“Full house!” as Admiral Neighborhood Association past president Mark Wainwright put it, arriving at the ANA meeting tonight at Admiral Congregational Church – more than two dozen people.
The evening’s main event was a somewhat tense appearance by the Admiral Safeway project team, explaining the recent, seemingly sudden change in the project (reported here two weeks ago) – doubling the number of the residential units in the building on the southeast side of the site, discarding the flex-work office component (we first reported the change when it appeared on the city’s Land Use Information Bulletin, and Safeway shared an explanation later that day).
Safeway’s Sara Corn and Fuller/Sears architect Bill Fuller explained that the change was the result of financing troubles unfolding after construction began; ANA president Katy Walum read an official statement gently chiding the team for not having given the group a heads-up. In turn, the Safeway team implored the ANA to bring any concerns to them in the weeks ahead rather than just debuting them before the City Council when the proposed change comes up for a future hearing. More on this, and other meeting topics, ahead:
Explaining what had gone awray, Corn said any residential component in a Safeway project has to be sold to another developer to handle. She recounted the details shared here, when the financing fell through for that building, after construction had begun. “We started soliciting developers (and they all said they) can’t find financing for officers … We did find an alternate partner that we have faith in that can continue the project, with 78 apartments … the hearing is in March … We want this done concurrently, and we did what we could to try to make it happened …” That hearing is before the City Council, it was clarified later; Corn believes the date is March 23rd. (We’ll be checking.) She explained that the council is being asked to amend the Master Use Permit for the project. (The comment period for the proposed change continues through this Thursday.)
She said it would be “a lot more difficult and a lot more expensive” if they just let that corner go until someone could restart the project sometime after the new store opens. “We’re hopeful that it will be approved” – if it isn’t, they’ll continue on with the store, but they’re not sure what else will happen. The store opening is targeted for August 12th, Corn said. Asked why the financing fell through, she said, “The office market just tanked. … Once (the bank) got to the point where they were going to fund, they just changed their mind.”
Fuller says the residential units will be 340-630 square foot units, all studios, alcove “one bedrooms,” and one bedrooms. The flex-work units were “still a good idea … but just not finance-able,” he said, adding that they’ve seen the same problem on other projects. Corn said there will be 58 parking spaces for the 78 apartments (in addition to the 160-plus spaces for the store and more than two dozen for the standalone retail building on the northwest side of the site). That drew some skepticism, but Corn and Fuller insisted it will balance out because of the building’s location in an area with a high “Walk Score” (92) that means it will draw people who rely on non-car forms of transportation, so the parking ratio will work. “It’s a walker’s paradise,” proclaimed Fuller. The new developers for the southeast building also handled the new 23rd/Madison store project for Safeway, said Corn, and tell the company they have 20-plus vacant spaces there currently. There are actually fewer units now than the office plus residential would have equaled, the development team acknowledged, after a question by Walum.
P.S. Fuller mentioned the before/after graphics documentation that they shared for publication here (those aren’t louvers, he explained, they’re “Juliet balconies”). Also the construction stage they’re at: On Thursday, they will pour the “post-tension slab” concrete for the roof section on which the top level of parking will rest.
“This is a horrible position for Safeway to be in,” Corn said. “We have to make a viable project … that can be built on time.” “If this has been going on for months,” asked longtime neighborhood activist Dennis Ross, “then why are we the last ones to know?” Fuller interjected: “Safeway’s not the bad guy here … Safeway got the ball dropped on them after they closed the store and demolished the store. … It’s the difference between this scheme, and nothing built next to the Safeway. I thought the flex-work was a cool idea, but banks chose not to finance that.”
President Walum read the official group statement noting that the ANA had participated in the process along and been “invested in the project” but had been discouraged by having been “left out of the loop” regarding this recent change. ANA wants to be restored to the position of “knowledgeable community consultants” getting earlier heads-up regarding key changes to the project. She reiterated that “we support (the project) but want to know that you support (ANA) in return.”
Also discussed tonight:
ADMIRAL-AREA CRIME TRENDS: Southwest Precinct Community Police Team Officer Ken Mazzuca said he recently walked the business district and talked to people about what’s going on – and he didn’t hear many complaints. He says he reviews Admiral-area reports daily “to get a feeling for what’s happening and what I need to do” and acknowledged that “if you’re a victim, one crime is one too many,” and that car prowls and residential burglaries are still happening, though not “spiking” at the moment, so that’s what he is paying the most attention to. As others from the SWP have said, he reiterated that “community involvement” is most important in fighting crime, particularly “timely reporting … and accurate information … what you’re really seeing, descriptions of vehicles, the plate, colors,” details that might stand out.
He was asked about the Jeremy Peck disappearance/death case and said he hadn’t really been involved in that; group members said they were concerned because he was reported to have been last seen at the Admiral Pub, early the morning of December 24th. He also was asked about the Admiral Theater burglary and said that investigation continues as well but he doesn’t have updated details. One more notable not-so-long ago Admiral crime, the Island View Apartments car vandalism, came up; Officer Mazzuca and Crime Prevention Coordinator Benjamin Kinlow are planning to walk through the property with its management soon to assess for safety and crime-prevention factors. The crime itself remains unsolved.
CRIME PREVENTION: Coordinator Kinlow spoke to ANA about his impending retirement, with the same message he has been sharing with other community groups: Carry on with neighborhood-based, neighbor-to-neighbor prevention even after he’s gone, no matter how the city decides to handle its piece of the crime-prevention picture, and make sure your Block Watch gets involved with the West Seattle Blockwatch Captains Network. Attendees gave him a round of applause.
MEMBERSHIP DUES: ANA is going to start charging dues, as some neighborhood organizations do – $15/year, “to make people feel like they are members and invested in something, but not necessarily so steep that certain people would not be able to afford it,” as Walum explained, though she’s also happy to hear from people who feel they can’t afford that sum.
REACHING OUT TO OTHER GROUPS: Members of the ANA executive committee are pledged to attend other community groups’ meetings over the next two months, to see what they can learn from those groups, and maybe vice versa. Diane Vincent noted she had been to Highland Park Action Committee and Morgan Community Association in recent weeks (and was particularly impressed with HPAC’s pre-meeting potluck).
CANDIDATES’ FORUM: ANA will be organizing one for a meeting this spring.
47TH & ADMIRAL WAY: No signal in the foreseeable future, reported Marc Jacobs after talking with the city – just not enough pedestrian volume. There’s some new paint and signage, though, as Karl de Jong pointed out.
ADOPT-A-STREET CLEANUP: Saturday, February 26th, meet at 9 am at Metropolitan Market (WSB sponsor) – free breakfast before the cleanup and free sack lunches afterward, “we go for a walk and pick up some litter along the way,” Walum elaborated.
SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA: Sponsorships are being solicited and accepted – with PCC (WSB sponsor) signing on again, and WSB (we’ve co-sponsored the past two years) too, as well as Head-To-Toe Spa – and ANA’s Dave Weitzel has just begun rounding up sponsors. Walum is still accepting band applications.
SOUTHWEST DISTRICT COUNCIL RECAP: Walum and de Jong recapped the major topics from last week’s meeting, which they both attended, including the downtown seawall presentation – reminding all that a comment period is under way – and the West Seattle Triangle overview (which has been superseded by last night’s open house, including the presentation materials just published on the city website today). As de Jong noted, “Though it’s not within the jurisdiction of (ANA), it’s important to see how the process is going … and how (DPD) is interacting with neighborhood groups.”
The Admiral Neighborhood Association meets the second Tuesday of the month, 7 pm, lower-level meeting room at Admiral Church.
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