West Seattle, Washington
20 Saturday
The biggest news at last night’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting came from guests: Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association reps told the council they may have to sell the three DNDA-owned units in Brandon Court because they won’t be able to make the next mortgage payment. (They’re already listed.) One of those units is empty – DNDA itself vacated last year, consolidating its offices in Youngstown Cultural Arts Center a mile away – and the other one is about to be vacated by the City of Seattle, moving its Neighborhood Service Center to the former Southwest Community Center (as finalized in last month’s budget vote). DNDA’s Patty Grossman and board chair Willard Brown told NDNC – meeting in the Delridge Library, near the units under discussion – that they were hoping to convince the city to change its mind, and that they believed they were getting at least a few months reprieve.
However, our followup conversation with the city today indicates otherwise. More on this, and other topics from the NDNC meeting, ahead:Read More
That rusty industrial building at 28th and Yancy often pronounced an “eyesore” is about to come down, we’ve learned, after noticing a demolition permit was granted Monday for the building, and silo, just south of Allstar Fitness. A few years back, it was supposed to come down as part of a development project that was shelved; there’s no active development plan now, so we went over to find out more in person. A worker at the site told us the building and silo will be razed – probably within days – for a “parking lot.” (Whose parking lot, we’re still checking – certainly parking can be a crunch in the area, with Allstar, Nucor, and Longfellow Creek in the area.) A crew is doing prep work at the site right now.
While in the area, we followed up on a story from earlier today:
The big construction crane is indeed going up right now at the 193-unit Youngstown Flats project. 26th SW will be blocked between SW Yancy and Dakota till the work is done at some point this afternoon. We talked with developer Maria Barrientos at the site; she said it’s scheduled to be done by day’s end (only one piece remained when we left around noon, in fact). The crane is expected to be on site for four months.
We’ve received some love-ly photos so far this Valentine’s Day, to share with you. First two are from Betsy Hoffmeister in Delridge, who writes of the photographed “yarnbombing,” “Some lovely neighbors did a good deed to cheer up a person very close to me who wishes to remain anonymous.”
That second photo – a little yarn creation springing up in the garden like a fungus – is the perfect segue to the photo Machel Spence shares:
Machel writes, “Slugs have been munching on the stipe and have managed to leave the shape of a heart…my kind of Valentine’s Day!” (The photo was taken in Machel’s favorite image-hunting grounds – Lincoln Park.)
The biggest construction project under way in West Seattle right now is scheduled to move to a new phase this week with the arrival of its crane, possibly as soon as today. We talked recently with Maria Barrientos and Steffenie Evans from the Youngstown Flats project at 26th/Dakota for some quick updates, including the crane status. The 193-apartment project’s general contractor, Absher Construction, created animation showing the order in which sections of the building are going up (the crane’s arrival is noted at 26 seconds in):
As discussed previously, art plays a big role in the project. The biggest pieces are about to be commissioned – sizable sculptures to be displayed in a prominent spot yet to be finalized. The project team also is still awaiting its date with the Seattle Design Commission to review its plan for improvements on the undeveloped street end immediately west of the site. Youngstown Flats is in its fourth month of construction and due for completion in spring of next year.
2:24 PM: Big police search under way right now for armed robbers: Southwest Precinct Lt. Pierre Davis confirms a “jewelry/pawn shop” in the 9400 block of 16th SW (map) was held up by four robbers wearing masks. He says officers are currently “conducting a search for evidence and suspects.” We also heard some potential description information on the scanner – a Crown Victoria car that “looks like an old green-over-red taxi” might be associated with the robbers. As always, call 911 if you think you see or hear something related.
2:37 PM UPDATE: There’s a sizable police presence off Roxbury that we are told is related to the search for the robbers and ‘evidence.’ And this is indeed why there was at least one TV helicopter over the area.
