(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.

“When buying a home, it’s critical to have ethically sound, highly informed representation and someone who puts your interests above all else.
As a Buyers Only Agent, I never list properties and I never represent a seller.  This is real estate with a twist – something new and different, and so unique that there are only a handful of us nationwide.

And, I’m the only Buyers Only Agent working in West Seattle. A rare bird indeed. So, what’s the advantage of working with a Buyers Only Agent? First, it eliminates the conflict of interest present when a buyer uses an agent working for a brokerage that also lists properties. For example, if a real estate office holds a listing and one of their agents brings a buyer to the sale, the office itself is legally bound to continue to represent the seller’s interests as well.

Homebuyers come to me because they know I represent only them and that I work tenaciously to make sure their needs are met. I show them all the appropriate houses on the market and research properties to provide facts, good and bad, about a home. And, when the time comes to put in an offer, I negotiate the best price and terms possible – making sure their interests are front and center.

It may sound corny but doing the right thing is at the heart of how I lead my professional and personal life.  I’m downright fierce in my passion for helping people – both in buying homes and in the community and environmental work I do that is very dear to me.I’m also a bit unconventional when compared to what folks might conjure up when they think “real estate agent.” My shoes are not shiny, and you will never see me in a pantsuit. I wear jeans and boots because you can’t look under a crawlspace with dry clean only clothes. And, you’ll never catch me in a typical “real estate” office with plaque filled walls and marketing materials.  Most of my meetings are with clients at their own kitchen table or favorite coffee house.

Most importantly, I love West Seattle with full abandon. I swoon over the red velvet cupcakes at Cupcake Royale and adore perusing the junction and strolling Alki. I thrill over the Farmers’ Market, the prominence of backyard chickens and the uniqueness of the neighborhoods that make West Seattle such an amazing place.

There are few things as important as “home”. It’s where we raise our children, celebrate friends, ponder new ideas and bring gardens into bloom. It is where our lives unfold. For me, to be a part of that, to help people find their “home” is a pretty remarkable experience and I consider myself lucky to be working to give folks the opportunity to lay down roots in this fabulous community.”

We thank Buyers Only Agent Amy Carey for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.

Parie is sitting on the porch of her family’s home, which doubled its space with an addition built in 2009 on a very tight budget. Featured as part of the Seattle Green Home Tour on April 21st and 22nd (this Saturday-Sunday), it’s an example of Parie’s “less is more GREEN” design philosophy, showcasing affordable green strategies for people who are interested in making their existing home greener.

The “less is more GREEN” design concept is simple – it uses less space, less new stuff, less toxic stuff, less energy, and less water – which often leads to less money spent on your home. You can read more about it at the “less is more GREEN” blog, and specifically about the green strategies of the LemonDrop Addition at the NW Ecobuilding Guild site page. And, of course, you are invited to stop by to see it in person on April 21st and 22nd.

LD Arch Design also reserves time for pro bono or reduced-fee design for community projects, using Parie’s background in public architecture, affordable housing, and community development. LD Arch Design is one of the resources available at the WS Tool Library DIY Ask an Expert event every 2nd Thursday at 6 pm at Youngstown. Parie also serves as co-chair of the North Delridge Neighborhood Council and chairs its Community Design and Land Use committee.

Reach LD Arch Design online at ldarchdesign.com, by phone at 206-229-8923, and via its Facebook page.

We thank LD Arch Design for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.

Just a few days till this weekend’s free, self-guided Seattle Green Home Tour (with WSB among the co-sponsors), which – as the clickable map above shows you – has four West Seattle stops this year, plus one not too far away (and 25 stops in all, around the metro area). Read on for more details on the West Seattle sites:
From a news release focusing on the local stops:

The NW EcoBuilding Guild’s 2012 Seattle Green Home Tour is a free, self-guided opportunity to see all shades of green and sustainably built/renovated homes in person. Participants can talk to the professionals, see integrated solutions in-person, and learn how to transform their home to become part of a healthier, more productive lifestyle.

Celebrate Earth Day with us! All 25 sites (4 in West Seattle) open daily, 10 am-4 pm, April 21 & 22, 2012.

Projects range from DIY-applicable to ones that take extensive planning and carefully executed construction by professionals that significantly save energy, resources, and increases comfort and homeowner satisfaction.

Sponsored by Greenhome Solutions, Seattle Natural Awakenings, IKEA, ESP Services, Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union, Northwest ENERGY STAR, Envision Homes [West Seattle business], Mighty House Construction [West Seattle business], Built Green, Local Tools [West Seattle business], Greenpod, Green Depot, and Keystone Windows & Doors.

