon he’s expected to be at the Municipal Tower downtown as The Kenney introduces its landmark nomination for the Seaview and Sunrise Buildings to the city Landmark Preservation Board (see the document here), a prelude to The Kenney’s redevelopment plan moving forward. 3:30 pm, board room on the 40th floor of the Muni Tower. The rest of the Wednesday highlights happen tonight:

(Photos by Matt Durham of mattdurhamphotography.com)
ArtsWest ’s “Sweeney Todd” opens tonight. It’s a production of the Summer Youth Musical Theater Apprenticeship Program and plays through July 25; showtimes and ticket info can be found here. Also tonight — three meetings tackling an array of big issues:

NEIGHBORHOOD TRAFFIC CALMING: The traffic circle at left is just one example of the many tools that can be used to “calm” neighborhood traffic. If you have questions, concerns, ideas about your neighborhood, anywhere in West Seattle, come to an SDOT public meeting at 6:30 tonight in the South Seattle Community College board room. The Southwest District Council-presented event also includes a Backyard Cottages briefing at 7:30 and an 8 pm version of the briefing that will happen earlier at the next event:

DELRIDGE DISTRICT COUNCIL: Haven’t made up your mind yet on the bag-fee referendum that’s on next month’s ballot (official city voters’ guide info here)? That’s the measure asking city residents whether to approve or reject the City Council-approved fee for using non-reusable shopping bags. A pro-bag fee rep will speak to the Delridge District Council tonight, among other items on the agenda at 7 pm, Youngstown Arts Center.

MORGAN COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: We published a preview last night (see it here); tonight’s MoCA meeting, 7 pm at The Kenney, includes a long list of hot topics from The Viaduct to RapidRide to future work at the Lowman Beach pump station.

Landmarks Board: The Sanctuary today, The Kenney in 2 weeks

As the city Landmarks Preservation Board gets ready to hear the landmark nomination for The Sanctuary at Admiral this afternoon (3:30 pm, 40th floor of the Municipal Tower downtown, agenda here), it’s also set the date to hear the nomination for the Seaview and Sunrise Buildings at The Kenney. As this newly published public notice says, that hearing will be in two weeks – 3:30 pm July 15th at the Muni Tower; you can see the nomination document here. (The board’s proceedings are open to the public.)

West Seattle weekend scenes, inside and out

Yes, those geese AGAIN, though with a dramatic background this time – West Seattle photojournalist Matt Durham from mattdurhamphotography.com shares the photo, looking south toward Salty’s. (Personal aside: We are just back from there, where tonight we helped celebrate the wondrous wedding of our dear friend Shep, a West Seattleite who we’ve known since the year he, and we, arrived here, 1991. Mazel tov!) Now, from outside to inside:

The Kenney hosted its annual fundraising brunch today – that’s CEO Kevin McFeely circulating in the photo above – the main goal was to raise money for a fund that helps residents stay at The Kenney even if they outlive their financial reserves.

Details: “Pentagon” tradeoff for The Kenney saving Seaview?

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

Sometimes when the public-comment period arrives midway through meetings of the Southwest Design Review Board – one of 7 such volunteer boards around the city charged with evaluating major development proposals – the concerns and complaints tend to meander away from the topic at hand, the project’s design.

Not last night, as The Kenney’s redevelopment proposal returned to the SWDRB for a third “early design guidance” meeting (here’s our original as-it-happened update from last night; here’s coverage of the previous meeting in January).

Referring to the six-story “donut” building in the plans — a new formation since The Kenney announced it was shifting the design to scrap the panned plan to tear down the cupola-topped Seaview building — one neighbor declared, “I don’t want to live next to the Pentagon.”

“That’s a perfect design comment,” observed board chair Christie Coxley.

