West Seattle, Washington
04 Monday
Another West Seattle project is on the Early Design Community Outreach list, meaning there’ll eventually be a drop-in community meeting for feedback on the project: 9402 18th SW, with nine rowhouse and townhouse units to replace one 103-year-old house.
Documents in city files also mention “surface parking.” No meeting on the calendar yet, but keep checking here (notification is only required in a relatively small area).
(From December 2018 design packet by Cone Architecture)
From today’s city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin, notice of final approval for the 35-microapartment (“small efficiency dwelling units”) project planned at 3084 SW Avalon Way [map]. It’s planned as a 7-story building with no offstreet parking. We’ve been tracking this project through the system since fall 2017; today’s notice opens a 2-week appeal period and explains how to file one (see the notice here; see the full decision here).
(Rendering by Ankrom Moisan)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Hugs and handshakes last night from friends and family of Husky Deli proprietor Jack Miller, after the Southwest Design Review Board gave unanimous approval to the project that will be his business’s new home.
It’s not the final step, though, in the permit process for the project, which Miller says could start construction in about a year (depending on how it fares in the city’s infamous backlog).
But it’s an important step. The board had no major critiques in its second and final look at the project, one year after its first. Here’s how it went:
Should the West Seattle Junction Hub Urban Village boundary be extended to include Providence Mount St. Vincent (4831 35th SW)?
Tomorrow when the Seattle City Council’s Planning, Land Use, and Zoning Committee considers a stack of proposed amendments to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, that proposal will be among them.
(Text here in PDF.) The 9:30 am Wednesday committee meeting at City Hall includes a public hearing. This is only midway through a long process of deciding whether the proposed amendment will be approved, but it’s of interest (thanks to Diane for the tip!) because in the document explaining the proposal, it’s explained as a potential precursor to redevelopment on the site:
The requested changes would provide Providence Mount St. Vincent greater height (50’ versus 40’) and a greater FAR (2.3 versus 1.8), while keeping the current zoning designation of LR3(M). These increases would be beneficial to expanding the existing and potential future uses, which include assisted living apartments, P.A.C.E, children day care, physical and occupational therapy services, a chapel, and the Sisters of Providence retirement home.
Here’s the full document:
It also says that The Mount’s planning is in the early stages and they expect to have community meetings about their plans before year’s end. We have a message out to The Mount’s leadership in hopes of finding out a bit more about what they’re hoping to build.
Meantime, back to tomorrow morning’s council-committee agenda. Other possible Comprehensive Plan amendments proposed, of West Seattle interest:
*An amendment to change the zoning of 2938-2944 Alki Avenue SW from single family to multifamily (text here in PDF)
*An amendment to change the zoning of 4501-4509 SW Admiral Way from Lowrise 1 to Lowrise 3 (text here in PDF)
Neither of those is recommended for advancing (“docketing”). Tomorrow’s meeting also includes a briefing on the city permit backlog and suggestions of ways to ease it, such as simplifying the city code, described as now up to 867 pages.
One year after the first Southwest Design Review Board meeting for the next major West Seattle Junction redevelopment project, the second is set for next week, as we first reported in May. Today, the “packet” of design/plan details to be reviewed that meeting is available via the city website if you want a preview.
The project is now described as:
• 6 STORIES OF APARTMENTS OVER 1 STORY OF RETAIL
• +/- 73 RESIDENTIAL UNITS
• +/- 45 RESIDENTIAL PARKING STALLS
• +/- 5,000 SF COMMERCIAL AREA AT STREET LEVEL
The “primary tenant,” of course, will be Husky Deli, whose proprietor Jack Miller owns and is redeveloping the site. Among many other things, the packet by Ankrom Moisan Architecture addresses the suggestion for a mural on the south side of the new building (like the current site) and suggests a concept like this, based on a historic photograph (which you can see in the packet):
Next week’s meeting is at 6:30 pm Thursday, July 18th, at the Senior Center/Sisson Building (4217 SW Oregon) and includes a public-comment period. You can also comment before then via email; the official meeting notice explains how.
