West Seattle development: Plans for old garage site on Fauntleroy Way; update on night work at The Whittaker

Two West Seattle development notes this afternoon:

(King County Assessor’s Office photo)

PLANS FOR OLD GARAGE SITE: A long-vacant, fenced-off old commercial garage-style building on Fauntleroy Way SW northeast of Morgan Junction now has a development plan. The 67-year-old building is on a 7,140-square-foot lot zoned Lowrise 2; the plan proposes a 6-unit rowhouse building (see the preliminary site plan here).

NIGHT WORK AT THE WHITTAKER: Over the past few nights, several people have asked us about nighttime work at 40th SW and SW Alaska. We’ve confirmed with The Whittaker‘s project team that they’re doing nighttime work that’ll continue over the next two weeks. It’s related to sidewalk and utility work along SW Alaska; it started in daytime hours but that caused too much of a traffic crunch, so the project team and the city came up with a night-work plan, allowing the outside eastbound lane to be closed 6 pm to 6 am. The so-called heavy work – the noisiest part of it – is only allowed through 10 pm; that includes tree removal, stump grinding, concrete demolition, and jackhammering. It’s expected to run through October 7th; later in construction, similar work will be done along SW Edmunds on the south side of the project. (If you’re new, The Whittaker is the largest project ever in West Seattle – approximately 400 apartments, 600 underground parking spaces, and retail including Whole Foods.)

unknown September 23, 2015 (4:55 pm)

Oh geez just what we need… some more multi family dwellings!

valvashon September 23, 2015 (4:57 pm)

Does anybody remember what this “service garage” used to do? Was it just somebody’s private shop or was it an actual business? What was the name or when was it open? I’ve lived here since 1998 and don’t remember it being anything other than fenced off and overgrown. There used to be a small car parked there for the longest time and more recently the Free Range Mercantile bus.

WSB September 23, 2015 (4:59 pm)

The faded paint above the service bays also seemed to read something like WASH AND DRY 10 CENTS so I’ve always figured it had to have had a car-wash or laundromat history!

Rick September 23, 2015 (5:16 pm)

Used to be a lot of Corvairs laying about 30 or so years ago.

Peter September 23, 2015 (5:18 pm)

Unknown, you are correct. More multi-family dwellings are what we need to meet the needs of our growing population and to stabilize housing costs. Thank you for your support! ;)-

Craig September 23, 2015 (5:55 pm)

It was a gas station many years ago. Then it became a laundromat. After the laundromat closed down it became a repair shop that specialized in corvair repair.

clark5080 September 23, 2015 (6:47 pm)

At one point probably late 50 or early 60 it was the shop of an unlimited hydroplane that was I think owners by a west seattle then a laundrymat

dsa September 23, 2015 (6:57 pm)

If it was a gas station, they will have to prove they tank was pulled and the ground decontaminated. I doubt that was done considering the history presented here. The decontamination cost might be too high for this type development.
.
I’m aware of a prime corner (they all are prime) on California Ave that the cost killed the deal.

seattletimebandit September 23, 2015 (8:40 pm)

@dsa
Actually it would be remediation, not decontamination. If an underground storage tank (UST) did exist and wasn’t removed then the initial subsurface investigation would be to have an environmental consultant and drilling company explore to depths that might extend to groundwater (GW). GW at the Shell station at Fauntleroy and Alaska was found to be at 20′ below grade surface. If a UST is found during the investigation, it would be removed, and the condition of the tank would be examined to see if any leaks may have occurred (i.e., crackes or holes). Then samples would be collected to see if petroleum hydrocarbons (i.e., gasoline, oil, etc.) are present in soil and/or groundwater. If analytical results are above Ecology cleanup levels then the soil would be excavated and confirmation samples would be collected to determine if all the impacted soil has been removed. If groundwater is present and heavily impacted (above cleanup levels) then a plan to remediate the groundwater would be implemented, which gets more expensive as it can take years to fully remediate, if heavily contaminated, requiring some sort of treamtent system that can be implemented as part of the rowhouse devleopment project. However, that kind of cleanup is well within the budget of most developers who desire to construct lucrative ventures. Some developer/investment companies actually look for those type of “distressed” properties as they can usually write-off the cleanup costs or get a discounted purchase price from the seller. But you are right that a UST may still exist since it appears that the property ceased to be an active service station decades before we realized they could leak. Long before tracking these types of sites existed. Flying under the radar, as it were.

Derek September 23, 2015 (9:26 pm)

The site isn’t listed on the Department of Ecology’s UST database, and that reaches back into the 1940’s.

Uglycousin September 24, 2015 (7:29 am)

That is too bad! I always wanted to turn it into a local micro brew – neighborhood place. The last thing we need is more housing.

JVP September 24, 2015 (8:12 am)

A little local microbrew would be really cool. But I’m with a commenter several posts above that we do need more housing to stabilize home prices and give people a place to live. Not enough homes in our city, that’s why prices are rents are rising so fast.

Wsgal September 24, 2015 (8:17 am)

I’d rather a multi-family row situation then a dead, empty lot with a creepy old building on it. At least the bus is gone. I live close and welcome this change.

Brian September 24, 2015 (8:39 am)

“The last thing we need is more housing.”
.
You seem to have confused the words “first” and “last”? That’s the only way this comment makes any sense else I feel you may be suffering an actual stroke.

Tony S September 24, 2015 (8:39 am)

Clark5080, nice job! This was the shop for the first Miss Bardahl hydroplane, built by West Seattleite Norm Christiansen in 1956. It was also said in the press at that time that he built the boat in his “West Seattle basement”. Although long before my time, my Dad remembers summer days when the shop door would be open and the crew would be working to get her ready for racing.

As long as I can remember, this building has been closed and more or less abandoned, and that goes back to the early 1970’s.

bfrost September 24, 2015 (8:55 am)

It looks like it will have on-site parking. More than you can say for most of the other irresponsible builders in West Seattle.

pjmanley September 24, 2015 (11:51 am)

Whatever is built, please, no more flat-roofed boxes or “dystopian cubes” as one local architect refers to them. Soviet-inspired architecture never stood the test of time. Please build something that fits and compliments the surrounding neighborhood instead of flipping the bird to it.

let them swim September 24, 2015 (3:58 pm)

I may be wrong but,I believe Pete Wyck owned that property and use to rebuild 6-71 and 12-71 diesel engines for maritime use. That was after WWII.

unknown September 24, 2015 (4:00 pm)

Brain…I mean Brian…geez you really think I’m having a stroke?

clark5080 September 25, 2015 (12:11 pm)

Tony S my dad took us in the shop several times to see the Bardahl. He actually did build it at the house had to enlarge the door to get it out.

let them swim September 25, 2015 (3:35 pm)

If its the green Miss Bardahl then the Hydroplane is being restored by the Hydroplane Museum in Kent. They have been working on her for several yrs. Just in case people like clark5080 might want to view it again, along with numerous other restored thunderboats.

bw September 25, 2015 (3:39 pm)

More multi family housing does not lead to lower housing costs. It just leads to higher density. More congestion, more traffic, more crime. Higher housing prices lead to higher skilled, higher educated people moving into the area. What’s the problem with that?