The building in question is envisioned in the newest design documents (see them all here) as actually more of a square, but before recommending that The Kenney move to the next phase of design review, board members had their own thoughts about it and other project aspects too, while architect Gene Guszkowski (from Wisconsin-based AG Architecture) revealed some news since the new design proposal was previewed at a community meeting last week:

Click to read the rest of Details: “Pentagon” tradeoff for The Kenney saving Seaview?…

Update: The Kenney before Design Review Board, again

We’re at the Senior Center of West Seattle, where more than 50 people are gathered as The Kenney’s $150 million redevelopment project is back before the Southwest Design Review Board. Architect Gene Guszkowski has just announced that the cupola-topped Seaview building was formally nominated today for landmark status (not listed yet on this page, though), which triggers a separate city process that, as he noted, will proceed in parallel. Much of this presentation should duplicate what was shown at the community meeting we covered last week (here’s our report; here’s the official presentation packet), but we will add to this report with anything else new that’s disclosed tonight, as well as first word of the SWDRB’s decision – whether the project will advance to the next step in the process – once it’s in (not likely to be before 8 pm). 6:44 PM UPDATE: Guszkowski just announced the long-requested (and ultimately required) tree survey will be done at the site next Monday. 8:09 PM UPDATE: The board has unanimously agreed to let the project move on to the next phase of Design Review, which could be the final phase. Most public concerns involved the massing of the large square “donut” shaped building at the heart of the project – board members suggested perhaps “eroding” its western side and building up its eastern side, to allow more sunshine in the courtyard. They’re also asking architects to look at whether they really want the potentially relocated Seaview building to be the complex’s main entry – they’re asking to see entryway options when the project comes back for the “recommendations” round.

Tonight: Taste of West Seattle; Kenney review; Art Walk; concert

TASTE OF WEST SEATTLE: Why wait for the Bite of Seattle when you can try the Taste of West Seattle? It’s happening tonight, benefiting West Seattle Helpline, 6 pm at The Hall at Fauntleroy, with participating food/beverage providers: Alki Bakery, Bakery Nouveau, Beveridge Place Pub, The Bohemian, Cafe Revo (WSB sponsor), Cupcake Royale, Eats Market Cafe, Elliott Bay Brewing, Endolyne Joe’s, Husky Deli, Lee’s Asian, Metropolitan Market, Prost, Salty’s, Starbucks, Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes, West 5, West Seattle Cellars. $40/door. P.S. Helpline executive director Anna Fern also tells us, “We are also having a raffle of 24 donated gift certificates from local restaurants and business. And an auction for four items: Beecher’s Cheesemaker of the Day, Crowley Tug Ride at Maritime Festival, Art of the Table Supper, and Health through Hypnosis.”

DESIGN REVIEW FOR THE KENNEY: On the heels of last week’s community meeting to unveil the newest design proposals (WSB coverage here), comes tonight’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting – 6:30 pm, Senior Center of West Seattle. These meetings always include ample opportunity for public comment, so if you have something to say about The Kenney’s $150 million redevelopment proposal, be there.

WEST SEATTLE ART WALK: The weather’s supposed to get better as the day goes on, but even if it doesn’t, note that the dozens of venues are indoors, with amazing art everywhere. Many displays are spotlighted on the official Art Walk site; one highlight is the opening reception for the student art show in the ArtsWest gallery. The Art Walk happens 6-9 tonight; get your map here.

FOOD BANK BENEFIT CONCERT: Also in The Junction, tonight’s the night that the junior high youth group at Holy Rosary is presenting Dennis Zender in concert as a benefit for the West Seattle Food Bank – admission is free, just bring a nonperishable food item. 7 pm.

Other events for tonight – including a discussion of the Duwamish River’s health, the West Seattle High School musical and the tango at Endolyne Joe’s! – are on the WSB West Seattle Events calendar.

Now viewable online: The Kenney’s newest design proposal

When we showed you The Kenney’s latest design sketches after a community meeting last week (WSB coverage here), all we had were photographs of a projection screen – but there’s good news if you’re tracking this project – now you can see the sketches clearly online, along with other information about The Kenney’s new design-review proposal, the one that saves the iconic century-old, cupola-topped Seaview Building. The info and drawings are all viewable here, three days before the project’s next Design Review Board hearing, which is coming up this Thursday, 6:30 pm, at the Senior Center of West Seattle.