3 updates, from The Triangle to Alki:
(Rendering courtesy Legacy Partners)
4722 FAUNTLEROY: The former West Seattle Produce (etc.) site is finally starting construction, announces Legacy Partners, which says it’s calling the project Legacy at Fauntleroy Apartments. From the news release:
The two-building community, located at 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW (seven stories) and 4721 38th Ave SW (four stories), will feature a 306-unit mix of one- and two-bedroom residences, as well as studios and live-work units. USAA Real Estate is providing equity financing for the development, with additional funding from PNC Bank.
Designed by Seattle-based Encore Architects, Legacy at Fauntleroy will have 261 parking spaces and 10,000 square feet of retail space, in addition to a state-of-the-art gym, media room, rooftop deck, and residential WiFi cafe.
The news release also touts the “peaceful coastal culture of West Seattle.” You might recall that this is the second redevelopment plan for the site; the first one, for a single-story standalone CVS drugstore, was cancelled three years ago.
(WSB photo added, taken Tuesday afternoon)
Demolition at the site began this morning.
1250 ALKI: A key approval is in for the revised proposal for this site, 40 residential units with 76 offstreet parking spaces – the Shoreline Substantial Development approval. That triggers a two-week appeal period, deadline July 15th; the official notices explain how.
5917 CALIFORNIA: The formal application is in for the 9-unit, 4-offstreet-parking-space plan on the former Charmann Apartments site. July 15 is also the deadline for comments on this – the official notice (linked on this page) explains how.
One month ago, we noted that a July 18th Southwest Design Review Board meeting was penciled in for the mixed-use project at 4747 California SW. Now, the meeting is finalized, and the city has sent the official notice (PDF). So if you’re interested in what might be the final public review for the project – described as 7 stories, 74 apartments, 45 offstreet-parking spaces, plus the future home of Husky Deli – plan to be at the Senior Center/Sisson Building (4217 SW Oregon) at 6:30 pm Thursday, July 18th. (That’s almost exactly a year after the project’s first review.) The new design proposal isn’t out yet but at some point before the meeting it should turn up here.
Two years ago, we reported on the for-sale listing of seven Morgan Junction single-family-zoned parcels in anticipation of their HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning to Lowrise 3. That happened, and now two of those parcels are set for redevelopment into townhouses and listed on the city’s Early Design Community Outreach site – 6326 41st SW [map], planned for nine 4-story townhouse units with no offstreet parking, and 6320 41st SW, planned for six 4-story townhouse units with four offstreet-parking spaces. Neither parcel has a sale showing in county records yet. Meantime, while it’s not listed in the Early Design Outreach program with those two sites, a different set of city records shows a similar proposal for the also-upzoned lot just north of them – six 4-story townhouse units with four offstreet parking spaces.
(WSB photo, July 2015)
Last November, we reported that 9200 16th SW was listed for sale. It’s the site raided in 2015 because of an illegal marijuana-selling operation; the sale was ordered as part of a settlement. Though no sale is final yet – it’s listed publicly as “pending feasibility” – there’s an early-stage redevelopment proposal in city files. The roughed-out site plan for the 12,900-square-foot parcel proposes a 5-story mixed-use building with an unspecified number of apartments, plus 1,800 square feet of “retail” space and 24 offstreet parking spaces. Again, this is very early-stage, so no reviews or comment periods are scheduled yet.
Two notices of interest in the city’s latest twice-weekly bulletin of public notices:
WEST MARGINAL SELF-STORAGE: Six months ago, we reported that 6045 West Marginal Way SW had a early-stage proposal for a self-storage facility – what would be the fourth new one, including two planned on Harbor SW and one on Delridge Way. Now the prospective developers have formally filed an application for a land-use permit to build a 4-story facility with 16 offstreet-parking spaces, which opens a comment period through July 1st – this notice (PDF) explains how.
ADMIRAL STATION APPROVAL RE-NOTICE: The city has issued another notice of land-use approval for the 2715 California SW proposal that went through Design Review with the name “Admiral Station,” described as a “4-story, 49-unit apartment building (44 units and 5 small efficiency units) with retail and office. Parking for 46 vehicles proposed.” That sets a new deadline for appeals, July 1st, as explained here (PDF).
