22 Replies to "West Seattle development: Land-use OK for 4435 35th SW"

• Diane December 12, 2013 (2:07 pm)

  love love love this project; can hardly wait til it’s completed

• Anonymous December 12, 2013 (2:40 pm)

  I’m okay with this project. I’m glad they have parking ;)

• NW December 12, 2013 (4:41 pm)

  I kinda hate what West Seattle is becoming. I have lived here all my life and now its getting worse with development like this leave it a single story venue as far as I am concerned with parking beside it.

• Genesee Hill December 12, 2013 (4:46 pm)

  Lookin’ good.

• West Seattle Hipster December 12, 2013 (5:58 pm)

  I will miss the site of the old Pizza Haven, but I appreciate the new structure will have parking.

  It would be a good idea to restore Avalon back to 2 lanes in each direction, to handle the increased capacity caused by the influx of new residents.

• Jic December 12, 2013 (7:37 pm)

  @NW

  There are plenty of ther people who like the changes that are coming to West Seattle. It’s not going to slow down anytime soon, and it’s definitely not going to stop. If you hate the neighborhood that much there are plenty of other places to move to.

• David December 12, 2013 (9:32 pm)

  West Seattle is growing, that is all. Nothing bad. And don’t pretend it hasn’t always been growing. West Seattle of 1990 isn’t what it looked like in 1930, or 1890, or 1750. I feel sorry for the folks who magically believe West Seattle sprang into being when they were 5 years old and should never change, but it’s always changed, and always will. This is GOOD SMART development. This isn’t putting 30 story buildings in the middle of side streets. This is little (6 story) buildings on the 2 or 3 main streets (35th, California, Alaska). If you don’t live on those (or right next to them), no biggie. And the growth rate is nominal…to the existing 65,000+ residents, these 150 units here or there every other year is moot. It’s just SEEMS like a lot of growth. Of course over the course of 30-50 years the ‘character’ will change. Ask a native American about ‘change’ in Seattle. They have a unique perspective. This isn’t the end of the world, just an apartment building (on a major transit accessible road)…good planning!

• DTK December 12, 2013 (9:46 pm)

  “If you don’t live on those (or right next to them), no biggie.”

  And there you have it folks… Head-in-the-sand logic.

  Forget for the fact that infrastructure and transit is not being considered in this growth and someday very soon it will come back to bite West Seattle in the collective rear end.

  • WSB December 12, 2013 (9:55 pm)

    And in fact, tonight at the Morgan Junction 30-studios-no-parking-spaces meeting, the developer basically said transportation is somebody else’s problem to work out. He’s hoping for light rail.

• Diane December 12, 2013 (10:08 pm)

  wow, really? I missed that

• GJP2013 December 12, 2013 (11:28 pm)

  DTK – right on. Buildings are being sandwiched in, especially in this area – several big box apartment complexes under construction right now. A total lack of infrastructure and transportation planning. As I have told folks over and over – this is NOT Capitol Hill. West Seattle has fewer transportation options and can support less density, simply based on its location. And while some folks may like it – there are plenty of folks who loathe this development craze. And yes, some of us did grow up here and love the small town feel where folks know each other – it’s a soul issue.

  And Jic, NW shouldn’t have to move anywhere – NW has an investment and history in this community and has been a member of this community and has every right to express disillusionment, and even disgust at these attempts to tear at the fabric of WS. Let’s hope we can all continue to raise our voices at City Hall as well as continue to vote out more like Conlin who lost many votes in West Seattle as he was tone deaf as Chair of the Land Use and Development Committee – many folks have missed the role that this has played – a victory of sorts.

• NW December 13, 2013 (10:51 am)

  You folks that applaud these developments where is the logic in that if you take in the big picture and what’s going on here crowed buses which are going to but cut in service heavy commutes and ore folks driving if transit gets cut it does not make sense your backing this development. Are you folks real or spam what’s your story?

• pjmanley December 13, 2013 (10:51 am)

  Like an overflowing toilet, when we cram too many things into a limited container, pressure and stress builds up until it overflows or explodes. It’s not about development vs. no development; That’s a straw man argument. It’s about haphazard, rapid growth and development outpacing infrastructure and overwhelming neighborhoods. With growth and popularity comes all it’s trappings and undesirable impacts: No parking, insufficient transit, congestion, panhandlers, street crime, property crime, filth, litter, noise, etc. Ready to welcome the Westlake Park crowds to the Junction? How about responsible growth and development that plans appropriately to deal with these issues as they arise? A rising tide raises all boats. Too much weight on one side capsizes them.

• Diane December 13, 2013 (12:52 pm)

  @NW; re “You folks that applaud these developments”
  ~
  I have participated in nearly every West Seattle project Design Review in past 6-7 yrs, and this development stands out as spectacular compared to most of the rest; I’m not applauding ‘these developments’; I’m applauding this development; it has far more parking than most (under the city’s new rules, it doesn’t have to provide any); it is ideally situated on a heavy transit corridor, right at the bus stop for Rapid Ride and several other bus lines; this developer/architect group voluntarily (without us begging for public benefit) worked with SDOT to create a wonderful accessible hill climb, and public plaza; I wish more developers would be as thoughtful in creating their projects
  ~
  there are a LOT of projects/developments in WS that totally piss me off; I’ve been in numerous meetings just this month re micro-apts with zero parking, projects that are unlivable for most (225 to 300sf), and will add to our transit/parking/traffic woes; and I’ve been involved with WSTC (West Seattle Transportation Coalition) which has been working hard to get funding for transit and addressing all the issues related to transportation in WS, including all of this so-called ‘transit oriented development’ being built at same time as we keep losing transit; if you don’t like all the bad developments, please attend/participate in meetings where local citizens are working hard to make a difference; it’s easy to just complain on here; takes a bit more effort to show up at community meetings and do something
  ~
  and before you ask “how do I know about these meetings?”; wsblog/Tracy posts about EVERYTHING; every meeting is announced here; every meeting is reported on here

