19 Replies to "WEST SEATTLE STAIRWAYS: Bonair closure, Brandon construction, California Drive update"

• waikikigirl August 28, 2023 (8:21 pm)

  Sooooo am I reading this right, the Brandon St project the developer had to build (pay) for the stairs but the City will become the owners of them after the project is finished? Developer will get reimbursed correct?And those bike runnels are cool and also a great workout stairway, I can feel the pain already!

  • WSB August 28, 2023 (8:24 pm)

    No, the developer will not be reimbursed. They had to fund and build the stairway.

• Admiral-2009 August 28, 2023 (10:30 pm)

  I’m curious to know how much it cost the developer to install the stairs versus what it costs the City (SDoT) for the same work?  I would wager the developer cost is significantly less.  The runnels are a nice addition!

  • West seattle resident August 29, 2023 (7:33 am)

    Excellent question! I’d like to know as well. I am still not over the $500k bathroom restoration on Alki (or was it $600k?). 

• SE August 29, 2023 (6:45 am)

  I have been wondering for months what the gigantic clearcut swath up the hill at Brandon was about, and it still doesn’t make sense to me. Why did they need to remove all of the vegetation in such a wide area? I can only imagine what the fall rains are going to do. And the stairs are the widest sidewalk stairs I’ve ever seen! I like the idea of the runnels, but this whole project is simply confounding. All around West Seattle I see agency-backed projects — from the sidewalk project in Admiral to the pole replacement in Fairmount Park and this — that are removing the green and adding impervious surface. 

  • Jay August 29, 2023 (2:03 pm)

    The blocks in Puget Ridge are extremely long. If not for the stairway projects cutting through them we’d have to drive everywhere. In addition to this, I’d love to see another stairwell connecting 17th and 16th so there’s one straight shot for pedestrians walking between the College / West Duwamish Greenbelt and Delridge.

  • MeanGreen August 30, 2023 (10:07 am)

    maybe we should look to reducing the number of the impervious surfaces serving cars instead of shaming pedestrian focused projects? those are your true enemy of green!

  • Resident August 30, 2023 (2:19 pm)

    The original clearing of the Brandon Street Right-of-way was done decades ago when City Light ran underground power to the new (at the time) substation at 26th & Juneau. This is a second source of power to the substation (equivalent to the overhead wires running along Delridge). Over the years, the right-of-way naturally re-established itself with mostly invasive Himalayan blackberry bushes. Right after the lines were buried, the Jeep dealership near Delridge Playfield used to demo all wheel drive vehicles up and down that hill, until it got badly rutted and the city finally put wooden barricades across the top and bottom of the hill. As kids, we slid down on inner tubes in the snow!

• Resident August 29, 2023 (7:03 am)

  Price I was told by contractor is $200,000. There were other requirements before permitting was issued, but mostly drainage improvements in the 5200 block of 23rd Ave SW where the new houses are being built. Access to residents had to be provided during times when the narrow one lane dead end road was blocked by construction/utility work in the street. Contractor arranged detour through a private driveway for this.

• DC August 29, 2023 (8:48 am)

  Excited to have a new stairway connection there – and with bike runnels! It is disappointing that the developer won’t be reimbursed for this public good. When the city makes developers do their utility and public infrastructure work it increases the cost of housing and makes affordable housing projects untenable. 

• proudpugetridger August 29, 2023 (1:57 pm)

  I absolutely LOVE, and am thankful for, these stairs.  There needs to be some clarification about
  costs though…the developer is required to put these stairs in, in exchange for their
  approved plans to be “passed” by SDCI in order to begin construction.  In fairness, the stairs have NOTHING to do
  with the project itself.  This type of
  city extorsion is often applauded by those of us that benefit from the results.  However, the victim in this case, and most
  others in SDCI trade-offs, is the actually the new home purchaser that has to
  pay significantly more than the already-too-high cost of housing.  SDCI’s role needs to be construction QAQC, and construction regulation compliance assurance/enforcement.  Civic improvements needs to be managed by City Leadership, with all costs distributed fairly among the citizens of our beautiful city.

  • Steve August 29, 2023 (7:22 pm)

    I believe the developer gets huge tax benefits from this. Trust me, if it wasn’t to their advantage, they would not be doing it.

    • I live here. August 29, 2023 (11:35 pm)

      Excellent point. 

    • proudpugetridger August 30, 2023 (1:12 pm)

      Steve-  good point regarding the ‘advantage’ gained by the developer.  To be clear, they assumedly recover all costs associated with the stairs’ design and construction, plus (likely) a reasonable fee-based profit on their investment.  From a money perspective, it’s a “win” for the developer,  but a “loss” for the ultimate property owner.  Also, speaking to your point of “…would not be doing it”, you are mistaken if you think they have any option of declining an SDCI requirement associated with the approval of their permit application.

