DEVELOPMENT: Next Design Review date finalized for 35th/Holden/Ida project

(Rendering by LDG Architects)

We reported last month that the city had tentatively chosen December 7th as the next Southwest Design Review Board meeting date for the mixed-use project planned at 7617 35th Avenue SW, bordered by SW Holden and SW Ida. Today the Department of Construction and Inspections> sent the official notice finalizing a 5 pm online meeting for that date. The project is proposed for 6 stories, ~134 apartments, and ~50 offstreet-parking spaces. The design packet for the meeting – which will include three “massing” (size and shape) options – isn’t in the city system yet, but you can get an idea of what they’re working on via this draft version from July. It’s the second try for “early design guidance,” as the board rejected what was proposed the first time, in February. The December 7th meeting will include time for public comment.

K November 16, 2023 (5:27 pm)

Please, build this already. Major improvement to the existing lots.

Jeph November 16, 2023 (6:33 pm)

Why only 50 off-street parking spaces for 134 units?
Have we learned nothing from Capitol Hill’s parking catastrophe?
Far more than only 50 vehicle-owning people will want to live in those stunningly unique and architecturally daring buildings.

Raye November 16, 2023 (6:48 pm)

I love your description of the building’s design. I think the “architect” is Frank Lloyd Wrong!
Greg November 16, 2023 (8:44 pm)

All those people can park on the street in the surrounding neighborhood.
K November 16, 2023 (9:07 pm)

There’s always parking available on Capitol Hill. Lots, garages, street–you name it. There’s probably too much!

Thomas November 16, 2023 (7:25 pm)

Design brief “make it fugly”

K November 16, 2023 (7:32 pm)

That is s stupid amount of parking for that building. The 21 is right there, you can walk in either direction to the 128 or C line. Why does every building feel the need to take up so much space with parking?

Steve November 17, 2023 (2:17 am)

Obviously you know nothing. The 128 is like half a mile away and the C line much much further. And glad you want to fill the neighborhood around that ugly eyesore with their cars
- David November 17, 2023 (5:16 am)
  
  Agree 100% Steve. Many of these folks commenting live in a fantasy world far different from reality. Outside of commuting to/from work, transit isn’t a viable or practical option for most as well as not all that clean or safe.It’s bad enough folks living in homes near this proposed project are paying sky high property taxes or rents now have to fight for street parking outside their homes with these new apartment residents due to too few off street parking spots being made available for the large number of apartments proposed.
- K November 17, 2023 (7:00 am)
  
  People living in the building are going to support the nearby coffee shop and other small businesses. Cars do not spend money at coffee shops. Why are people so adverse to small businesses succeeding that they’d rather have a building full of non-paycheck-wielding car storage than actual human beings who will spend their money locally? It boggles the mind.
- Jeff November 17, 2023 (8:14 am)
  
  Neighbors around there do not own the street. All street space is publicly available to be used.
Spooled November 17, 2023 (7:36 am)

There is a bus two blocks from my house. The service level qualifies as “frequent”. I gave Metro a chance once in the 10+ years I’ve lived in this house. It was an unpleasant and inefficient use of my time. I continue to drive to my destinations and if they have no parking I shop/recreate elsewhere. Just having a bus nearby means almost nothing to a lot of travelers.

PSPS November 16, 2023 (8:36 pm)

I always chuckle when I see these fantasy renderings of streets devoid of cars.

1994 November 16, 2023 (9:12 pm)

Yah – 35th is usually bumper to bumper……maybe the sketch is an early morning scene?

BDR November 16, 2023 (9:11 pm)

I feel very sorry for the people who live west of the proposed building on Ida St. This sits way to close to their property line and they won’t have any privacy. Such a big negative impact for them. The lack of parking is awful. Take the bus, sure and hope you don’t get shot while you are on the bus or mugged as you get off the bus. It’s going to be at least 11 years before light rail might make it to West Seattle. In the meantime, the lack of secure parking will add so many more cars for the car thieves to pilfer through on the neighborhood streets. Can’t hardly wait for it.