  • WSB December 13, 2013 (1:09 pm)

    Very true. Diane and I see each other at many meetings many nights of the week. For me, it’s my job; for her, it’s because she cares. Speaking of meetings, watch for a story in the next half-hour or so with a whole bunch of additional Design Review meetings set for early next year. AND a story based on last night’s meeting about 6917 California – after a field trip to the North Seattle development on which the developer says he’s basing it. What we found at the scene – not the building itself but around it – is ironic, to say the least. – TR

• NW December 13, 2013 (1:58 pm)

  Point taken but is not the “plan” already rolled out for these projects a green light and by attending these meeting geared toward community input are not most just what we the community think they should look aesthetically? Can we stop these projects from continuing altogether or severely alter their size? These meetings ,now I may be wrong, seem too little to late.

• East Coast Cynic December 13, 2013 (2:25 pm)

  The bus/rapid ride stop on the corner of 35th Ave SW and Avalon is going to be very crowded in the near future:).

• enough December 13, 2013 (3:34 pm)

  NW, PJM, DTK, you are not alone. I’m kind of hoping word gets out that traffic is horrible and people decide not to live in all of these new condos and apartments. At least improve buses, not keep them the same or cut them back as what could happen in 2014. The water taxi can’t carry us all, even if we all worked downtown (which we don’t). I doubt people will stop moving here. Enjoy it while you can because it’s only going to get worse. I’ve seen my commute times double in the last 5 years. There’s nothing that can be done at design review meetings if you are concerned about development .. if it’s zoned for xyz, it passes with or without common sense (transporation for example). I’ve also found out that you can’t control what businesses go in to the buildings for the most part. Design review will be for ABC business but when the building opens you get XYZ no matter the impact to the neighborhood. The left hand truly does not know or care what the right hand is doing. ie closing schools a few years ago while green lighting development at the same time. Now look at the over crowded conditions we and our kids have to live with in schools! Ahh Seattle wisdom. I really regret putting down roots here.

• Diane December 13, 2013 (4:17 pm)

  @East Coast Cynic; re “The bus/rapid ride stop on the corner of 35th Ave SW and Avalon is going to be very crowded in the near future:).”; the REALLY unfortunate part of this; tenants in this project may need their cars, because the 100’s of apts being built with zero and/or very little parking up in the junction and transit corridor on California will cause the Rapid Ride to be overloaded by the time it reaches 35th/Avalon, so anyone wanting to catch the bus here will be left standing at the bus stop while standing-room-only-overloaded-buses pass them up; we need a LOT more bus service to accommodate all the new apt tenants

• Diane December 13, 2013 (4:21 pm)

  Thanks TR; and oh my, what a fantastic teaser; I’m on pins & needles waiting for this: “a story based on last night’s meeting about 6917 California – after a field trip to the North Seattle development on which the developer says he’s basing it. What we found at the scene – not the building itself but around it – is ironic, to say the least.”

• zark00 December 13, 2013 (5:05 pm)

  @ Enough – Couldn’t agree more – I stopped inviting folks to move out to WSea – used to be “that guy” going on and on about how great it is to be so close, yet have that feel of a smallish town.

  Now I just tell them it takes me an hour to commute 5.1 miles.

  I’m sure someone will correct me on this if I’m wrong, but I believe we’re in a situation where the developers couldn’t stop even if they wanted to.
  After many failed projects like HighPoint developers are WAY underwater. They would have to either sell off their entire inventory (not happening), close shop and declare bankruptcy (not an ideal choice), or keep feeding the beast; keep borrowing and building until the market recovers enough to sell. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, I’m just guessing this has to do with the rapid launch of new projects, the townhome/cookie cutter kind of building, the cheap stuff that MAY bail them out if they can hang on.

  I’m guessing here, but I think the change in the law allowing these no-parking sardine can apartment things is that they’re cheaper to build and are potentially more profitable – they probably had to vote that in, or face putting a bunch of development companies out of business by default. It’s prohibitively expensive for them to build a “real” apartment building when they’re already hemorrhaging and barely staying afloat.

  I know from talking to the folks building the stuff down here in Safeco lot that it cost them about the same to build the 8 story underground garage (in the new Real bldg I think it is?) as it did to build the building on top of it. Poking around on the interweb seems accurate – a 2-4 story office building estimated at 3.1M, 2 story underground parking estimated at 7.7M – http://www.reedconstructiondata.com

  Not saying anyone, developers, whomever is at fault – well, maybe the bankers for tanking the housing market I guess.

• NW December 13, 2013 (7:04 pm)

  I can’t understand why someone within west seattle pissed off about this devel. As I am has not gather other citizens and go down to city hall and protest at least raise hell and let them the council mayor the public know that we are sick and tired of crappy decisions by or representatives . Will someone out there ,I like to follow not lead, for crying out loud start one up I for one will gladly join it.

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