The four West Seattle sites include:

A [Little] Mighty House hosted by Mighty House Construction- 3108 SW Webster St, 98126.
Experience how to make a radical shift without radical change! Practical applications to salvage, low voc and healthy finishes, simple energy and water efficiencies, and sustainable living solutions abound! Solar Epiphany will be installing 7 new panels on the house between 10 am- 2 pm on Saturday as a live demo. Saturday experts include: sustainable home renovations (Mighty House Construction), flooring (Major Brands Floors), home energy auditing (Community Power Works), and day lighting (NW Natural Lighting). Sunday experts include: sustainable home renovations (Mighty House Construction), solar (Solar Epiphany), home energy auditing (Community Power Works), edible gardening (Gray Sky Farms), day lighting (NW Natural Lighting), and salvage/reuse (The RE Store). Play area and art activities for kids.

Envision Homes in West Seattle hosted by Envision Homes – 2216 Walnut Ave SW, 98116
A ”transformation” remodel, this house represents holistic sustainable living, not only in finishes and materials, but in how it is built. From design, structure, envelope, air quality and efficiency, there are so many smart ideas, where sustainability and livability come together.

Experts will be on hand both days for informal and informative chats about the systems, the science and sustainable living. Learn about affordable and effective solar hot water. See a complete cistern system that feeds the toilets and laundry rainwater!. Roofgarden, reclaimed materials, radiant heat and so much more. Bring the kids and let them frolic with the chickens!

Lemon Drop Addition hosted by LD Arch Design (WSB sponsor) – 5023 25th Ave SW, 98106
1 pm Sat and Sun — Live Green Roof Installation: Landscape designer Keri DeTore will be planting the roof of the chicken coop. This makes it easy to see the parts and pieces of how a green roof goes together.

Activities for kids will include making pet rock animals and Earth Day-themed art opportunities. Enter a drawing to receive a free custom chicken coop design for you or a friend! There will be representatives on site from LD Arch Design, D.B. Elkins Construction, NorthShore Plumbing, Woodcraft Cabinets, and more!

Westside Heat Conversion + Bath Remodel – in progress! hosted by Mighty House Construction and Joule Building Solutions – 4502 SW Findlay St, 98136.
This family was literally kept up nights worried about the cadet heaters throughout their home. Radiant ceiling panels were clearly the answer! Come witness the “ahhhh” of comfort, safety, and ease of radiant ceiling heat. While there, take a look at what a sustainable master bath remodel can look like!

On site experts include: sustainable home remodeling (Mighty House Construction), radiant Heating (Joule Building Solutions), kitchen/bath cabinets and designs (Bellmont Cabinet Company – Saturday only), home energy auditing (Community Power Works), and green building supplies (Green Depot). Art activities for kids both days.

Saturday Expo hosted by Green Depot – 4121 1st Avenue S, Seattle 98134
Featuring more than 20 exhibitors is the place for you to connect with green product experts, home energy auditing, living wall installers, solar companies and more!!! Those details are here.

Sunday Energy Workshops at Greenhome Solutions (Ballard) – Learn about energy efficient testing techniques, sustainable lighting choices, and other energy-saving ideas, incentives, and financing options. Details are here.

Visit http://SeattleGreenHomeTour.org for site details and interactive map.

(Historic photo from King County Assessor’s website)
Five years after it last changed hands, West Seattle’s Hainsworth House – a city landmark, at 2657 37th SW, is on the market again (thanks to Fiona for spotting the listing). The 103-year-old, 4-bedroom, 4-bath mansion is listed for $2.25 million. Its significance as an example of “Tudor Revival” architecture is described in the fourth-from-last paragraph on this HistoryLink.org page.

(Click image for larger view)
Tonight, another look at an old Puget Ridge farmhouse that apparently sparked a fair amount of curiosity and imagination last weekend, after we published a photo Mike Gerber took during the St. Patrick’s Day snow showers. He sent three more photos this weekend and explained:

A surprising number of people asked for some additional information on the old house in the photo you ran last Saturday. Here’s a better angle of it. As for it being the oldest orchard house in Seattle, there’s very little in the historical record about this particular section of West Seattle and so it’s difficult to date it.

The area was covered in enormous old growth forest prior to the 1870’s, and the very valuable and spectacular trees were cut and turned into a hodgepodge of small farms and orchards and over the next 20 years. The construction is consistent with that era and it would seem logical that the trees growing closest to Elliott Bay would be the first to go.

