What’s in a name? One word added for DESC in Delridge

| Delridge | DESC Delridge project | West Seattle news

Two weeks after DESC announced the name of its almost-complete 66-unit housing complex in North Delridge, its board has agreed to alter that name in response to community concerns. The North Delridge Neighborhood Council, which discussed the issue this past Monday, announced that to its mailing list today, and we confirmed it with DESC’s Nicole Macri:

I can confirm that today the DESC Board unanimously voted to change the building’s name from “Cottage Grove” to “Cottage Grove Commons.” They reconsidered the name, and adding a modifier to it, at the request of community members and neighborhood leaders, including the North Delridge Neighborhood Council and members of the Advisory Committee to the project. We appreciate the community’s input on this.

Cottage Grove is the historic name of the section of North Delridge that includes the site (5444 Delridge Way SW) where the building is expected to open in about a month. Its advisory committee meets again one week from tonight (November 20th).

Brian November 14, 2013 (6:55 am)

I don’t understand what the contention is between calling it Cottage Grove or Cottage Grove Commons? I mean… it’s such a minor detail that I can’t imagine caring all that much either way.

McBride November 14, 2013 (7:44 am)

It’s similar to the apartment building Youngstown Flats, renamed from Youngstown. At issue was the builder choosing the name of the actual neighborhood for the complex, a name which has cultural significance and identity. With the DESC project, which was an extremely divisive project in this community, directly incorporating the name of the neighborhood it was built in was egregious for some. For the community, the name change was an important concession.