Jeff November 17, 2023 (8:59 am)

The few do not overrule the many (the many who benefit from being able to have an affordable place to live). This is the kind of NIMBYism we must move past. People in SFH having the privilege of a “view” etc. We must upzone at all costs. I am tired of the lack of density in a 800k pop. city.
- Oh Seattle November 18, 2023 (7:59 am)
  
  What makes you think these units are going to be affordable? And what makes you think that density will lower housing prices? From 2010 to 2020, the number of households in Seattle grew by 62,117 and the number of new housing units added grew by approximately 60,000. That’s data from City of Seattle. What has happened to housing prices with all of those units added? Has it become more affordable? Or do we have a bunch of new apartments, condos and townhouses that have skyrocketed in price? How many more units of housing are needed before we start to see the affordability you mention?
DC November 17, 2023 (9:40 am)

FYI, there have been far more instances of road-rage and negligent driving killings/injuries in cars than busses. There have also been more car-jackings than muggings on busses. I know it can be uncomfortable mixing with the riff-raft of people less well off than you, but no matter how you look at it, busses are safer than cars.

Derek November 16, 2023 (9:35 pm)

To the people complaining about parking: in the advanced transit lightrail era, cars are becoming less and less needed

Jeepney November 17, 2023 (7:10 am)

In a perfect world yes, but I don’t see that happening in Seattle for a long time.
Steve November 17, 2023 (8:40 am)

Derek, I don’t often agree with you but you are absolutely correct. Our personal car usage has shrunk dramatically in the last couple of years.

Peter November 17, 2023 (12:55 am)

This “design review” nonsense has to stop. Let architects design buildings instead of forcing everything to look the same. What Seattle does is not “design review,” it is design dictatorship, and it delays housing construction, increases housing costs, and forces all building to look exactly the same. “Design review” must be abolished entirely and permanently.

anonyme November 17, 2023 (5:11 am)

That is one seriously ugly building. It looks like an old public housing unit waiting to be torn down, not something waiting to be built.

WSB November 17, 2023 (11:17 am)

This is still the “early design guidance” phase, so this is largely for “massing,” not necessarily – especially depending on board feedback – the final expected look.

Concerned Neighbor November 17, 2023 (10:00 am)

So glad we sold our property on Ida when we did. While it accommodated this monstrosity, it also meant that our little rental home wouldn’t be surrounded by it cutting off all parking, daylight, peace, etc.. This monstrosity has gone from being 4 stories with a rooftop space for parties, etc, to 6 stories and very little parking accommodations. I am sorry for the neighboring single-family homes.

April November 17, 2023 (10:14 am)

Wow! Just shoving people into West Seattle! Stop!!! Especially with no parking! We are overcrowded as is!

Jeff November 17, 2023 (3:33 pm)

Those buildings need more off-street parking spaces.People will drive and park two blocks away if forced to, but: do you people really want a woman with children walking at night from her car parked far away from safety? Do you people want to increase crime statistics for vehicles parked on streets (a growing trend, by the way)?Throw all kinds of anti-car sentiments around so you can feel daggonned good in your self-righteous indignation, but for this building, there should be one car space per apartment unit, with 10 to 15 more for guest/tradespeople parking. There’s no reason to congest residential street parking for everyone else in the neighborhood.

flauntyleroy November 19, 2023 (8:33 pm)

wow, thanks so much Jeff for speaking for women 🙄 cause parking is the solution not tackling actual patriarchy. should’ve thought that myself

McKenna Weintraub November 17, 2023 (4:24 pm)

I agree with that.I lived on Capitol Hill for three years, and was never closer to my apartment building than a block away. Three times it was vandalized. Parking there, as well as in many parts of this city, is a sad joke. Say what we will about the Great Evil That Is Personal Automobile Transportation, but every single person reading today’s edition of WSB.com will be looooong dead before mass transit is the majority-preferred method of transportation here. It’s a good goal, but living in Reality for Here and Now is the priority.

K November 17, 2023 (9:23 pm)

There are plenty of buildings with off-street parking. Going for the cheaper rent in the building without parking and then complaining about it is pretty rich. It’s not the taxpayers’ job to subsidize your parking on the street. There are two parking spaces for every man, woman, and child in the city of Seattle. We don’t need space for cars, we need housing.

Sharon November 18, 2023 (9:19 am)

So interesting to hear all the arguments for and against cars. I own a car but park it in my garage and ride the bus most days. I don’t have any issue with busses they are generally much more pleasant than being stuck in traffic. I’m glad not to be contributing to global warming as well – density is important. Everyone needs to budge over and do their part. Jane Jacobs famously observed that greater urban density make streets safer not less safe.

Sorry, comment time is over.