By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
What for years was “The Hole” is now, for some, “home.”
Last night, the developer of Spruce (3922 SW Alaska), Tom Lee from Madison Development Group, was among the guests at the Junction Neighborhood Organization‘s monthly meeting. He wasn’t officially on the agenda and didn’t have a presentation, but did answer some questions and offer a few updates:
*With one tower open and another expecting its “certificate of occupancy” soon, 30 apartments already are leased. (Which might explain the moving trucks we spotted while photographing the site this morning, above. Unless they are for …)
*LA Fitness, the project’s sole commercial tenant, is expected to “soft open” this Friday, Lee said he’d been told, provided it passes its last few inspections, including one that will allow the club to fill its pool.
*JuNO’s suggestion of a dedication for Lezlie Jane‘s plaza artwork out front (featured here Sunday) might be possible when “all the improvements at the corner” are done in a month or so.
Lee told JuNO he was there mostly to say thanks: “Thank you to everybody for being patient with us – it’s been a long project, a sore thumb in West Seattle for a long time, but it’s very close to being finished now and we’re excited that it’s almost done.” (His company bought the site/project for $32 million in October 2011, three years after the project stalled under previous ownership and its previous name Fauntleroy Place.)
Also at JuNO – a discussion about City Light property:
(Disclosure – we missed the first few minutes of this agenda item, delayed in getting back to West Seattle after covering the five-hour Port Commission meeting.)
City Light and Parks reps were there for a discussion not so much about the surplus substations – whose fate has yet to be decided – as about a property not on that list, the Avalon/35th ex-substation site. As we first reported in February, the former Beni Hoshi Teriyaki building is slated to become a Pecos Pit Barbecue restaurant; City Light owns the land as part of the former substation next door.
JuNO director René Commons, who lives in the neighborhood, wondered about the overall site’s future. For now, SCL said, the “bunker” building on the ex-substation part of the site is being used for storage, of which City Light needs plenty – transformers, poles, etc. This site, also, is NOT on the official “surplus” list, so it’s not slated for any kind of public process any time soon. SCL said that until a new tenant was found, they were being deluged with complaints about the site, from graffiti vandalism to drug dealing, so they were thrilled that someone wanted it, “somebody who’s willing to take care of the site and take pride in the site and provide a service to the neighborhood.” (As for how soon it will be developed into the new restaurant, that’s out of SCL’s hands; we’ve checked the file and no permit applications are in yet.)
Overall, Parks addressed the questions about why newly available city sites such as the official “surplus substations” can’t just be converted to parks. State law requires a formal disposition process, and even if they are transferred to another city department, they must be “bought.” In addition, departments such as Parks must consider how they would handle maintenance, which already is a challenge for existing parks.
More likely, some sites might become open space in a partnership with the community, when money can be raised to handle the cost; a site in Delridge is involved in this kind of process, for example, and has a relatively low valuation, $80,000, so there are efforts under way to get grants to cover the cost.
One question that was addressed: Why wouldn’t greenery on ex-substation sites be valuable as carbon offsets? Given the land’s value, it wouldn’t be cost-efficient, was the answer.
ALSO DISCUSSED: Another Junction-area Emergency Communication Hub, at Hope Lutheran Church, 42nd/Oregon, one that needs involvement, particularly from local apartment residents … In the ongoing community-council tours of local City Council candidates, District 1 hopeful Lisa Herbold spoke to JuNO. (This is the official filing week for candidates – by week’s end, we’ll know the official lineup for the August primary ballot.) … City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen‘s legislative assistant Evan Clifthorne made sure JuNO members had heard that the Fauntleroy Boulevard project had made it into the revised Transportation Levy (as reported here a week ago) – if all goes according to the current plan, though, he cautioned, it still isn’t slated for construction until 2017. … JuNO’s settled on second Tuesdays as a regular meeting night for now, 6:30 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle.
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