West Seattle, Washington
18 Thursday
As noted by one of several people who e-mailed us today to ask about that development site, you seldom “see a whole block fenced off.” It’s pre-demolition fencing, just put up this week at the redevelopment site known as 3210 California SW, which we’ve been covering for seven years – from the original rezone proposal for an entire block between Hanford and Hinds turned up in city files in 2007, to the subsequent development plan’s emergence in early 2013, to its final approval at Design Review. So here’s a refresher on what’s going in, once that block of buildings is torn down:
(Rendering courtesy NK Architects)
It’s a 4- and 5-story project with 134 apartments, 2 live-work units, 152 offstreet-parking spaces, and about 6,000 square feet of commercial space, being developed by Intracorp. It went before the Southwest Design Review Board five times before receiving a recommendation for final approval in April; by the fifth meeting, the developer lowered the north part of the complex to four stories, with its other two sections remaining at five.
The demolition permits were granted three months ago, but we don’t know how soon the demolition will start – once a fence goes up, the next thing to watch for is the arrival of no-parking signs, and then, of course, the heavy equipment. The contractor is Exxel Pacific, according to this page on the website of the project’s architecture firm, West Seattleite-owned NK.
SIDE NOTE: Wondering what happened to everything and everyone who were in the buildings? For starters, the city website says tenant-relocation licenses were granted for 23 units in all. Some of the buildings held businesses, like the Styling Studio, whose owner decided to join another salon, as he told us in June; the former Cayce and Gain Property Management, now Cayce Real Estate Services, moved to the Andover business park in North Delridge. Cometa Playschool is still in operation, at a different location.
7:40 PM: Suddenly Sylvan Way, which runs through High Point between Upper Morgan and Delridge, is a hot spot for crashes. Police and fire are currently at the scene of another one near Sylvan Way/Sylvan Heights (map). No details yet, but it’s affecting traffic, with at least one lane blocked.
8:24 PM: The crash involved just one vehicle; it ran into a fence and took out a tree. Police told us at the scene that no one was hurt. This was very close to the spot where a driver hit a tree two nights ago.
(2012 photo courtesy City Fruit)
You’ve probably heard that the City Council gave its final approval to the next city budget plan this week. Attention tends to be drawn by the biggest issues – but some of its relatively small points are notable, too. Tonight, we hear from one of the many nonprofits that will benefit from some part of the budget, City Fruit, which works in West Seattle and elsewhere to keep backyard fruit from going to waste if its owners don’t want/don’t need/can’t harvest it:
City Fruit is grateful to the Seattle City Council for including $68,000 in the 2015 City budget for the organization’s gleaning programs. City Fruit recognizes Councilmember Sally Clark for her leadership on this issue. The funding will support City Fruit’s harvesting efforts on both public and private property.
In addition, City Fruit thanks Councilmembers Jean Godden, Bruce Harrell, and Tom Rasmussen for their sponsorship of the budget package.
Hazel Singer, vice president of the City Fruit board of directors, thanked the Council, saying, “Funding from the City is critical to our harvest. With this support, we will be able to continue serving five neighborhoods in Seattle and add an additional area, Northeast Seattle, to our territory.”
With the City’s support in 2014, City Fruit harvested nearly 28,000 pounds of fruit, a record for the organization. Nearly all fruit was donated into Seattle’s emergency food system, including food banks and meal programs. In addition, the organization hosted over 50 work parties in support of public orchards and stewarded nearly 400 trees on public land.
As explained on the City Fruit website, the nonprofit pays for harvesting help rather than relying on volunteers, and that’s part of the cost it has to cover. If you want to donate harvestable fruit in the future, here’s how.
Just one more reminder before we get to Thanksgiving Day itself: If you are NOT cooking tomorrow, some West Seattle restaurants do plan to be open at least part of the day. As we do every year, we have compiled a list, and you can see that list here. (Keep in mind that proprietors do reserve the right to change their plans at the last minute, so if you find someplace closed that we had listed as planning to be open, or if you find someplace open that’s not on the list, please let us know – text/call 206-293-6302 or e-mail editor@westseattleblog.com; we’ll be updating as needed.) Other holiday info (coffee shops, grocery stores, free dinners, church services, more) is atop our Holiday Guide.
