Gatewood townhouse tussle gets a citywide spotlight

Less than a week after we told you about the deal that ended the fight over the clump of townhomes going up (one nearly complete building, shown below) at the SW foot of Gatewood Hill, the situation gets ink in this week’s Stranger (one correction, the church wasn’t demolished; the property had belonged to Gatewood Baptist Church across the street and was sold along with it, but the developers re-sold the church to Seattle International; also the arrival of equipment wasn’t the first word of the development — we posted here 3 months earlier when the permit applications were filed). P.S.: You can expect work to start any second now on the final disputed row of townhomes (permit just issued); the selling agents have just planted a big sign plugging the “Seattle Townhome Team“; and developer Dan Duffus is on the panel for a city-organized “Forum on Housing Affordability” this Friday.

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8 Replies to "Gatewood townhouse tussle gets a citywide spotlight"

  • Watching closely July 19, 2007 (9:25 am)

    Although townhomes are certainly a good option for many (1st time buyers, those looking to downsize, etc.) I am starting to get a little concerned about the numbers. There are currently 96 townhomes for sale in West Seattle. 120+ have sold in the last 6 months. Townhomes don’t have great track records for upkeep since they are not “managed” by a home owners association. I hope that in 5-10 years we don’t have several large eyesores dotting the area.

  • Bubba July 19, 2007 (4:47 pm)

    townhomes are ugly enough without being photographed on tilt…just say’n.

    A little post production rotation is all I ask. ;)

  • Josh July 19, 2007 (9:29 pm)

    developer dufus?

  • Jan July 19, 2007 (11:17 pm)

    lol..josh…I’ve noticed his name on occasion…wondered if it was one of those names that describes the person ;-)

  • Chet July 20, 2007 (8:03 am)

    Watching closely – just wanted you to know you are not alone in your concerns.

  • flipjack July 20, 2007 (9:24 am)

    Yeah, what will they look like in
    5 to 10 years? Hopefully not anything like the low income housing they built just next door to Home Depot. They built those two years ago and already the siding is warping and the paint has peeled. Ya gotta wonder what cheap fixtures and flooring and paint they used inside. To me this is criminal. I feel bad for the folks that have to deal with that.
    Yes people, there are consequences to letting developers run amuck through our neighborhoods with no accountability.
    3000 CHEERS to Vlad Oustimovitch for doing something about this in his hood!

  • s July 20, 2007 (11:20 am)

    I agree on the housing near Home Depot. It looks so ghetto. Hey, let’s build twenty or thirty of these cheap-looking homes, all in a row! Too bad something better wasn’t built…it would’ve been a good opportunity to elevate Delridge’s “ghetto” feel.

  • justin July 20, 2007 (1:00 pm)

    Let me speculate. Dan Duffus: “The key to housing affordability is for me to be able to develop my schlock with no concern for the communities in which I build… that will allow me to afford that $2.4 million villa on Maui.”

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