I also met a wonderful and very credible old guy a number of years ago who had lived next to the orchard at one time. He said the house had been built in the 1880s, but that it had been vacant since the Depression.

During the construction of our home we came across four piles of very old lumber that turned out to be the collapsed remnants of small shacks, probably where orchard workers once lived. Under one of them we found two perfectly persevered ‘skat’ playing cards that were made in Germany in the early 1900s, where many of the workers came from.

Skat is considered the national game there and is played everywhere.

It would be interesting to know if any other readers have anything to add to the history of this relatively little-known area.

The location is described in the comment section following last weekend’s story.

(WSB photo by Patrick Sand)
Thanks to Jana for the tip that this century-old waterfront house is being torn down today in the 4800 block of Beach Drive. We had noticed a for-sale sign some time back – then a sign suggesting the home, distinctive for its brick/stone exterior, could be bought and moved. Then, we noticed the bricks/stones being removed the other day. Now, the whole house is coming down. According to the DPD website, the site has been split into two parcels. Here’s the county’s photo of what the house used to look like:

The site has an online listing, too.

ADDED 2:30 PM: Jana just sent that photo – while we were there earlier (top photo) the crew was breaking for lunch, but they’re back in action and bringing down the rest of the house. Note that some of the masonry/stone was left on the south side, visible from this angle.

New developments in the ongoing debate/discussion of the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) proposal to build a 75-apartment building in Delridge to house homeless people living with mental illness:

9:49 AM UPDATE: City funding for the Delridge Supportive Housing project (reported here two weeks ago) was officially announced at a media event in North Seattle less than an hour ago. DESC executive director Bill Hobson (at right in the Seattle Channel screengrab above) was among those who joined Seattle Office of Housing director Rick Hooper at the event. The news release (read it here) describes the amount as $4.5 millon, a bit above the “up to $4.45 million” confirmed to WSB last month.

10:30 AM UPDATE: Also this morning, something else we had previously reported is now “official” – the December 8th Design Review meeting (here’s the notice just published in the Land Use Information Bulletin).

ORIGINAL REPORT (12:32 AM): Hooper has replied to 4 questions sent by “A Concerned Delridge Neighbor,” which “Concerned” had posted on her/his website here. Read on for the questions/answers as received from Hooper today (we were among those CC’d):

“Q” is what “Concerned” wrote. “A” is how Hooper replied.

Q: Can you provide further demographic information to disprove the apparent concentration of extreme poverty in this one area of Delridge?

A: When the Office of Housing evaluates proposed housing sites, we examine the concentration of subsidized housing for extremely low-income people, rather than the demographic information for all the residents in the area. This evaluation is required by the Council-adopted siting policy in the City’s Consolidated Plan, which has been in place since the early 1990s. The intent of the policy is to ensure that subsidized rental housing for extremely low-income people is not over-concentrated in areas outside of Downtown. It requires that we consider the number of subsidized units serving extremely low-income households (defined as earning less than 30% area median income, or $18,250 for a single person in 2011) and the total number of housing units in the Census block group. The policy limits the number of subsidized housing units serving extremely low-income households to no more than 20% of the total number of housing units in a Census block group, unless the proposed housing is eligible for a waiver under certain defined circumstances. The OH Director may grant a waiver of the siting policy if one or more of the following criteria are met:

· The proposed project is a neighborhood‐supported project. To be considered a neighborhood‐supported project, OH must determine that the proposed project is supported by a reasonable number of immediate neighbors and/or affected neighborhood organizations. Such determination will be based on review of results of the community notification process as described in the Neighborhood Notification and Community Relations Policy section (see below) including notification of immediate neighbors, consultation with established community groups, public meetings, and/or other means of community notification as OH deems appropriate. In accordance with national, state and local fair housing laws, OH disregards, in evaluating neighborhood support for the project, any opposition that appears to be based on characteristics of future residents of a project if discrimination based on such characteristics is prohibited.

· Additional market‐rate housing development is planned in the Census block group, and OH determines that the proposed project would not result in more than 20% of total housing units in the block group being subsidized rental housing for extremely low‐income households, based on an adjusted estimate of total housing units that includes units for which building permits have been issued (based on the Department of Planning & Development’s latest annual report of building permit data) or other such documentation as deemed appropriate by OH.

· OH determines that natural or manmade barriers (e.g. a bluff, waterway, or freeway) physically separate the proposed project from existing concentrations of subsidized rental housing for extremely low‐income households.

The Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing prepared for the City of Seattle, which is available on OH’s Consolidated Plan webpage, includes a thorough overview of federal, state and local fair housing law. OH’s Siting Policy is a tool for addressing barriers to fair housing. One goal is to ensure that housing for Seattle’s lowest‐income and most vulnerable populations is available throughout the City.

Consistent with local, State and Federal law, housing may not be excluded from a neighborhood based on any of the following characteristics of the persons who will live there: age, ancestry, color, creed, disability, gender identity, marital status, military status or veteran, national origin, parental status, political ideology, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, possession or use of a Section 8 voucher, or use of a service animal.
==========================

Q: Why have you provided “up to $4.45 million” for this project, when only $1.3 million was requested?

A: The Office of Housing reviews project proposals in conjunction with other public funders of affordable housing to make collective decisions that maximize the quantity and quality of affordable housing development in our community. Actual funding awards may depart from what applicants propose, depending on the availability of other sources of funds for any given project. It is not unusual for the City to provide more or less than what an applicant requests once all funding sources have been determined.

In the case of the DESC Delridge application, the non-City sources of financing were ultimately lower than the application estimated, leaving a larger funding gap. The City chose to fill this gap because this project fulfills City goals of providing affordable housing with supportive services for homeless and special needs individuals.

All City awards are “up to” amounts that maybe reduced if other sources of financing are higher than projected, or if project costs are lower than projected.

============================

Q: How common is it to waive the requirements of the siting policy? Has it been done before, and if so, how many times? Has it been done for other DESC projects?

A: OH has granted waivers in the past, but none for DESC projects. Waivers granted since 2003 (project, agency, year) include:

Holden Street Campus Extension, Common Ground, 2003
Rainier Family Court, SEED, 2003
West Seattle Community Resource Center, DNDA, 2004 (editor’s note: this is at 35th/Morgan)
Alder Crest, Seattle Housing Authority (SHA), 2004
Rainier Vista Phase II, SHA, 2009
Lake City Village, SHA, 2009
Rainier Vista Phase II North, SHA, 2009
Yesler Neighborhood, SHA, 2010
Sand Point, Solid Ground, 2010

==========================

Q: It appears that the Office of Housing has also approved a bridge loan of $769,000 for purchase of the site by December 1, 2011. Can the Office of Housing provide a copy of the bridge loan documents that are currently being prepared?

A: At the time of your request, the process for drafting the loan documents had not yet begun, so no records existed. That process has now started and we anticipate the documents will be completed by no later than the last week of November. We will be happy to provide those records in their entirety, except any information that may be exempt from disclosure, once they are finalized.

In the meantime, the project proposed for the 5400 block of Delridge (official address on city records, 5444 Delridge) has been recommended for two public-funding grants, $500,000 state and “up to $4.45 million” city, while the county-convened Joint Recommendations Committee meets November 17th to consider a request for $538,000. Other funding for the $14 million project is proposed to be raised through a tax-credits program.

Local residents researching the project continue to post information and documents obtained through public-records requests at these two sites: Delridge Community Forum and A Concerned Delridge Neighbor. The volunteers working on the DCF site say that the county staffers working on the Nov. 17th presentation suggest public comments be sent by this Wednesday; the contacts are listed in this post on their website

Delridge residents concerned about the Downtown Emergency Service Center‘s 75-unit “supportive housing” project have obtained more information about the project via public-records requests, and we have a few new details too.

Four months after news of the proposed apartments in the 5400 block of Delridge first came to light at a North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting (WSB coverage here; next-day followup here), documents posted by citizen researchers indicate the agency is close to key dates for greenlighting the project, such as a projected December 1st closing of the deal for property on Delridge. Public-funding decisions are being made; as reported here last week, the city Office of Housing says it has approved “up to $4.45 million” for the project, right after the state announced an award of $500,000.

The county is considering a grant as well; the advisory Joint Recommendations Committee was scheduled to make a decision at a meeting last week, but postponed it after hearing from Delridge residents who attended the meeting on Mercer Island to comment on the project. One of them, Karrie Kohlhaas, summarized some of the concerns that were voiced regarding the neighborhood’s characteristics:

*North Delridge is classified as a “food desert” with no walkable access to a major grocery store and no easy or direct bus service to a supermarket;
*N. Delridge lacks basic “day-to-day” amenities normally found in a developed neighborhood;
*The neighborhood is isolated in multiple ways… from topography (steep ridges bordering both sides of the neighborhood), to public transit (single route traveling only N-S).
*There are 3 gas stations/convenience stores within a block (2 of which are directly across the street from the proposed site)—something DESC Executive Director Bill Hobson has stated publicly is a negative influence on his clients.
*A preschool is on the same block as the proposed project and another school is 2 blocks away.