3:21 PM UPDATE: Police are still searching – right now we’re seeing some in Roxhill Park. We stopped by nearby Roxhill Elementary, too, after hearing it mentioned as part of scanner discussion; the staff told us the school “sheltered in place” for a short time.
4:15 PM UPDATE: Per scanner traffic, three vehicles, including a Crown Victoria, were being searched in connection with this investigation. But Lt. Davis says nobody’s been arrested yet.
8:33 PM UPDATE: From SPD Blotter, more details and descriptions:Read More
There’s one more week to go for public comment on the land-use-permit application for the DESC Delridge project (details here). And we just discovered tonight that the tentative date for the project’s next Design Review Board meeting has been moved up two weeks to March 8 (West Seattle Senior Center, 8 pm). But those are not the only opportunities you have for input on the proposed 66-unit homeless-housing project at 5444 Delridge Way SW. We’ve reported before on the community advisory group formed as part of the process – and tonight, its first public meeting has just been announced for February 21st. The official announcement was sent by Pete Spalding, who is co-chairing the group:Read More
Story and photos by Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
If all goes well, a corner store will open next month at Delridge and Findlay.
Look closely at the upper right corner of the mural on its north side, and you will see its name: Martin’s Way.
As in, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And that is your first hint that this is not just intended to be a store.
From the outside, it doesn’t look like one, and that’s exactly what proprietor Vik Puri intends.
We sat down with him this week to talk about Martin’s Way, its beginnings, and eventual hopes.
This is a labor of love for Vik and his partner Nikhi. As he tells it, that’s about all they have to put into it right now. It’s been in the works a long time, with a shortage of capital. But on the other hand, there are partnerships at its foundation – including the nonprofit that operates a day care immediately behind the building, a source of neighborhood mystery and intrigue as it was built a few years back.
(LOOKING FOR SNOW COVERAGE? UPDATES ARE HERE)
New details today about the Delridge Alliance, the advisory group that DESC committed to help convene as its Delridge Supportive Housing project plan continues. Until now, the newest major development is what we reported two weeks ago – that the plan is down to 66 units from the previous 75 because of a city decision (explained here); DESC’s Bill Hobson subsequently confirmed to WSB that the project is moving ahead:
Yes, we are proceeding. Clearly, the 75-unit plan presented at (Design Review) will now have to be modified somewhat but our architects assure me that modification will not be substantial and it will be under the WSHFC per-unit cost ceiling. And, the modification will respect the recommendations they received at EDG.
Now, the advisory-group details: This morning, North Delridge Neighborhood Council website features a detailed update this morning from Vonetta Mangaoang, who’s part of the advisory group, with details on who’s on it so far, the positions still open, what it’s about, and what happens next. Read it here. (No date set yet for the project’s second Design Review meeting, by the way.)
By Karen Berge
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
The Downtown Emergency Service Center‘s (DESC) Delridge Supportive Housing project was the major discussion topic at the North Delridge Neighborhood Council (NDNC) January monthly meeting on Monday evening.
This first meeting of the new year, held at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, kicked off with brief introductions and reflections on New Year’s resolutions from the 15 neighborhood attendees. After that, meeting business quickly got underway. The very full agenda also included a proposal for a new committee on Community Design and Land Use; details about today’s North Delridge Walking Tour with City Council and SDOT representatives; information about potential Bridging the Gap grant projects; discussion of the recent request to the city regarding an update to the Delridge Neighborhood Plan; and other items and announcements.
First, since it’s about an event happening today:
NORTH DELRIDGE WALKING TOUR:
Jake Vanderplas, NDNC Transportation Committee chair, briefed the group on
details about the North Delridge walking tour set for 3-4:30 pm today (meet outside the Delridge Community Center). Tour participants will include City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, representative(s) from SDOT, members of NDNC, and any other interested Delridge neighbors or others who wish to attend. Issues include large and small items relating to bike, pedestrian, transit or driving safety (for example, a Walk-signal button that doesn’t activate the signal light when pressed). If you know of additional issues or sites that should be addressed/visited on the tour, they suggest that you post a comment on their site. A new pedestrian issue that was brought up during this meeting is an asphalt sidewalk with a mailbox positioned inconveniently in the very center of the walkway.
