(TUESDAY UPDATE: The full “packet” for next week’s hearing is now available here.)
(Click image for larger view)
Next time the Southwest Design Review Board meets, on June 27th, its second round of “Early Design Guidance” for 3210 California SW will be on the agenda (as noted here last month). That’s the proposed South Admiral building with a face longer than a city block, the first development proposed for the area upzoned in 2010. Taking into account the feedback from members of the board and the public at the first meeting two months ago (WSB coverage here; official city report here), they’ve come up with a new plan that, along with other changes, breaks the building into three parts rather than two – as seen in the new “massing” image above (the colors are NOT representative of any final look – they are just used in the rendering as highlights). We talked about the new proposal with Lis Soldano from Intracorp, the project’s Seattle-based developer:
The major changes:
-The building is now in three parts instead of two
-The commercial space (4,700 square feet) has been moved to the north end, to be closer to South Admiral’s busiest area
-No more residential units at street level
-The live-work units (totaling 3,400 square feet) have been moved to the south end, in space that could be converted to “true commercial.”
Here’s the new ground-floor plan:
(Click image for larger view)
None of this changes the baselines on the project – it still will have 140 to 160 apartments and about 170 parking spaces, according to Soldano. But Intracorp believes the new massing will make for a better “pedestrian experience,” as the commercial space will all be at street level, rather than elevated as the grade changes.
Between the second and third buildings, there will be a landscaped courtyard, visible from the street, and the much-discussed big tree on a property behind the project will be visible through a skybridge area.
Soldano says the plan maintains “lots of landscaping at the street level,” too. Here’s one of the new sketches, including the landscaping plan:
(Click image for larger view)
The plan now includes two rooftop gardens, rather than a central one as originally proposed – one is shared by the first two buildings, and the other one is atop the third building.
We asked what, if anything, is changing on the side that will face the residents of the single-family neighborhood to the east. The two breaks in the building are the major change for that side, Soldano says, and the landscape buffer remains; otherwise, they have “pushed and pulled the modulation a bit” so the same number of apartments will fit, despite adding a break between buildings.
In April, board members also asked them to reconsider the steepness of driveways into and out of the building, so, she says, they have done that – “we flattened out the driveway approach as much as we could so it’s safer,” especially regarding pedestrian visibility, but those changes are all within the garage.
The presentation on June 27th will also show other developments “on longer sites,” as requested by the board. One that they plan to show, while not their own project, is Curve in the U-District, another example of what they are aiming for – the “flow of architecture between the buildings.”
There will also be a small “step in building height between the southern and northern buildings, about two feet.”
We asked about current plans for amenities in the building; they’re planning a bicycle lounge “that directly accesses the street,” as well as bike parking in the garage, and likely a dog wash there too, which is something they’ve been providing in their projects.
While it’s too soon for commercial leasing, they hope the spaces will appeal to local businesses, particularly established businesses that might want to move up to new space. Some of their other projects in the region have included local coffee shops such as Uptown Espresso and Cherry Street.
If the review process proceeds without a major hangup from here, Soldano says, they expect to break ground in summer 2014. The site purchase is not yet completed. Meantime, as we have previously reported, Intracorp is looking at two other possibilities in the area – apartments across the street, and townhouses at the former Charlestown Café site – but both are in a very preliminary exploratory stage, and Intracorp’s West Seattle focus right now is the 3210 California project.
HOW TO HAVE A SAY: The Design Review Board meeting is at 6:30 pm Thursday, June 27th, at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon in The Junction). The official notice is here. You can send comments to the city planner, about design or any other aspect of the project, at any time – michael.dorcy@seattle.gov.
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