We talked today with county staffer Cheryl Markham, who confirms information originally reported by neighborhood advocates, that another JRC meeting is now set for 9:30 am November 17th to decide the DESC proposal, also on Mercer Island. She says the funding amount under consideration is $538,000. The final say on JRC recommendations rests with County Executive Dow Constantine, she says. She says county staffers plan to visit the Delridge site to investigate some of the concerns that were voiced, and will consult with city staffers, then will report back to the committee members (who are listed at the bottom of this page).

A key document has been made public in recent days on the website for the Delridge Community Forum, a citizens’ group which organized a meeting about the project last month (WSB coverage here). That document is DESC’s state application for funding, which reveals many details about the project – the links are all here. It even includes the purchase/sale agreement for the property on which DESC is seeking to build the project; the agreement is dated March 31st, more than two months before this plan came to light publicly.

Separate from Delridge Community Forum, an anonymous researcher started a website as “A Concerned Delridge Neighbor” (here’s our report from last week) and has just added new information to her/his site as well. The author calls out one specific aspect of the information in the aforementioned state application, regarding a waiver of city rules regarding how much subsidized low-income housing can be built in one area – here’s the new writeup on the “neighbor” site.

Some residents had been making the point that adding 75 more very-low-income residents to the area appeared to be against a rule prohibiting the concentration of extreme poverty in one area. And one document in the state application would seem to acknowledge that – a letter saying the city is waiving that rule, based on a future expectation of “market-rate housing” in High Point reducing the percentage of low-income residents in the general area. Here’s a screengrab of the excerpt:

The entire letter is about halfway through “Part 3″ of the state application documents. It is dated July 21st, which was less than a month after DESC held its first and only, to date, community meeting – with a turnaway crowd at the Delridge Library branch – on the project. The application documents also contain a memo explaining why a waiver was being requested. Under the numbers DESC was originally quoted, it says, 76 more low-income units would have been allowed in the area – one above what the DESC project calls for. The revised numbers, say the documents, allow 63 – twelve fewer than DESC wants to build. But if 80 future High Point homes to be built for purchase instead of rent are added in, the number of allowable low-income units goes back up to 79, four more than DESC’s plan.

Other numbers laid out in the application: The land is to be purchased for almost $800,000; the project would cost $8.2 million to build, from a total projected project cost around $14.5 million.

In addition to the county funding that will be considered later this month, tax credits for the project are to be considered next year (a mechanism for raising investment money, as explained here); the building design will have to go through the city Design Review process, projected in the state application documents as happening this month, though no meeting is set yet, and DESC executive director Bill Hobson told WSB all they have so far toward that process is “very preliminary elevation sketches of the building.”

FOOTNOTE: Tonight, the Delridge Community Forum website added another document – DESC’s city application for funding. We will be reading it after publishing this story; you can see it and the other document links here.

When we first spoke with Moore yesterday, at which time she had confirmed the city funding decision but not the amount (which she provided today), she also said that her department wanted to clarify some of what was written on the “Concerned Neighbor” website we reported on yesterday, and she has provided a document that she says clarifies the city’s “siting policy,” which the anonymous author suggested did not synch with the DESC plan. Caveat: As with the “Concerned Neighbor” site info, we have no way to fact-check the info we’re pointing you to – but here it is, so you can make up your own mind.

A county group was set to potentially decide on DESC project funding yesterday, but delayed its decision after hearing from a group of Delridge residents who voiced concerns about the project. Meantime, DESC executive director Bill Hobson has answered questions we e-mailed him on Wednesday. He says they have not yet closed on the Delridge property (in the 5400 block); their architects are still working on a presentation for a not-yet-scheduled “Early Design Guidance” meeting of the Southwest Design Review Board. (We have requested a digital copy of a sketch that a Delridge attendee photographed at yesterday’s county meeting; if we don’t receive one, we’ll add that photo here.) Our note to Hobson was after word of the state funding but before word of the city funding; regarding the state funding, he says that the half-million dollars represent “around 3-4% of anticipated total project costs,” which would mean those costs are at least $12.5 million.

2:16 PM UPDATE: We will have another story in the works for later today; we have heard from Delridge residents who attended a county meeting today regarding another funding request for the project, and we are told the decision was delayed because of concerns voiced by the residents.

4:17 PM UPDATE: Also revealed at that county meeting – the city has granted funding for the project. We have confirmed this with the city Office of Housing. As for how much – the Housing spokesperson is supposed to call us back with that information.