(WSB file photo)

Four and a half years after Roxbury Auto Parts was forced to close, the site has just been listed for sale. In 2018, the building at 2839 SW Roxbury was “red-tagged” by King County (it’s just south of the city limits), declaring the building was unsafe and that its back wall was in danger of collapse. The store’s third-generation owners – who leased the site – had to close, and never reopened. The building has sat vacant and vandalized ever since. It’s on a half-acre site described in the listing as “Perfect development site with 155 feet of frontage on SW Roxbury. … Great location for chain restaurant or other commercial/mixed use applications.” Asking price: $1,375,000.

Thanks to everyone who’s tipped us about activity seen at 4457 Fauntleroy Way SW, where Midas closed in 2019, including fencing that went up a few days ago. After three years on the market, the site was sold a week ago. It was originally listed for $3,250,000; online records show it sold for just over half that, $1.8 million. The buyer is an LLC linked to a Mercer Island real-estate investor/developer; no permit applications are on file for the site so far.

Two West Seattle projects are part of today’s twice-weekly Public Notices Summary from the city Department of Construction and Inspections:

PUBLIC MEETING FOR 6504 24TH SW: A public meeting is being held for comments about an 11-unit proposal at this site in Delridge [map] – five 2-story single-family houses, three attached accessory dwelling units, and three detached ADUs, with 11 offstreet-parking spaces. The meeting will be online at 5 pm on March 2nd. The official notice includes information on how to participate/comment. We first briefly mentioned the site back in 2014, when neighbors were voicing concerns about another site on the street, in the context of flooding concerns from nearby Longfellow Creek.

(WSB photo from last year, with tagging obscured)

COMMENT TIME FOR LONG-IDLE 5249 CALIFORNIA SW: More than a year after we reported on a new plan for the long-stalled site at 5249 California SW [map], the land-use application is being reviewed, and that’s opened a comment period. The site is proposed for what the city website describes as “a 3-story, 6-unit townhouse building, and a 3-story, 3-unit live-work building (with p)arking for 4 vehicles.” Comments are being accepted through February 22nd; the official notice explains how to submit yours.

(Massing rendering of Option 3 for 5252 California SW, by Ankrom Moisan)

In their second online meeting of the night – after months with no meetings at all – the Southwest Design Review Board gave the Aegis Living plan for 5252 California SW approval to move into the next phase of the review process.

The first phase of Design Review is about “massing” – buildings’ size and shape – and this project is a lot larger than what’s around the site right now, so that was a major factor in the discussion. The meeting was led by SWDRB chair Patrick Cobb (Fauntleroy), with board members Alan Grainger (Fauntleroy), Johanna Lirman (North Admiral), and Gavin Schaefer (Camp Long area)=. From the city Department of Construction and Inspections, the project’s assigned planner Theresa Neylon was there. Here’s how the meeting went:

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(Rendering from design packet by LDG Architects)

The first of tonight’s two Southwest Design Review Board meetings ended with an order for 7617 35th SW to make some changes and return for a second round of Early Design Guidance.

This first phase of Design Review is all about buildings’ size and shape, aka “massing,” and that’s what the big concern was here, along with placement of its entries. Board chair Patrick Cobb (Fauntleroy) led the meeting, with board members Alan Grainger (Fauntleroy), Johanna Lirman (North Admiral), and Gavin Schaefer (Camp Long area) in attendance. From the city Department of Construction and Inspections, David Sachs was filling in for the project’s assigned planner Joseph Hurley. Here’s how the meeting went, along the required four-section format:

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(Rendering from design packet by LDG Architects)

That’s one of the design concepts in the final packet for Thursday night’s Southwest Design Review Board online meeting about the mixed-use building proposed for 7617 35th SW, between SW Holden and SW Ida. As reported here previously, this is a new plan for the site, where a smaller-scale plan went part of the way through the process four-plus years ago. This time the proposal is, as described on the city website and in the packet, for a building with six stories, 130+ apartments, ground-floor commercial spots, and ~50 offstreet-parking spaces. See the packet here; see information on attending the 5 pm online meeting and commenting here. Remember that this is the Early Design Guidance portion of the process, which means the review is primarily focused on the size and shape of the building as well as its placement on its site. (This meeting will be followed by the board’s separate 7 pm review of the Aegis Living proposal for 5252 California SW.)

Two project notes:

5252 CALIFORNIA SW DESIGN PACKET: One week from tonight, the Southwest Design Review Board meets online to look at two West Seattle projects. The second review, at 7 pm, is for the Aegis Living seniors’ complex proposed at 5252 California SW. We’ve been reporting on the plan since last July; now with a week to go until the meeting, the final design packet is available for review – more than 100 pages, twice the size of the draft version we linked previously, It includes the new “concept” rendering shown above, but its main purpose is to explore three “massing” (size and shape) options, since this is the Early Design Guidance part of the process. As previously mentioned, the proposal is for a five-story building – one floor higher than the basic zoning because they’re proposing Living Building Challenge elements – with up to 100 units (70 assisted living, 30 memory care). Public comment is part of the 7 pm Thursday, February 2nd, meeting; attendance/commenting info is here.

