More of these on the way to The Junction

| Development | West Seattle news

WSB contributing photojournalist Matt Durham sent that photo — showing spectators looking up at the crane that’s on the 41st/42nd/Alaska megaproject — just before we turned up details of the new proposal kitty-corner to this site. As promised atop the original post below, we’re ending the night summarizing what we’ve learned (pending attempts on Friday to find out more from project participants):

*An “early design guidance” Southwest Design Review Board meeting is set for April 10 for two projects proposed to span roughly half the Alaska-to-Edmunds block in The Junction, from California to 42nd

*The west-side project, with the parcel stretching from 4700 California (Super Supplements) southward to 4710 California (Rubato), is described as 12,000 square feet of ground-level retail with 5 floors of apartments and 2 underground levels of parking

*The east-side project, stretching from the current Rocksport/Neighborhood Services Center frontage south to the site where Harbor Properties is building Mural, is described as 21,500 sf of ground-level retail with 6 floors of apartments and 2 underground levels of parking

*Both filings list Weber Thompson (architects) and Conner Homes (builders)

*The Design Review Board meeting on April 10 will be at 6:30 pm, location not yet listed online (meetings are usually at Denny Middle School or the Southwest Precinct)

*City records show previous proposals here in 2002

*The current owner bought the 1925-built west-side site for $1.4 million in 2000, the 1922-built east-side site for $2.1 million that same year

*Side note: Nothing in The Junction business core is on the list of official city landmarks, though the city Department of Neighborhoods has signaled some interest in certain sites like the Campbell Building (Cupcake Royale/Swee Swee, etc.), the Hamm Building (Easy Street et al), and the the former Kress building (Matador/JaK’s) – you can search the DON survey archives for any property (WS or not) here

CMP March 7, 2008 (8:35 am)

There goes our free parking.

westseattleite March 7, 2008 (9:51 am)

Wow, I didn’t realize so much development was happening on the California side. I feel like our hometown feel is going to be completely wiped out.

JenV March 7, 2008 (9:59 am)

This is so depressing. The junction is going to lose all it’s “junction-ness”. :(
If they tear down the Maha, I will chain myself to the bar!

lala March 7, 2008 (10:54 am)

Can you even imagine what traffic’s going to be like during construction and after?

And yeah, no more free parking, kiss the walk all ways goodbye, and welcome more useless retail space.

Seriously, name the last cool place to go in under all the new townhome/apt/condos. Let’s see, an Edward Jones went in under the hideous condo next to True Value… Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll get another nail salon!

OP March 7, 2008 (1:30 pm)

First, everyone complains about “urban sprawl”. Then when ordinances are passed to limit it and encourage more communal/dense/townhouse city living to reduce things like commute times and vehicle emissions, everyone (again and predictably) complains. It’s really a simple case of NIMBY.

The Junctions aren’t losing their “Junction-ness” (nice word, BTW!), they’re just, well, growing up and becoming more reflective of the types of people moving to W.S. And I see that as a good thing.

Johnny Davies March 7, 2008 (1:34 pm)

I guess I’m wrong, but I thought the Cali/Alaska Junction had some sort of a “Mayberry” standard. Do these buildings comply with this?

GenHillOne March 7, 2008 (1:38 pm)

What free parking are you all talking about? The lot behind Rocksport that doesn’t have alley access? Best I can figure, that only benefits Rocksport. While other points are worth debate, I actually was hoping that the two floors of underground parking for each building would include spaces for the businesses. Something the existing street-level stores don’t have…

CMP March 7, 2008 (2:21 pm)

Um, free street parking and lots are over the Junction. Seattle neighborhoods are losing their uniqueness and charm to all of this development and I think it’s really starting to disappoint those who live in Seattle primarily for that reason. If I wanted to be surrounded by a bunch of lame looking mixed-use buildings, I’d move to downtown Bellevue.

WSB March 7, 2008 (3:20 pm)

FYI all, just talked with a rep from Conner Homes (who called us after I sent e-mail) to get some more info that wasn’t in the city online filings. Look for an update atop the page as fast as I can crank it out.

GenHillOne March 7, 2008 (3:31 pm)

Agreed, CMP, just not related to the corner we’re discussing. I didn’t think the loss of the “Petco” lot would make such a difference… wasn’t that big, but tried to go to dinner on that block recently? With people trying to get to the retailers, Mashiko, Elliot Bay, PV, etc. (oh, and I see a lot of yoga mats in hand), even before 6:00 PM, cars are CIRCLING like Southcenter at the holidays. I was just thinking that another option on the east side of the street might be helpful – certainly won’t be any easier during construction though; street parking will probably be tied up then as well. I may be in the minority here, but don’t even mind paying a couple of bucks, but a machine that takes cards would be really helpful. I often don’t have change and forget that strip that expects you to not only have change, but write your stall number on a little envelope because it only has one slot(?). Give me a break!

swimcat March 7, 2008 (4:12 pm)

I’m not complaining about urban sprawl; if foolios want to live out in the boonies and pay for all that gas to drive into the city for work, let ’em do it. We’ve gone round and round on this topic before in comments; I for one am sick of every neighborhood in this city morphing into the same thing. There soon won’t be any reason to leave WS, as you can get eat at the same restaurants, shop at the same shops, pay the same parking fees, and see the same generic buildings in Capital Hill, Ballard, or Bellevue. The Seattle area is becoming a homogenous blob. The joys of urban density.

cliffmark March 10, 2008 (3:27 pm)

I don’t want to start a range war or anything, but, please, let’s all understand that there is NO such thing as free parking in the Junction. Someone, somewhere, somehow is paying to keep those spaces ‘free’ of charge to the parties parking there. So whether it’s the extra rent that Bartell’s and Safeway pay to cover the costs of ‘merchant parking’ at Jefferson Square, or the Business Improvement Area quarterly assessment that we at Next to Nature and ALL OTHER JUNCTION MERCHANTS pony up to pay for the ‘free’ lots AND to keep meters off of the on-street parking spots, there is no ‘free’ lunch. The West Seattle Junction Association, so far, has been able to obviate ay plans by the city to install parking meters and/or pay stalls in the lots, but the best way of keeping the ‘free’ parking is to support the merchants who are paying for it (yes, my elbow is broken from patting myself on the back and, yes, I do know we all do it for our own self-interest). And, by the way, the same thing goes for keeping the Junction a vibrant and UNIQUE commercial district: you all get to vote which way you want things to be with your dollars. If you support the local entities (and work with them to make sure they are meeting your needs) there will be less (sadly, not no) opportunity that we will end up with the urban equivalent of a strip-mall where once diversity reigned. A good map of the merchant provided parking and the WSJA parking (with the big white P in the blue boxes) can be found at: Junction Parking