West Seattle development: New proposal for ex-Mastro property at 3257 Harbor Avenue SW

| Development | West Seattle news

(King County Assessor’s Office photo)
12:02 PM: A new West Seattle project just turned up on the city’s Design Review calendar – for 3257 Harbor Avenue SW (map), on a site previously owned by notorious real-estate-magnate-turned-fugitive Michael Mastro. Though the property once was proposed for a development to be called Aqua Bella – here’s the flyer we linked from this WSB story in 2009, at which time it was listed for $6.4 million, suggesting a development with 80 units, 3,600 square feet of retail, 107 parking spaces, its current ownership has designed something a bit smaller. After foreclosure, it was bought by CRE Harbor Avenue LLC for $1.2 million, and that’s who is advancing the new proposal – described on the city website as six stories, 44 residential units, 2 live-work units, and 44 parking spaces, on a 10,575-sf lot. This project’s debut before the Southwest Design Review Board is scheduled for 8 pm March 6th, right after the first review for 1606 California SW.

3:03 PM: As pointed out in comments, this appears to involve half the original site. Checking further into the DPD’s online files, it appears a similar-sized project with a separate land-use-application number is proposed for the other half of the site, at 3303 Harbor Avenue SW. We’re checking with the city to see whether or not that means this is really one 2-building project. (Update: It is.)

Gatewooder January 30, 2014 (1:16 pm)

Looks like the the proposed development is for just half the site, which is 22,880 in total, so it doesn’t seem to me that the ultimate project will be any smaller. The original design had a pedestrian stairway for the community above it that would have been paid for by the developer, has this taken out of the project? Breaking it into two pieces may be a way for the developer to avoid the public improvement, do you know?

WSB January 30, 2014 (1:35 pm)

Very interesting – the other half is 3303 Harbor and it’s not clear from the DPD docs whether it’s a duplicate or a twin or what. The only one on the Design Review schedule at the moment is 3257. Will check with them about what it looks like in their system – two addresses for one site, or proceeding with this and maybe with the other half later, or …

K January 31, 2014 (7:49 am)

On google maps, both of those addresses are apparently located as the Harbor/SW Spokane intersection? This is south of the actual location of the project. This is going to make getting in/out of Alki much worse than it already is. How do we go about finding out how the City plans to handle the additional traffic? I emailed about the project at the corner of SW Harbor/SW Spokane but never heard back.

Tyleredmo January 31, 2014 (10:22 pm)

This very well could be two projects. SW city view is between these two properties and would require vacating. SDOT does not like to vacate land, if you look at the huge retaining wall on the East Side of Harbor ave that passed city council approval to vacate over 18 years ago and still is not vacated. In fact they let the Port of Seattle build that wall with no permits. Bottom line my guess is two seperate projects.

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