12:12 PM: Just east of Gatewood Elementary, the commercial buildings set for residential replacement at California/Frontenac are being torn down today. The building housing Caffe Ladro is staying, Ladro’s owner has told WSB, but everything north of it, to Frontenac, is planned for replacement with rowhouse units. The businesses that were housed in those buildings started moving out last fall.
3:29 PM: The site is in files as three separate projects totaling, as best we can crunch, 15 units, nine rowhouses and six townhouses.
We reported last week that 5051 Fauntleroy Way SW, where three townhouses and four rowhouses are planned to replace a 70-year-old duplex, is in the city’s Early Design Outreach program. The builders have since announced an open-house meeting for early feedback. Brilliant Homes invites anyone interested to High Point Library, 5:30-6:30 pm on Monday, June 24th. These informal drop-in meetings are generally the only ones for projects in this program; other feedback opportunities will be via email or postal mail.
… it’s not too late to comment, since nonprofit Transitional Resources‘ project is still in the “early design” phase. A few notes from our visit toward the end of last night’s community-feedback open house:
That’s the “preferred” configuration presented by design firm SMR Architects – they’re hoping that a three-section shape will help the 44-apartment complex fit in a little better with the townhouses that have been built in the neighborhood. They’ll be oriented toward interior courtyards, like many of TR’s other units nearby, for more of a “community” feeling. Also like the other properties, this will be “supportive housing,” as described by TR, “providing studio apartments for people with behavioral-health needs who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.” If all goes well with the permit process, TR CEO Darcell Slovek-Walker told us at the open house, they hope to start construction in about a year. The building will replace three houses where TR has tenants, and Slovek-Walker says it’s expected that those tenants would move to units in the new complex when it’s done.
The project will go through the city’s Administrative Design Review process, which means no further community meetings are expected, but if you have comments and/or questions, you can contact Slovek-Walker at darcellw@transitionalresources.org. (We’ve been tracking this project since it first appeared in city files more than a year ago.)
Vacant buildings have long been a concern – that photo above is from a neighborhood-organized tour in Delridge 10 years ago, and you’ll probably recognize that decades-vacant building from its prominent site on the street’s north end. If there are vacant buildings near you, you might be interested in this city Department of Construction and Inspections reminder that city rules for monitoring vacant buildings are about to change:
New processes for inspection of vacant buildings take effect on June 1, 2019. The changes add a wider range of properties to the City’s Vacant Building Monitoring program, including all properties with active development proposals containing a vacant building. The frequency of inspections will increase from once a quarter to once a month. We estimate that this will add approximately 1,200 new properties to the program this year and can reduce the risk of vacant buildings becoming a blight on the community. In the past, SDCI monitored around 100 properties each year with consistent vacant building violations.
In 2016 and 2017, we experienced a dramatic increase in complaints about vacant buildings including unauthorized entry, accumulation of junk around structures, and public safety issues such as fires, rodent infestations, and criminal activity. Legislation passed in 2017 imposed stricter maintenance standards and removed some regulatory barriers for demolishing vacant buildings.
During 2018 and early 2019, we provided City Council with information about how other cities monitor vacant buildings and what challenges we might face in expanding the monitoring program. As part of the budget process in November 2018, the city adopted Council Bill 119407, which made significant changes to our Vacant Building Monitoring program. Council Bill 119497, signed in April 2019, refined the proposal to help us manage the dramatic increase in the frequency of inspections and number of buildings to be monitored under the program changes.
The new legislation also raised the vacant building monitoring fees by three percent. Fees are charged in three levels:
Vacant but no violations: $261.40
Vacant with violations but not open to entry: $435
Vacant and open to entry: $521.75To accommodate the increased number of inspections required by the monitoring program, we hired three new inspectors. Our case tracking software was also updated to accommodate enrollment, tracking, and billing for this expanded version of the monitoring program.
Starting June 1, properties in development that include a vacant building will be enrolled in the program during the permit application process. They will be inspected at least three times under the program. If inspectors find no violations, the owners will be charged at the lowest monitoring fee rate. Properties must have no violations for three consecutive monthly inspections in order to be removed from the program.
