West Seattle development: 2nd Design Review preview for 7520 35th SW clinic; five demolition sites

| Development | West Seattle news

West Seattle development notes to share this afternoon:

(Rendering by PB Architects)
‘PACKET’ FOR NEXT DESIGN REVIEW MEETING: Hasn’t been much for the Southwest Design Review Board to consider these past few months, but they do have a one-project meeting coming up next week, and the “packet” is available – see it here. The project is a medical/commercial building, the Clearview Eye Clinic at 7520 35th SW, and the meeting at 6:30 pm Thursday, September 4th, at the Senior Center of West Seattle, is its second “early design guidance” meeting. (Here’s our coverage of the first one back in July.)

RECENT DEMOLITION-PERMIT APPLICATIONS: Here’s what’s appeared on the city website in the past two weeks. (We haven’t gone by these sites yet, so some might already have been torn down – sometimes the permit filings appear same-day or close to it.)

*3024 61st SW (map) – House/shed to be demolished, replaced by 3 houses

*8150 32nd SW (map) – House to be demolished, replaced by one new house

*4757 Delridge Way SW (map) – House to be demolished, replaced by 3 new houses

*4535 44th SW (map) – This one is for a bigger project, the four-story, ~36-unit building that got key land-use approvals back in May.

*2749 57th SW (map) – House to be demolished, replaced by one new house

DRG August 29, 2014 (2:56 pm)

From the packet: “The northern portion of the site will be developed at a later date due to an existing five year lease with John’s Corner Deli.”
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That sounds pretty ominous for the deli once the lease is up.

seabruce August 30, 2014 (10:59 pm)

Instead of “House to be demolished” why can’t they move the existing house to a vacant lot, renovate it and sell it? Couldn’t the developer make some more money, realtor earn an extra commission, someone get a cheaper house, and retain some of our heritage?

WSB August 31, 2014 (12:20 am)

That would sound like a great idea, but while I can’t speak from inside developer/homebuilders’ shoes, here’s what I think the reasoning would be, having watched the development/construction rolls for a while now … most homebuilding lots are being “made” by demolishing something in the first place; the only “vacant” lots that seem to be left are in difficult areas, slopes, etc. And prepping a house for a move, then moving it, costs more than you might think (let alone what renovations might cost). I don’t know the cost of building the three-story, modern-style houses that are most prevalent in new construction right now, but I do know from public records that in many cases, the sites are being purchased for ~$300,000 and, especially if it’s a view lot, the newly built replacements are selling for ~$800,000, and that’s probably at least a bit more profit than could be eked out of moving something. (If that’s not so, I hope someone will correct me!) – TR

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