(Taken at 17th/Cambridge. We have blurred the face of one person who did not appear to be SPD.)
Two cases tonight: We don’t have official details on the one that’s still happening, but in South Delridge, police are out right now dealing with a report that was described on the scanner as an armed robbery, apparently at a business, possibly on 17th SW. We checked out the scene and saw what appeared to be a search, but it wasn’t clear exactly where the investigation was centered, so we’ll be checking back with SPD later.
There also was some scanner traffic about a strong-arm street robbery earlier – and we have received a note from the victim, a longtime WSB’er who says she was held up at knifepoint in Arbor Heights around 5:30 pm by someone who stole her iPhone 4S. She says police made an arrest but did not find the phone, so she is asking people in the area to be on the lookout for it. (We have a followup question out to ask where in AH this happened.) She says the data on it “has been wiped,” but she has its serial number from its original packaging.
ADDED 12:14 AM: The victim says it happened near 35th/106th, and that the suspect was found around the 9700-9900 block of 35th. The missing phone is a black iPhone 4S, 32GB, “in a black Marware flip case at the time.”
(June 2011 photo of DESC Delridge project’s proposed site)
The Downtown Emergency Service Center‘s proposed Delridge Supportive Housing project is suddenly undergoing a redesign, according to documents filed with the Washington State Housing Finance Commission as part of the next round of financing DESC is seeking – and that redesign will be for a project with 66 units, not 75 units as originally proposed.
The city Office of Housing had originally granted a waiver to DESC, allowing it to propose a 75-unit project even though the amount of “extremely low-income housing” in the area was supposed to max out at 63 units beyond what it currently has. Neighborhood advocates had questioned the information on which the waiver was based – and now, according to a city document also on file with the WSHFC as part of the DESC application, it appears they had grounds for concern.
Documents from the city, dated in mid-December, say that newly available 2010 census information superseded what DESC had been working with, and that the site now could only support 66 units in this income range. This notification came just as DESC was about to submit its application for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits to the WSHFC, and since there wasn’t enough time for them to completely redo the application, they are redesigning the project right now, and expecting to submit new information by the end of this month. The documentation we just reviewed at WSHFC offices downtown includes this DESC explanation:
This late change creates both capital and operational inefficiencies. It is also driving the total development costs over the WSHFC cost limits. Our team is currently redesigning the project with a new cost estimate, and a revised development budget will be shared with WSHFC and other public funders by january 31, 2012.
We attempted to reach DESC leadership by phone and e-mail earlier today for comment, and so far have not heard back. We are still reviewing a few more documents related to this and will add any additional information of relevance.
The Delridge project first came to light last June and has since moved through stages including property purchase – $768,000 for three lots in the 5400 block of Delridge Way SW, with the sale initiated last April and closed one month ago – as well as city, county, and state financing approvals, plus the first round of city Design Review (with a second round to come, though no date is set). Our coverage of the project is archived here.
A question came in last night about a police/fire sighting at Sanislo Elementary on New Year’s Day. Nothing on the logs when we looked – but now the answer is in, via SPD Blotter:
On 01-01-2012, just shortly before 3:00 p.m., officers responded with school security, to an alarm at a school in the 1800 block of SW Myrtle St. Officers set up containment and used Seattle Fire Department ladders to gain access to the rooftop, where the 2 suspects (men 27 and 19 years-old) were hiding. The suspects were taking into custody without incident. The suspects had two packs filled with items stolen from the school. They also had burglary tools. Both suspects were booked into King County Jail for Investigation of Burglary.
That wasn’t the only time local police called on SFD to help with an investigation this past week – we covered a ladder-to-the-roof effort early December 29th in The Junction.