The Kenney previews new design that saves the Seaview building

That’s architect Gene Guszkowski, showing one of the new renderings that his firm AG Architecture has drawn up since The Kenney changed its mind about demolishing the iconic century-old Seaview building as part of the $150 million redevelopment project it’s been working on since last summer (first WSB report here). He presented the new plan last night at Fauntleroy Church during a community meeting organized by the Morgan Community Association and Fauntleroy Community Association; as MoCA’s new president Deb Barker put it, “The owners and architects are here to get feedback from you”:

Barker is a former chair of the Southwest Design Review Board, whose current members will see The Kenney’s proposal a week from Thursday (6:30 pm 5/14, Senior Center of West Seattle). So what feedback was offered last night by the 30-plus in attendance? Read on for details and more photos: Click to read the rest of The Kenney previews new design that saves the Seaview building…

Happening tonight: 1st look at The Kenney’s newest design

You heard it here three weeks ago: The Kenney’s redevelopment project no longer calls for demolition of the iconic, century-old Seaview building. So what WILL the latest version of the $150 million project look like? Tonight – your chance to be among the first to see the revised design proposal, as the Morgan Community Association and Fauntleroy Community Association invite you to a gathering (as announced here) to take a look, and share your thoughts, before the project’s next Southwest Design Review Board meeting on May 14. Tonight’s meeting is at 7:30 pm, Fauntleroy Church (here’s a map).

The Kenney saves Seaview: “We heard what the community said”

Looks like whatever form The Kenney’s $150 million redevelopment project ultimately takes, some form of that familiar view (photographed this afternoon from SW Myrtle, alongside Gatewood Elementary) will live on. Original plans for the project — as first reported here last August — called for demolishing the century-old, cupola-topped building. Community members and Southwest Design Review Board reps alike had called for The Kenney to find a way to save it — and the biggest glimmer of hope, as we reported last week, came in the announcement of the upcoming Morgan Community Association/Fauntleroy Community Association neighborhood meeting to update The Kenney’s project: The groups had been told a way had been found to move it up to the Fauntleroy/Myrtle corner. That’s now confirmed and explained by Kenney CEO Kevin McFeely, who tells WSB that the next round of “early design” for the project will include ONLY options that save The Seaview: “Basically, it’s feasible to move it to a separate spot on the campus. A company came out to give us a bid. (The new plans are) a pretty significant departure from our last (Design Review) go-round, so we’re bringing another set of drawings, and (MoCA and FCA) offered to have a community meeting where people could come give their comments, vent a bit, share thoughts and concerns. … What we heard at (all previous meetings) was, please figure out a way to save this building. The other main concern was the massing on the perimeter, and whether there’s anything we could do to mitigate that … (moving the Seaview building) would give us the opportunity to do that by putting more of the buildings in the ‘bowl’ in the center. We heard what the community said, we heard what the board said, we hope they’ll be very happy with (the new proposal).” Your first chance to see it will be the community meeting at 7:30 pm May 4 at Fauntleroy Church; then the Design Review Board meeting is at 6:30 pm May 14, location TBA. (One more Kenney note – Its skilled-nursing facility has just received a 5-star rating in a national review; read about it here.)

Before The Kenney’s next design review, a community meeting

As we reported earlier this week, the next Southwest Design Review Board meeting for The Kenney’s $150 million redevelopment proposal is set for May 14th. But first, a community meeting has just been announced for updates on major aspects of the project, including whether the iconic Seaview building can be saved. Here’s the latest, from Cindi Barker at Morgan Community Association:

The Morgan Community Association and Fauntleroy Community Association are hosting a second community meeting to have continued discussion on the Kenney redevelopment project. This meeting will be held Monday, May 4th, 7:30 p.m. at Fauntleroy Church, UCC (9140 California Ave SW).

This session will include not only Kevin McFeely, The Kenney CEO, but also a representative from the Kenney’s architects, AG Architecture. The idea and planning for this second meeting began after the last formal Early Design Guidance Review by the city’s Design Review Board on January 8th. The wait has proved fruitful, as the Kenney has received an estimate on moving the Seaview building in order to preserve it, and has found that saving the Seaview and moving it elsewhere on the property could be done. Consequently, the Kenney has requested a new site plan that 1) moves the Seaview to the northeast corner of the property to be used for administrative purposes and 2) lowers the perimeter building heights to step down more gracefully into the neighborhood and which would put the higher buildings towards the center of the property.