We encourage owners to explore ways to keep buildings occupied during the permitting process. This extends the use of existing housing and maintains a better property condition for the community. Strategies might include working with non-profits to place caretakers on the property or, for commercial properties, coordinating with the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture to house an art space.
Our complaint-based system to respond to vacant buildings is still available. Neighbors who see a vacant building that is not properly secured by the owner may call 206-615-0808 or visit our Seattle Services Portal to file a complaint.
Maintenance and security of vacant buildings continue to be the responsibility of the property owner. Vacant buildings unto themselves are not illegal but do require a consistent level of oversight and maintenance to discourage trespassing or other criminal activity.
One of the bills mentioned above was sponsored by District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, whose update on the vacant-building issue from last year includes a map of complaints in this area.
(King County Assessor’s Office photo)
That 70-year-old duplex at 5051 Fauntleroy Way SW is planned to be replaced by a project described as “3 townhouses and 4 rowhouses (with) one parking spot available for each unit.” That’s according to the project’s new entry on the city’s Early Design Outreach website. No date posted yet for the community meeting that’s usually part of that program, but if you’re interested in the project/site and want to be sure you’re notified, the developer contact listed on the city site is jianyu44@gmail.com. The site plan on file with the city shows the four-unit rowhouse building fronting Fauntleroy, with the parking spaces to the west, and the three other units west of that.
As reported here multiple times last year, West Seattle-based Transitional Resources plans a new supportive-housing apartment complex in the 2800 block of SW Yancy. The next step: A community open house as part of the city Early Design Outreach program. Here’s the announcement from TR:
Transitional Resources (TR) has been delivering behavioral health services here in West Seattle since 1976. With our main office, small residential treatment facility, and two apartment developments located on SW Avalon Way, we have been a part of the local neighborhood for many years. TR is a licensed provider of behavioral health care services and supportive housing, offering a continuum of behavioral health treatment, housing, and vocational services to those who are most in need in our community. We are intentional in our small scale and high staff-to-client ratios. As a result, TR produces some of the best outcomes in King County.
Over the past year, we have been keeping the community apprised of our plans to redevelop three shared houses at 2811, 2821 and 2827/2829 SW Yancy St into small apartment buildings, providing studio apartments for people with behavioral-health needs who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. We are pleased to report that we have secured the necessary funding from the City of Seattle, King County, the State of Washington, Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, and are now proceeding with the next stage of design for the project.
As part of the City’s design review process, we are inviting interested stakeholders to an open house, where attendees can provide input to the design team from SMR Architects. Please join us:
Wednesday, June 5th from 6 pm – 7:30 pm
Avalon Place Community Room
2988 SW Avalon WayAll are welcome. No RSVP is necessary.
The Yancy Street project will be similar to our other permanent supportive-housing buildings on Avalon Way. Each of the 44 residents will have their own studio apartment facing an interior courtyard that includes a community living room and laundry room. Staff will be on site to offer support for the residents 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Additional support will be available at our drop-in center and behavioral health program offices ½ block away on Avalon Way.
We look forward to sharing more about our organization at our open house next week. We will continue to post project updates on our website at www.transitionalresources.org. I also invite you to contact me directly by phone at 206-883-2026 or via email at darcellw@transitionalresources.org.
New on the schedule for the Southwest Design Review Board: One year after the first review of the apartments-and-retail Junction project that’ll be Husky Deli‘s new home, the second review is now penciled in. The SWDRB schedule has the meeting set for Thursday, July 18th, 6:30 pm at the Senior Center/Sisson Building (4217 SW Oregon); the project passed the first review phase on July 19, 2018 (WSB coverage here). The project is currently described on the city site as “a 7-story, 74-unit apartment building (with p)arking for 45 vehicles.” One note for those keeping track: The SWDRB schedule now lists the project with the address 4749 California SW, while it was at 4747 California SW for last year’s review. No other documents show the address change so we’ll be asking the city about it next week.
