DESC Delridge project: City sign’s up, but (briefly) out of place

Four lots were for sale on the east side of Delridge, north of SW Findlay, when the Downtown Emergency Service Center bought the site of its planned 66-unit homeless-housing complex. DESC bought three of them. The fourth, south of the project site, is still for sale – and now it has a sign that shouldn’t be there: The official Department of Planning and Development sign letting the neighborhood know that the land-use-permit application for the project has been filed. (As of two days ago, according to the DPD website.) According to a conversation on the North Delridge mailing list, the city has been notified that the project site is actually further north, and says the mistake will be fixed. Meantime, we checked today with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission to see if DESC’s revised application for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits is in yet, with the January 31st deadline pending. They haven’t received it yet, according to spokesperson Bill Wortley. As first reported here in early January, the number of units in the project has been reduced from 75 to 66, since the city says data didn’t support a waiver allowing that many extra extremely-low-income-housing units in the area after all. In addition to the pending round of tax-credit funding, the project also needs at least one more Design Review Board meeting before gaining final city approval; no date set yet. And the Delridge Alliance advisory group – explained on the North Delridge Neighborhood Council website – is expected to lead a public meeting about the project soon.

3:51 PM: The sign already has been moved and is now on the north end of the site.

5 Replies to "DESC Delridge project: City sign's up, but (briefly) out of place"

  • Delridge Skeptic January 26, 2012 (2:45 pm)

    Just a coincidence that the placement of the sign (the developer’s responsibility) impedes its view from the street? Seems awfully odd that of all the unobstructed frontage available on this lot, the wrong one by the way, the sign would be placed underneath such a large tree. Maybe the city should be asked to begin the two week comment period starting from the date the sign placement is corrected…

  • Delridge Believer January 26, 2012 (3:20 pm)

    Looks like the sign has been moved already to the correct location. For what it is worth the signs are placed by a independant sign company contracted by the City, not the developer.

  • Brandon Node January 26, 2012 (4:05 pm)

    Personally, I have reservations about the DESC facility and its potential negative effects on the North Delridge community. With this being said, my concerns would be lessened greatly if the City of Seattle made a long term commitment to the residences of this family friendly neighborhood and elected to make the soon to reopen Boren school the permanent location of STEM program.

  • WSB January 26, 2012 (4:20 pm)

    Thanks, Delridge B – we were headed that way anyway so we took an updated photo of the sign in the new, correct location … TR

  • Creekside January 27, 2012 (11:28 am)

    Delridge Believer – You are correct about a sign contractor doing the installation work, however the developer and or architectural firm is responsible to oversee and make sure it is placed correctly. It is very lame that SMR Architects and or the DESC couldn’t even get this detail correct. About par for the course in terms of how both have rolled so far in their behavior. Obviously the neighborhood is watching them very closely, and good for them.

Sorry, comment time is over.