This meeting is intended to be a conversation between community members and the Kenney and the architects. During the formal Design Review meetings, it is not possible to have direct communication; this meeting would give neighbors an opportunity to preview the new design and talk with the architects.

We have a message out to Kenney CEO McFeely, seeking more comment on the possibility of saving the Seaview building (which, in previous discussions, had been deemed infeasible). And before the community meeting, this will be one of the topics on the agenda for MoCA’s quarterly public meeting next Wednesday, 7 pm, at The Kenney (along with items including updates on the Fauntleroy repaving/restriping and RapidRide, among other things).

And another Design Review note: Kenney’s next date set

6:30 pm May 14 is the date tentatively set for The Kenney’s $150 million redevelopment project to return to Design Review, location TBA – this according to an addition late Tuesday to the “upcoming reviews” page. This fits right in with what The Kenney’s CEO Kevin McFeely told us recently (as reported a week ago). This will be its fourth Design Review meeting; the third one, three months ago (WSB coverage here), ended with the project moving out of the “early design guidance” stage.

West Seattle Design Review updates: Conner; members; Kenney

First: A reminder that Conner Homes‘ two-building project in The Junction goes back for what could be its final round of Design Review (process explained here) this Thursday night, 6:30 pm, West Seattle Christian Church. After the March 12 review, all involved agreed to schedule this meeting as quickly as possible, including the two board members who technically were supposed to end their terms after the 3/12 meeting, but agreed to stay on till it was finalized, for continuity’s sake.

Speaking of board members, here are the two new ones who will join as of the following meeting (April 9th, Madison Middle School, 2988 SW Avalon and 4532 42nd SW): Norma Tompkins and Robin Murphy (screenshots from their appearance at the Planning, Land Use, and Neighborhoods Committee meeting earlier this month). While Tompkins is appointed as the “local residential representative” on the board and Murphy is appointed as “design professional representative,” both are trained architects, according to the biographical info in this month’s edition of city planners’ dpdInfo newsletter (see it here); Tompkins works as a production designer at Starbucks, Murphy works for the architecture firm Stricker Cato Murphy; both are West Seattleites.

One other note – Followed up on a WSB’er note asking what’s up now that more than two months have gone by since the last Design Review meeting for the redevelopment proposal at The Kenney (previous coverage of the project archived here).

We checked with Kenney CEO Kevin McFeely, who replied:

Basically, what is happening is that we are exploring the recommendations and suggestions that were discussed at the last meeting in January. This involves potentially moving the Seaview building to a different location on the campus and reducing the massing on the perimeter buildings to allow for a smoother transition into the neighborhood. At this time, I don’t have a sense when the next meeting will be, my hope is that it will take place within the next 4-6 weeks.

Once that next meeting is scheduled, you’ll find it on the city’s Design Review/Upcoming page for starters, even before the official notice appears in the Land Use Information Bulletin; our fellow development-watchers may be interested to note, that page’s format and features have just been updated. Upcoming reviews can be sorted by district, among other things, and meeting announcements now include the city’s own maps (like this one showing the location of Madison MS for the 4/9 meeting).

Design Review followup for The Kenney: More images online

The imagery available online before and during last week’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting for The Kenney’s redevelopment project (WSB coverage here) didn’t include everything shown onscreen at that meeting. Now (thanks to Cindi Barker for the heads-up) the complete “packet” is on the city website; that includes the rendering for Alternative B (above), which board members considered most promising. It also includes comparison renderings of views from neighborhoods and Gatewood Elementary, with and without the new buildings proposed for the site.

Design Review report #2: The Kenney project advances “a step”

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

One man’s mere presence underscored the high stakes at last night’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting on the redevelopment proposal for The Kenney, the century-old nonprofit retirement complex in Fauntleroy: Vince Lyons.

Click to read the rest of Design Review report #2: The Kenney project advances “a step”…