If you live and/or drive, ride, walk, run in the North Delridge area, take note this morning that City Council and SDOT reps are coming over next week for a walking tour focused on transportation-related concerns, just announced by North Delridge Neighborhood Council transportation chair Jake Vanderplas. He says everyone’s invited; meet in front of the Delridge Community Center at 3 pm on Wednesday, January 11th. The itinerary and issues will be discussed two days before the tour, during next Monday’s monthly NDNC meeting (all welcome there too, 6:30 pm January 9th at Delridge Library).
Here’s a potential New Year’s resolution for parents, grandparents, guardians, and caregivers of young children – take advantage of Seattle Public Library story times! Children’s librarian Amy LaVare shares a list of what’s scheduled at the Delridge (Brandon/Delridge) and High Point (35th/Raymond) branches the next few months:
JANUARY 5 and all Thursdays through MARCH 8: Preschool Story Time, 11:15 am, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW)
JANUARY 10 and all Tuesdays through MARCH 20: Family Story Time, 7 pm, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW)
JANUARY 12 and all Thursdays through MARCH 29: Toddler Story Time, 11:30 am, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.) No story time on March 15.
JANUARY 23 and all Mondays through MARCH 26: Family Story Time, 7 pm, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.)
JANUARY 28 and all Saturdays through MARCH 31: Vietnamese Story Time, 11:30 am, Delridge Branch (5423 Delridge Way SW) This story time is offered entirely in Vietnamese.
FEBRUARY 1 and all Wednesdays through MARCH 28: Somali Story Time, 5 pm, High Point Branch (3411 SW Raymond St.) This story time is offered entirely in Somali.
Story times are open to the public. Everyone is welcome. No registration is required. Free parking is available at each location. For more information, call the High Point Branch at 206-684-7454, the Delridge Branch at 206-733-9125 or Ask a Librarian.
You’ll also find Story Times at the Southwest, South Park, and West Seattle branches; we’ll be adding these, and those, to our ongoing WSB West Seattle Events calendar, and you can check on daily/weekly events through the calendar on the library website.
From the North Delridge Neighborhood Council website: Two neighborhood-advocate positions are open on the “Delridge Alliance” advisory group that’ll work on issues related to the Downtown Emergency Service Center‘s plan for a 75-apartment “supportive housing” project at 5444 Delridge Way SW. The alliance’s formation was discussed at last month’s NDNC meeting, as reported here. If you’re interested in being part of it, details and links are in this writeup on the NDNC site. The project itself passed the first round of Design Review earlier this month (WSB coverage with video, here), with at least one more round to come, though the review-meeting date is not set yet.
During his Tuesday “tweetalong” (explained here), SPD Southwest Precinct Officer Scott Luckie tweeted about helping search for two people who “robbed somebody at gunpoint.” Tonight we have more information on the robbery – from the victim, who says it happened in his own neighborhood:
I was walking up Croft Place from Delridge [map] and Juneau when two younger Americans of African descent started following me up the hill. As I got towards the top of the hill and was in that patch where the streetlights are sparse by the small children’s play area, they approached and politely asked if they could use my phone to call their parents. I handed over my phone, an HTC 4g 3D that was in a black Otter case but the phone itself is red with a two lens camera. He acted like he was dialing home and stepped a couple steps away. That is when he pulled out a gun and pointed it at my head and informed me he was taking my phone and advised me to just walk up the hill and if I didn’t turn around, he wouldn’t shoot me.
Handmade holiday gifts, anyone? Get over to Skylark Café and Club (3803 Delridge Way SW) in the next couple hours while a dozen artists/crafters are selling and showing their stuff. It’s the first time proprietor Jessie SK has done this, and we found her having fun at a table for making/decorating cards:
Among those whose wares you can check out – Eric and Ryan from Skylark’s new neighbors to the north, the screen-printers at ThisThat:
The bazaar’s on till 7. Skylark has a few other special holiday offerings ahead – Christmas open mike at 8 pm next Friday (December 23rd), with Jessie herself promising her annual round of “Santa Baby”; and New Year’s Eve “Wings of Desire” burlesque, 9 pm (December 31st).