1318 ALKI COMMENTS: From today’s Land Use Information Bulletin, a Shoreline Substantial Development application has been submitted for a proposal to build two buildings with six townhouses and nine offstreet-parking spaces at 1318 Alki SW. Comments will be accepted through February 24th; this notice explains how to offer yours.

(Preferred ‘massing’ – size and shape – for project, from draft design packet)

As first reported here last July, Aegis Living is proposing a new assisted-living/memory-care complex at the long-vacant strip mall/restaurant site on the northeast side of California/Brandon, formally using the address 5252 California SW. Last month, the six-story, 100+-unit project was set for a mid-January date before the Southwest Design Review Board, but now that’s changed – it’s set for the second half of an online doubleheader, 7 pm Thursday, February 2nd. (The first half of the meeting – at 5 pm – will focus on the 7617 35th SW mixed-use project.) Meeting participation info, including how to comment, is here; the official meeting notice (to be published by the city Tuesday) is here; a draft version of the design packet is here. The first meeting is for “early design guidance,” so it will focus on the project’s size, shape, and placement on the site.

It’s been more than four years since a mixed-use project on 35th SW between Holden and Ida was last seen by the Southwest Design Review Board, which ordered the project team to come back for a second round of Early Design Guidance. (Remember that Early Design Guidance is largely about size and shape of the building – “massing”; the project team’s preferred option is above.) Two years later, we reported the plan had expanded. Now, two years after that, the project is scheduled to return to the board – and it’s been expanded again. Back in 2018, a four-story building with about 50 apartments was proposed; in 2020, it was a five-story plan with 120 apartments; now it’s six stories and more than 130 apartments, with ground-floor commercial space and 50 underground parking stalls. You can see the draft design packet here. The revised project is scheduled to go before the SWDRB at 5 pm Thursday, February 2nd, online; watch for the meeting link here.

(Preferred ‘massing’ – size and shape – for project, from draft design packet)

With far fewer major projects in the pipeline these days, the Southwest Design Review Board‘s meetings are few and far between – just three this year. The first meeting for next year has just been scheduled. The board will get an “early design guidance” look at what will be Aegis Living‘s second West Seattle senior-living complex on January 19th. We first told you in July about this new plan for the long-vacant, often-vandalized ex-strip-mall and ex-restaurant properties in the 5200 block of California SW, formerly proposed for townhouses. The project will go to the board with the address 5252 California SW. The project file includes this description given to people living near the site during a September-October outreach period:

A six-story*, 100 sft building, offering 100+ assisted living and memory care apartments.

The ground level will include a variety of amenities and gathering spaces for residents and visitors such as a grand living room, activity room, dining, a movie theater, retail and more.

The second floor will include 45+ parking spaces for visitors and staff.

Floors 3-6 will include residential apartments for assisted living and memory care. The sixth floor will also host a sky lounge for residents to enjoy.

This West Seattle community will be built to meet the rigorous standards of the Living Building Challenge Petal Certification through the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). The Living Building Challenge defines itself as the world’s most ambitious and advanced performance standard for green, resilient, and healthy buildings.

*A sixth level will be granted as part of participation in the Living Building Challenge and meeting the sustainable design criteria set forth.

Aegis says it’s already developed one project to Living Building Challenge standards, in Lake Union. (In West Seattle, the PCC Community Markets [WSB sponsor] rebuild was also an LBC project.) Also, when we last asked Aegis about the plan, we were told that “existing street trees would be preserved.” You can see the draft design packet here – remember that the “early design guidance” phase focuses on the size and shape of the building, so this (and the image atop this story) is not the fully detailed proposal. Find out more at the 5 pm meeting on Thursday, January 19th, which will be online (watch this page for the link).

JANUARY 1 UPDATE: The meeting’s been moved to 7 pm February 2nd.

Back in April, we reported an early-stage filing for 30 townhouses on the site of a building and parking lot long owned by West Seattle Christian Church. Its pastor told us at the time that it was part of a feasibility exploration for a potential sale. New documents in online city permit files indicate the project is proceeding, and the site plan now shows 31 townhouses proposed for the site. The official project address is 4425 41st SW; the developer is listed in city files as Jabooda Homes (whose website also shows the plan), working with Cone Architecture.

Two (re)development notes:

(WSB photo, 4515 44th SW)

4515 44TH SW: It’s been two and a half years since we first reported on a proposal for the former CDE Software site in The Junction at 4515 44th SW. Now the plan for more than 40 microapartments with no offstreet motor-vehicle parking has received land-use approval. That opens an appeal period; if you want to file one, you can do so through October 31st, as explained in this notice.

1790 ALKI SW: City files show an early-stage proposal for a “4-story apartment building” – no number of units mentioned – on parcels at 1790 and 1794 Alki [map], both holding houses that a commenter described as “vacant” three years ago. No visuals on file yet but the architect Kun Lim‘s website shows schematics/concepts for the project.

