FOLLOWUP: Demolition at 4448 California project site

9:21 AM: Thanks for the photo! Demolition is under way at 4448 California SW [map], a few doors north of California/Oregon in The Junction. We reported a week and a half ago that it was imminent after a fence went up around the building whose final tenants had included Rush Hour and West Seattle Coworking (both of which moved to new locations months ago). As we noted then, the plans show its nearly 90 units are planned to be half apartments, half “lodging” (hotel), with about 3,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, and no offstreet parking. It’s another collaboration between Housing Diversity Corporation, STS Construction Services (WSB sponsor), and Atelier Drome architects (WSB sponsor), also currently building a mixed-use project at 9201 Delridge Way SW. This one is expected to be complete in the second half of next year.

11:27 AM: Updated photo from a WSB team member:

ADDED: End of day:

A groundbreaking ceremony is planned next week.

Jake February 24, 2025 (10:37 am)

Woooo density!!! Love to see it. Also glad West Seattle Coworking space found another location easily.

West Seattle Coworking February 24, 2025 (4:02 pm)

Thank you Jake. we found a cute office in the 3700 block. We are going to miss our experience in the heart of the Junction but we love our new location as well,

L.D. February 24, 2025 (11:13 am)

Again, no parking.

North Admiral Neighbor February 24, 2025 (11:35 am)

There isn’t really a need for parking between the existing paid lots nearby, neighborhood street parking on the surrounding blocks, and lots of existing bus service within a block of the location along with light rail coming within the next ten years.
- Scott Collins February 25, 2025 (9:32 am)
  
  That’s just ridiculous. So people in apartments are a) going to pay to park in lots, or b) displace existing residents from areas they have previously parked and create challenges for residents and business customers. Great plan.
  - k February 25, 2025 (2:06 pm)
    
    Street parking is owned by the city. There’s no “displacing” anyone, it’s a public right-of-way.
- PDiddy February 26, 2025 (2:13 pm)
  
  A hotel needs parking and people drive. Simple as that. It should be required to have at least half as many spots as it has units. Dig out the ground and provide underground parking. Simple as that.
walkerws February 24, 2025 (12:22 pm)

Good. This is the free market working.
WS Urbanist February 24, 2025 (12:27 pm)

Look, I get the parking concerns, but let’s consider the bigger picture here. This building is right by the bus stop for the 128, 50, and 22, plus it’s close to the C-Line in the Junction. That’s solid, reliable transit access. Additionally, there are four different grocery stores you can walk or roll to from that location, three urgent cares, two veterinarians, three pharmacies, two gyms, three pizza places, the list goes on. The reality is, not everyone in Seattle wants or needs a car these days. Plenty of folks are choosing to go car-free because it’s cheaper, better for the environment, and healthier.Mandating parking would just drive up construction costs and rents. By skipping it, we’re potentially making housing more affordable. It’s not perfect, but it’s a trade-off that makes sense for a lot of people living in the Junction.
- Elton February 24, 2025 (12:46 pm)
  
  I get having limited parking, but no offsite parking seems unusual from a logistics perspective. What about moving in/out and the like?
  - k February 24, 2025 (2:51 pm)
    
    There will be a loading dock and alley access for deliveries. Buildings downtown and elsewhere in the city have been configured that way for 100 years. Honestly, a good freight elevator is better for moving than getting everything up in a dinky residential elevator anyway.
  - West Marge February 24, 2025 (3:23 pm)
    
    It’s called an alley, Elton
- Just wondering February 24, 2025 (1:29 pm)
  
  How “affordable” will these apartments cost?
  - jeff February 24, 2025 (3:09 pm)
    
    Slightly lower rent than if it had associated parking spot.
    - AJ February 24, 2025 (5:43 pm)
      
      I have apartments near me. They have parking for extra cost. Meaning, they should all provide parking. Renters who have vehicles and want covered parking simply pay an additional fee. That simple.
Gabe February 24, 2025 (2:58 pm)

No off street parking is not the same as no parking. The hotel will at least have some parking.

Derek February 24, 2025 (11:44 am)

All for the new density, but I will miss that mural on the side of Rush Hour was so cool.

WS Guy February 24, 2025 (12:49 pm)

Who stays at a hotel with no parking? When I’m spending $500/day on a trip, the last thing I want to do is burn hours on the local bus system.

Alki Parent February 24, 2025 (5:16 pm)

Maybe you aren’t the target customer?I rarely rent a car when traveling.
Derek February 24, 2025 (5:18 pm)

Their relatives pick them up. I have so many friends who stayed car-less at the Grove. What even is this comment?
Brian February 24, 2025 (5:58 pm)

People usually use taxis if the bus is too low class for their sensibilities. Uber will even send a luxury car direct to you if you need to spend stupid money. Go nuts!
- Joe February 25, 2025 (7:34 am)
  
  Please please let’s be civil no need to be calling names everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
  - Mike February 25, 2025 (9:05 am)
    
    You have to understand: snark and name calling are necessary steps in order for the names Trump or Biden to make their appearance in our discussion about local development :)
walkerws February 25, 2025 (9:35 am)

People like me who travel somewhere and don’t want to rent a car, especially when staying in an area with great transit and walkability.

TMail February 25, 2025 (7:18 am)

Unimpressed with Atelier Dome’s designs. Glorified storage facilities. Zero creativity. Press the pause button on this firm and open the design choices to other firms. There have to be better choices.“We depend on our surroundings obliquely to embody the moods and ideas we respect and then to remind us of them. We look to our buildings to hold us, like a kind of psychological mould, to a helpful vision of ourselves. We arrange around us material forms which communicate to us what we need — but are at constant risk of forgetting what we need — within.“ Alain de Botton

Artsy February 25, 2025 (10:50 am)

Another quote from reviewer, Mark Lamster in I.D. Magazine wrote,

“[De Botton] has produced a meandering, pompous disquisition that betrays an autodidact’s haphazard sense of the field, but with little of the original thinking that might be expected from an outsider. … The Architecture of Happiness would be an innocuous castoff if not for its proselytizing ambitions (it has so far spawned a PBS miniseries) and a set of rather insidious ideas camouflaged in its twee prose.”

But more specifically what would you like to see?
Any examples?
What kind of creativity do you expect from developments designed to compactly house people at an “affordable” price.