• Resident August 29, 2023 (3:10 pm)

  Not to mention (but I guess I am), City Light recently replaced poles along that route up the hill, and just left the old ones on the ground in the bushes. The contractor had to remove them and dispose of them to build the stairway.

• StairsAreCheap August 30, 2023 (12:16 pm)

  i’m confused by the astonishment that a developer had to carry out a public improvement project as a condition of permitting. y’all realize that buildings aren’t islands, and that their existence will have an impact on the surroundings? if you’re building densified housing in an area that currently lacks walking amenities, it is more than fair to require a stairway or sidewalk as a condition. the cost for these things are marginal on both the developer and the eventual purchaser/renter as 1) it’s a incredibly small fraction of the overall building cost, 2) most of the fixed costs are already accounted for with the original project (material supplies set up, labor, etc.), and 3) increase in tax value as now there’s 1 less improvement needed to be done so others can be worked on. you should leave managing what’s fair to the city planners and not what feels right in based on what makes the most capitalistic sense.

  • proudpugetridger August 30, 2023 (1:36 pm)

    You may be slightly missing the point.  The Developer is not donating anything at all.  The fact is the stairs’ construction are enhancing The Developer’s profits.  While The Developer is  forced to improve a public area not related to the actual project, the costs incurred for the improvements (stairs, in this case) are ultimately passed directly to the homeowner upon sale of the new homes.  Also significant, those home buyer’s costs will include additional OH&P (fee) for The Developer’s profit.  In fairness, it seem like public improvements should come from the General Fund, the replenishment of which should be distributed evenly every citizen of our city.  If we (rightfully) complain about the cost of housing in our fair city, then we should take every reasonable measure to reduce housing costs.  Perhaps requiring homeowners to bear the cost of construction associated with brand new $200K (+/-) stairs, just 2 blocks from existing (parallel) stairs, may be a bit of a wasteful.  With all that said, I admit I love the new stairs :-).

    • StairsAreCheap August 30, 2023 (6:04 pm)

      i don’t understand why folks like yourself as so strong an wrong. 1st, the whole “why build a stair case when there’s one 2 blocks away” did you look at the surrounding infrastructure? for certain routes, you can be cutting off up to a mile round trip, and unlike the existing sidewalk it connects 2 places of commerce rather than between residential streets. also, this stair case has been in the talks for more than 5 years if you did a bit of research instead of taking the soap boxing opportunity. the surrounding community sees major benefits, but maybe they’re just greedy! 2nd, you seem to think that building and purchasing housing is just the housing part. you think that having better pedestrian access around your new 7 unit development impacts buyer interest? amenities aren’t to the total determent of the developer, and they benefit from it as well. a 1-to-1 cost the develop had on the stairs isn’t going to be passed to the buyer, and even so if it’s really 200k (and from info online that seems to be the total figure w/ outside funding) between 7 units that if they are selling for the extraordinarily cheap price of 600k, the stairs would represent an additional 4%. we aren’t talking about a make-or-break for people’s purchasing, and 4% would be high. there are plenty of other factors as to why housing is squeezing people’s budget’s, and development agreements aren’t it.

      • proudpugetridger August 31, 2023 (5:29 pm)

        Wow, this sure went sideways!   Okay…1) the absolute furthest additional distance anyone may have needed to walk if these nifty new steps had not been built is 4 blocks, as there’s a set of existing stairs just 2 blocks south of Brandon street.  The “up to a mile” portion of your reply is just silly.  2) I AM in the surrounding neighborhood.  As I’ve stated, I love the new stairs.  I fully recognize the advantage and benefit to our neighborhood.  3) The whole point, that you somehow can’t fathom, is that requiring The Developer to design/construct these stairs ultimately increases The Developer’s profits, AND increases the cost of housing for the buyer.   If the cost of those stairs were at least partially offset by the businesses or neighborhoods (for example) that will benefit from the new stairs, it would be more fair to the folks that struggle so much to afford a home.  This type of project is exactly what the general fund is supposed to support.  I’ll try one more (hypothetical) example that I bet will make you at least think about fairness in taxation…SDCI requiring The Developer to provide these stairs as quid pro quo for a permit approval is not unlike SDCI requiring YOU to pay for fencing, on public property, around a MAGA Radical Group gathering hall near your home, before they will allow you remodel your kitchen.  Nobody would disagree that fencing the MAGA facility would increase safety and improve the surrounding neighborhood, but is it something YOU should be solely responsible for all costs associated with the fencing process??    *I picked an absurd example just to trigger your thought process.  **I wish you peace.

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