(King County Assessor photo, 6355 41st SW)

Just east of the ex-substation/future EV-charging station in Morgan Junction, a parcel’s recently been redeveloped into townhomes. Now the adjacent parcel to the north of that one has a similar plan. The comment period has just opened for the city’s Streamlined Design Review process regarding the project, which has an official address of 6355 41st SW – currently holding that 118-year-old house shown above – but has its longest side along Fauntleroy Way SW. It’s proposed for six 3-story townhouses with five offstreet vehicle-parking spaces, to be accessed from the alley on the parcel’s west side, plus eight bicycle-parking spaces. It’s in Early Design Guidance stage (here’s the draft design packet), so if you have comments, you have until October 19th to send them; the official notice explains how.

Three development notes tonight:

TOWER CRANE: For the first time in more than 14 months, West Seattle has a tower crane. The last one to come down was for the 1250 Alki SW Infinity Shore Club (WSB sponsor) condo project; as of this week, this one is up for the 4508 California 7-story mixed-use project. Work at the site has been under way for almost three months.

DESIGN REVIEW: A little more than one block west, the 4515 44th SW project is going into the next phase of Design Review, though without a public meeting, as it’s going through Administrative DR. It’s a four-story building with 43 microapartments and no offstreet parking. The design packet is linked from this city webpage; you can comment to the city’s assigned planner at theresa.neyton@seattle.gov.

AEGIS LIVING PROJECT: We reported last month that Aegis Living is buying and planning to develop the long-idle, much-vandalized 5242-5258 California SW site. Now it’s appeared in the city’s Early Outreach for Design Review pipeline, with a few more details via this description:

Construction of a 95-100 unit, five level Assisted Living Community. In-building parking for 40-50 cars. Project will pursue living building challenge environmental certification.

Aegis already has a location in West Seattle, at 4700 SW Admiral Way. The new site holds a former strip mall/office bulding and two former restaurants.

(Rendering by Atelier Drome)

Without many big projects in the pipeline, meetings of the Southwest Design Review Board – which could meet up to twice a month, with up to two projects on each agenda – have been few and far between. In an online meeting Thursday night, the all-volunteer board took its third look at 4448 California SW, the mixed-use project set to replace the commercial building that currently holds Doll Parts Collective and a new temporary location of West Seattle Coworking. The 7-story building is proposed for 96 apartments – described by the project team as “a mix of 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3-bedroom” units – and ground-floor commercial, with no offstreet-parking spaces.

The board has had some changes since its second look at the project in November; Patrick Cobb is now the chair, and two of the other three members in attendance were new – Brenda Baxter and Gavin Schaefer. Of the two continuing members, Alan Grainger was present and Johanna Lirman was absent. The city planner assigned to the project also has changed since the November review; now it’s David Sachs.

Here’s the design packet used for the meeting. There were no major remaining points of concern, and the only public comment that came in during the meeting was positive. It was noted that some written comments had been received pre-meeting about aspects outside the SWDRB’s jurisdiction – including parking and density. Board members observed that the architects from Atelier Drome had revised the design in accordance with guidance given by the board in November. They spelled out five points they want to see addressed before the final design gets official city approval. Those include differentiating the residential entry from the commercial entry and signage; they were concerned the commercial signage would get lost under the awning, and pointed to signage on the edge of the awning at the nearby AJ Apartments as an example of how that problem could be avoided. Another focus area is the bicycle-storage room access, ensuring lighting and security.

WHAT’S NEXT: If you have comments about the project – design or otherwise – you still have time to email Sachs (david.sachs@seattle.gov). He’ll write the final report on the project, and it still has other phases of the permit process to go through before construction can begin.

(2021 WSB photo of part of the site, which also includes 2 ex-restaurants to the south)

4:26 PM: The long-dormant, frequently vandalized development site in the 5200 block of California SW – two former restaurants and a former strip mall – has a new plan, according to what we just found in online city files: An assisted-living complex. An early-stage site plan filed with the city Tuesday shows the proposal is from Aegis Living, which already has one West Seattle assisted-living/memory-care complex, in west Admiral. We reported one year ago that the site was back on the market, after a plan to redevelop it as townhouses stalled, and the listing has had the notation “(sale) pending” for some time; King County Assessor records do not yet show a completed sale. The site is zoned for four-sstory mixed-use development (NC2-40). We’re contacting Aegis to find out more about their plan, which the city website summarizes simply as “new assisted living and life neighborhood building.”

7:17 PM: We’ve heard back from an Aegis spokesperson who says there’s not a lot to say as this is so early-stage but promises some information tomorrow.

THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE: In response to our inquiry, we’ve received this statement from Walter Braun, Aegis Living’s Chief Development Officer:

Aegis Living is in the early stages of a potential second development in West Seattle. Our team has loved being a part of West Seattle and hope to bring another Aegis Living assisted living and memory care community to the area. It is too early to share details, but we can confirm we have signed a purchase and sales agreement to explore this development. We are excited about the potential project, and as we continue in our due diligence, are hopeful we can share more details soon.