One unplanned restaurant closure *tonight* – Zippy’s Giant Burgers has been having big trouble getting something fixed for the past couple days and, according to a Facebook update, won’t be able to reopen until after the holiday.
P.S. One *new* place IS open – this is grand-opening night at The Westy, as recently announced/previewed here.
Some of what you’ll find in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide are traditional annual events – and some are brand new. Like this:
The Admiral Neighborhood Association – which brings you Summer Concerts at Hiawatha, as well as its year-round role as a community council – is presenting the first-ever Holly Jolly Holiday Fest, noon-4 pm Sunday, December 7th, at The Sanctuary at Admiral (42nd/Lander).
One big component: A gingerbread-house contest! NOT on-site building – build yours before the event and bring it to The Sanctuary that morning, as explained in the official rules, which also explain the prizes, and the youth/adult divisions (age 16 is the dividing line).
But that’s just part of the fun, which also includes, as announced, “live holiday music, a craft bazaar, and a food drive for the West Seattle Food Bank” as well as … Santa Claus! “A photographer will be available to take portraits with Santa for a small donation, or you can bring your own camera.” See you there on Sunday, December 7th, noon-4 pm!
The line outside Easy Street Records in The Junction right now – wrapping around the building and up the alley – isn’t in advance of a Black Friday deal. But it DOES involve the day after Thanksgiving. At 3 pm, as explained on the Easy Street website, tickets go on sale for a just-announced performance by Foo Fighters, Friday at the Showbox downtown. The show also includes a screening of “Sonic Highways,” the HBO series in which the band travels to cities around the U.S. while recording its new album.
Foo Fighters have been performing “surprise” shows in connection with the show’s episodes, and the Showbox plan fits right in with that.
Thanks to Cami for the photo of this crash at 35th/Barton. Looks so far like no serious injuries, but with pre-holiday shopping traffic and Westwood Village just a few blocks easy, we’re making note. Eastbound Barton is closed at the scene, according to what we’ve heard via the scanner.
11:48 AM UPDATE: Just went over to check. The intersection is clear.
Thanks to Tauna Evans, pre-K teacher at Holy Rosary Preschool, for sharing the photo to let us all know about her students’ lesson in giving: “We have just completed our 3rd annual ‘Help the Hungry’ food drive. All donations were delivered to the Holy Rosary St. Vincent de Paul Society. The food will be distributed to those in need right here in our West Seattle community.”
IF YOU’RE IN THE GIVING MOOD TODAY, FOOD BANK DONATION HOURS: There’s still time for you to get donations to either or both of the nearest food banks – West Seattle Food Bank (southeast corner of 35th/Morgan) is open until 3 pm, White Center Food Bank (8th SW just south of SW 108th) is open until 5 pm. Beyond today, we are posting ongoing donation drives of all types in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide.
(WS high/low bridges and Highway 99 views; more cams on the WSB Traffic page)
Happy day before Thanksgiving! We start with another reminder about holiday transit schedules:
*Metro will be on a Sunday schedule on Thanksgiving Day and a “reduced weekday/no UW” schedule on Friday.
*The Water Taxi does NOT run on Thursday *or* Friday.
*Sound Transit‘s express bus serving our area (560) will be on a Sunday schedule for Thanksgiving Day, normal schedule for Friday.
*Washington State Ferries‘ Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth run will keep a normal schedule. WSF reminds you that lines will be longest in the westbound direction this afternoon/evening. For Fauntleroy, all the space/wait info, plus dock-area cameras, can be found here.
CITYWIDE ALERT FOR THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND: If you’re not leaving town, you still might need to know times/places for parades, runs, etc., and that’s all in the SDOT alert.
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