Design Review tomorrow night: 4532 42nd proposal online now

| Development | West Seattle news

That’s the cover rendering for the revised design proposal for Golden Crest, the mixed-use (35 residential units, plus retail) building at 4532 42nd SW that’s been going through Design Review off and on since spring 2006. It’s the building at left – immediately south of Capco Plaza, which you see at right. The next Design Review meeting for Golden Crest could be its last if board members approve the latest version of the plan – the meeting’s at 6:30 pm tomorrow, Senior Center of West Seattle. You can see the full design proposal packet online here; the cover shot doesn’t appear much different from what was shown at the last meeting in April, but if you look very closely at the ground level, and read pages 3 and 4, you’ll see how the developer and architects believe they have addressed what was brought up at that meeting, including features to “emphasize the retail spaces.” (If the address still doesn’t jog your memory, this is the same site where the big old blue house – which had been a hospital long ago – was torn down in November.)

Kristin July 22, 2009 (10:04 am)

Who is the contractor?

WSB July 22, 2009 (10:13 am)

If you click the address in our story, it’ll take you to the city status page and you might find some contractor info there. The tabs on the bottom section in particular … TR

KBear July 22, 2009 (10:50 am)

Thanks for the update. Do you mean north of Capco Plaza?

Sage July 22, 2009 (10:55 am)

Does design review cover the building name? Because “Golden Crest” sound like an unfortunate euphemism for something.

KT July 22, 2009 (11:34 am)

Does it kind of look like everything else that has been proposed for WS lately? Artist’s drawing makes 42nd look like one big wide street!

christopherboffoli July 22, 2009 (11:43 am)

Is our community really so color-averse that we always have to have buildings in this bland color scheme? With that said, the addition of the tile to “emphasize” the retail spaces just seems awkward.

KBear July 22, 2009 (12:26 pm)

I’m sure that if they’d chosen a bold color scheme, there would be loud public outcry to the effect that it didn’t fit in with the neighborhood. No matter what they do, people will complain. It’s hard to find the middle ground between a design that everyone hates and a design that no one likes.

Sage July 22, 2009 (12:38 pm)

Have they posted a hole-to-skatepark conversion bond in case financing falls apart at an inopportune moment in the construction process?

jetcitygirl July 22, 2009 (1:44 pm)

Roger H. Newell is the architect:
http://www.rhnewellaia.com/news/

His “Seascape Mixed Use” Design has a much softer appeal for a mixed use building.

Too bad this project has to be so monolithic, bland and bulky.

christopherboffoli July 22, 2009 (1:56 pm)

KBear: I hear you. I just wonder how and when it came down to everyone always voting for bland mediocrity. If what we’re getting is the result of design by committee then maybe the entire process needs to change.

KBear July 22, 2009 (2:27 pm)

For example, I like the bright colors they used on the building next to True Value. My wife thinks it looks like a sleazy ’70s motel bathroom.

christopherboffoli July 22, 2009 (9:34 pm)

KBear: I’ll be polite and not ask how your wife happens to be an authority on sleazy ’70’s motel bathrooms. :-)

I’d rather have poorly conceived colors than no colors. The almost constantly overcast skies in the Netherlands reminds me of the Pacific Northwest. But over there they’ve employed bright colors everywhere. As soon as you drive over the border to Belgium everything is back to gray. The difference is striking.

KBear July 22, 2009 (10:25 pm)

Christopher: My wife is an authority on everything. (So she tells me.) I agree with you though, about using more assertive colors. We have a territorial view from our deck. There’s a bright yellow house (which used to be pink), some purple houses, a blue house, a turquoise house, and various beige houses. Visitors sometimes asked how I felt about the bright pink house. I always said I was glad I lived in a neighborhood where people could choose the color of their own house. And it made my view more colorful.

Saturated Nulu July 23, 2009 (11:29 am)

Have a look at the redevelopment with bold use of colors at Greenbridge in White Center off Roxbury at 8th Ave SW.
The whole design and color use is far superior to anything in the New Highpoint (except the community center) or any of the West Seattle projects.

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