Busy afternoon at Southwest Youth and Family Services in North Delridge – more than 80 families are picking up holiday food boxes, distributed with help from nearby Nucor Steel. From left in the next photo, from Nucor, are Shelby Stong, Darrell Wheeler, and Scot McSwane.
425 people are getting holiday food thanks to this distribution, which is the result of Nucor employees choosing to donate their annual community-service project to SWYFS. They collected donations, we’re told, through an intracompany safety-improvement competition.
By Karen Berge
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
The agenda at Monday evening’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council (NDNC) monthly meeting focused primarily on discussion of the DESC project (the Downtown Emergency Service Center‘s 75-unit “supportive housing” project at 5444 Delridge Way).
Parie Hines, new co-chair of NDNC, led this major segment of the meeting. She explained potential next steps as she walked the group through 2 flipchart pages — which defined a new structure and process for moving forward that integrates feedback from earlier discussions and meetings.
The basis of the proposed process is the formation of a separate advisory group, the “Delridge Alliance,” described as an advisory group of stakeholders organized to gather input and synthesize the community’s concerns regarding the DESC project; to help the community envision priorities for the DESC space; and to actively work with key decision-makers to represent the community’s needs throughout the DESC project timeline.
Two updates on tonight’s roster of neighborhood meetings: First, thanks to Pete for pointing out that we had omitted a mention of the Pigeon Point Neighborhood Council‘s meeting tonight; it’s their holiday potluck, Pathfinder K-8 (1901 SW Genesee), 6:30 pm. On the agenda is an update from Seattle Police on the rash of burglaries lately in that area (several of which have been included in West Seattle Crime Watch reports). Also – if you are going to tonight’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting (agenda here), thanks to Diane for reminding us that the location has changed; it’s not at the usual spot, but instead at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (4408 Delridge Way SW).
(DESC project site on Delridge, from “packet” for Thursday night meeting)
9:19 PM: We’re at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, where the first Southwest Design Review Board meeting looking at the proposed DESC homeless-housing project at 5444 Delridge Way has just ended. About 20 members of the public were there; about half a dozen spoke. Board members had many suggestions for the architects, but none were enough to stop the project from moving forward in the design-review process, so it has officially cleared “early design guidance,” which means DESC can apply for its master use permit. Next step: They will have to develop a fully fleshed-out design to bring to a second SWDRB meeting, date not yet set. We have video of the meeting and full details to come.
FIRST ADDITION: Interim update – The six-minute clip above is the very end of the meeting, with SWDRB chair Brandon Nicholson summarizing the recommendations the board is making to the architects and the city Department of Planning and Development. The letters/numbers he mentions right at the beginning refer to the codes on this page (scroll down).
SECOND ADDITION: Here’s the entire meeting on videotape, with two small gaps – between clips 1 and 2, our first camera ran out of power during a public comment; clip 2 picks up during that same commenter, and ends when the room shifted for the board to begin its deliberations, which are done in the open; clip 3 picks up at the start of those deliberations. Click the lower-right area of any clip to watch it either bigger-screen on the YouTube site (the logo will take you there) or fullscreen:
Another West Seattle Crime Watch report this morning: We just confirmed that a police search in the Delridge/Findlay area last night was because of an armed robbery at a local store. Read on for details:Read More
12:38 PM: Traffic is blocked by fire units in the northbound lanes of Delridge near Hudson. It’s because of a fire call that started big but reportedly has turned out to be “food on the stove” – we’re still en route to the area to make sure.
1:18 PM: Still haven’t confirmed the cause of the problem – there was smoke visible in the area when we got there – but Delridge is now reopened both ways.
| 19 COMMENTS