West Seattle development: 4515 41st SW passes Early Design Guidance on second try

| Development | West Seattle news

(Rendering by NK Architects)
From last night’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting: The proposed 66-bed Living Care Lifestyles memory-care facility at 4515 41st SW passed Early Design Guidance on the second try, after addressing issues brought up at the first review in December. This means the project will get at least one more look (the process is explained in the notice that preceded this meeting).

Board members and meeting attendees were generally in support of Option #4, observing that it had lost the “suburban” aspects that were criticized in the December review. Steve Fischer from NK Architects said the building had been turned around, with administrative offices, kitchen, and in-house hair salon at the front of the building instead of the back. The courtyard has been redone to start on the second floor. Public comment centered on two points: having the entry at street level rather than sunken, and parking. (Regarding the latter, questions involve what will happen on the street when the project is built with one curb cut where there are now three, and whether a short-term space might be available for family/caregivers/friends dropping off residents; the project itself will have 11 offstreet spaces.)

Board members’ guidance for the project focused on weather protection, especially around the entrance; exterior and street lighting; planned signage; facade materials (the project team says there’ll be brick on all sides); window design to ensure privacy for neighbors on all sides of the 4-story building; landscaping for privacy; how the alley side will be configured. When the project is ready for its next review, the city will post a meeting date; meantime, comments about the project can still be sent to the assigned planner, BreAnne McConkle, at breanne.mcconkie@seattle.gov until the final decision is issued, which won’t be until some time after the next meeting.

Diane March 6, 2015 (1:44 pm)

so glad I was able to attend this meeting last night; and validates why I show up at so many meetings; there was a ton of stuff talked about in this design review, mostly very positive, from the public (including me) and the board
~
my comment started with praise for the very attractive new design of the project; I think it’s beautiful
~
and praise for separating the original drive circle from pedestrian access
~
I had questions about the lovely common area courtyard/decks they are creating for the residents, visibility to/from the street; my questions were simply to clarify, as it was hard to decipher from the renderings; the courtyard/decks look wonderful
~
again, praise for turning the building around so tenants have view of the street and east view, instead of the alley and tall buildings to the west; much more appealing from public perspective, and for the residents
~
and praise for the 7foot high glass walls on decks, that will protect residents and allow for light and visibility to street and east views
~
overall, especially compared to most planned projects in West Seattle, this one is gorgeous
~
there was also praise from the public to the owner/developer for bringing a much-needed memory care facility to our neighborhood
~
after 7+ years of participating in design reviews, this was one of the rare super positive meetings; praise to this developer for listening to comments at first design meeting, and responding with wonderful changes enhancing this project and our neighborhood
~
and, it was Steve’s (the architect presenter) and my birthdays; yes, this is what I do for fun, even on my bd
~
also, this was my first opportunity to meet our new SW Design Review Board Developer Rep, Alexandra Moravec; she has outstanding wide ranging credentials, including expertise in affordable housing; she was also kind enough to fill me in on outcome of last design review that was scheduled same night as our first ever District 1 candidate forum; overall, excellent meeting last night