(King County Assessor’s Office photo of 4401 42nd SW)
ORIGINAL REPORT, THURSDAY: An early-stage proposal is in city files for what would be the third apartment building on the west side of one block of 42nd SW in The Junction, between Genesee and Oregon. A site plan and pre-application documents are in the system for 4401 42nd SW, the West Seattle Christian Church-owned ex-school building that has in past years had a variety of community uses including artists’ studios and the West Seattle Helpline‘s clothing bank Clothesline.
Proposed for the site, which was upzoned to 55′ by HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability, is a five-story building with 72 microapartments (Small Efficiency Dwelling Units) and five live-works, plus underground and surface parking. The documents filed online say parking would total 36 car spaces and 80 bicycle spaces. The church-owned house to the south is not part of this project; we reported last December that townhouses and live-work units are planned there (4411 42nd SW).
ADDED FRIDAY: WSCC pastor Worth Wheeler has responded to our question about the Clothesline’s future: “We have been working closely with West Seattle Helpline for a few months now on providing a seamless transition for their Clothesline operation to another building on our campus. The church is looking forward to a continuing partnership with the Helpline that provides ample space for their needs and keeps their vital work right here in the Junction, close to the transportation hub that is indispensable for so many of their clients. West Seattle Helpline will likely make an announcement in the coming weeks and months about this transition.” Helpline executive director Erin Dury Moore confirmed that, adding, “We look forward to continuing our partnership with West Seattle Christian Church, and their dedication to our Clothesline.”
Thanks to Al for the photo taken while a mobile crane was being used today to dismantle the tower crane at the Luna Apartments/PCC Community Markets (WSB sponsor) project site at 2749 California SW. The crane was up for a little more than a year; its removal means West Seattle has no current projects using tower cranes. We don’t know what time the removal was finished, as we’ve been covering other events today/tonight, but we just went through the area and noted that California SW is fully open again. As for when the new PCC will open, when last we checked, the estimate was “fourth quarter” of this year.
Thanks to Eric at West Seattle Computers for forwarding this notice circulated in the area:
It’s an announcement that the only tower crane currently operating in West Seattle – at the Luna Apartments/PCC Community Markets (WSB sponsor) project site – is set for removal one week from tomorrow. As was the case the day it went up in April 2018, that means California will be closed at SW Stevens that day, May 11th (which also happens to be West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day, so we’ll include detour info in the map packet).
(Rendering from design packet by architect for project’s second Design Review Board meeting)
From today’s city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin, a key approval is in for the mixed-use building planned at 2715 California SW, now described as a “4-story, 49-unit apartment building (44 units and 5 small efficiency units) with retail and office. Parking for 46 vehicles proposed.” We first reported on this plan 2 1/2 years ago; it went through Design Review in 2017, under the project name Admiral Station. The decision sets an appeal deadline for May 16th; this notice (PDF) explains how to file one.
House-to-be-replaced-with-house demolitions aren’t always noteworthy, but several people messaged us about this one. This is happening at 5603 42nd SW, where what started as an eviction attempt one year ago ended with a standoff and a fire set by the resident, 51-year-old David M. Severtson, who then died by suicide. City and county online records show the house was sold in December by the estate of Mr. Severtson’s mother and that it will be replaced by another single-family house.
From the east side of the 4700 block of Fauntleroy (between Alaska and Edmunds):
WORK ABOUT TO START: Thanks to Binh for sending the notice circulated in the area of the two-building 4722 Fauntleroy Way project, saying work is finally about to start. The notice from Compass Construction says they’re expecting to get going on the 300-plus-unit project in the first week of May. (This is the former West Seattle Produce site.)
NEW NAME FOR NEWLY COMPLETE PROJECT: When 4754 Fauntleroy (100+ apartments and live-works on the former Capitol Loans site) was in the planning stages, the project team used the name The Foundry. Driving by this afternoon, we noticed the almost-complete project has a sign up, bearing a different name: The Huxley. We’re asking the developer if that’s a tribute to anyone in particular (The Whittaker, across Fauntleroy, you’ll recall, was named for the legendary climber, who has West Seattle roots). According to The Huxley’s website, its units – described as “luxury apartments” – range from 437 to 1070 square feet, with rents from $1,505 (for the income-restricted 1 bedrooms related to the project’s participation in the Multifamily Tax Exemption program) to $3,050.
| 1 COMMENT