West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
A seven-house West Seattle development called The Orchard is home to a fight over trees.
This past week, several readers called our attention to a banner hung on the front of one of the new homes in the development, at 5620 Beach Drive SW [map], very visible to passersby. The banner announces, “WE’RE SUING THE DEVELOPER.”
The banner also names the developer, Calvin White, so we checked King County Superior Court files and found the lawsuit against him and his firm Charcoal Creek LLC, filed almost three weeks ago.
The Southwest Design Review Board had a doubleheader last night – first of two this month. We reported on the first hearing here, after the board gave its final approval to 4406 36th SW. Half an hour later, the board reconvened online for its first look at 3010 SW Avalon Way [map].
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This was the Early Design Guidance (focusing on size, shape, placement on site) review for the building, proposed for eight stories, ~86 units, and 4 offstreet-parking spaces. Here’s the design packet used for the meeting:
Architects presented three massing options for the building, as is standard for the first review. The board gave its support to #2, with the stipulation that the west side be lowered to match the height of the single-family homes to the west, and they wanted the entrance moved to the northeast corner. Early on in the meeting, the board talked about how the building has to deal with what they all considered a narrow site. Much was said about how the building would look in relation to the buildings on either side and how it would sit in relation to the single-family homes behind it. There was also some concern over use of the alley behind the building
and how it could accommodate both trash pickup and ADA access from the few parking spaces tbat will be provided in the rear.
The board also asked for a privacy/visibility study for the street-level units and the units on the north and south sides of the building. They also had questions about whether some of the ground-floor units would look out onto a concrete retaining wall.
No members of the public offered comments during the meeting, but city staff said 22 public comments were received before the meeting. Most dealt with the proposed height, with those comments suggesting something between four and seven stories. Other comments included a request to examine the alley in the rear to take into consideration the increasing number of personal-delivery trucks that the building will bring. (The online files show many comments about the need for parking, but that’s outside the Design Review process.)
The board was in general agreement with the comments as to how the building fits in with what’s on either side, and the general
look of the buildings along Avalon; they voted 3-1 to allow the project to move to phase two. You can still comment even if you missed the meeting – email assigned planner Theresa Neylon at theresa.neylon@seattle.gov. This building will have at least one more SWDRB meeting, date to be set when the architects are ready to return with a more-finalized design.
The two-building “Sweeney Blocks” megaproject in the West Seattle Triangle is halfway through the final stage of Design Review – the east building, at 4406 36th SW, got unanimous approval tonight from the Southwest Design Review Board, which will review the west building in two weeks. Here’s the “design packet” from the meeting:
Four board members were present – John Cheng, who chaired the meeting, along with Johanna Lirman, Patrick Cobb, and Alan Grainger. They were joined by the city planner assigned to the project, Sean Conrad.
Next Thursday (November 4th) at 7 pm, 3010 SW Avalon Way [map] goes to the Southwest Design Review Board – an apartment building proposed for eight stories, ~86 units, and 4 offstreet-parking spaces. The design packet for the meeting is now available for an advance look – see it above or on the city website. This is an Early Design Guidance meeting, so the review will focus on massing – size, shape, placement on the site – rather than design details. The meeting will be online at 7 pm Thursday, with a public-comment period; viewing/call-in/commenting info is here. If you have comments but can’t participate in the meeting, email comments to assigned planner Theresa Neylon at theresa.neylon@seattle.gov.
(Rendering by Atelier Drome Architects)
Almost four months after the Southwest Design Review Board gave its final approval to the 9208 20th SW project, city planners have given it a key land-use approval. This is the former auto-shop site that originally was proposed – as 9201 Delridge Way SW – for a self-storage facility, but then zoning thwarted that, and a new development team pivoted the project to mixed-use. The city summarizes it as “a 5-story, 76-unit apartment building with 71 apartments, 5 small efficiency dwelling units, retail and office, (and n)o parking proposed.” The notice in today’s Land Use Information Bulletin opens an appeal period through November 12th (and explains how that works).
Eight years have passed since Seattle City Light declared its ex-substation at 16th/Holden to be surplus, along with several others in West Seattle, and proposed putting it up for sale. The site’s underlying zoning was for single-family housing, but community members counterproposed that commercial development might be better. It was rezoned for mixed use a few years later – as described during a Highland Park tour with then-Mayor Ed Murray in 2017 – but has continued to sit idle.
Now there are some possibilities in play, and HPAC heard about them at tonight’s meeting. City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who shepherded the rezoning years ago, first explained that City Light still owns the site and remains amenable to a no-cost transfer of the site to the city Office of Housing. So OH and Enterprise Community Partners have been evaluating the feasibility “to explore further what’s possible at the site.” She said they’re opening a dialogue to “get moving on a path forward.”
Enterprise Community Partners’ Jess Blanch explained her organization is national and works on affordable housing from policy to finance to development. “We cover it from end to end.” She directs the program Home and Hope – housing on publicly owned tax-exempt land, like this site. She says “a few issues are in play” – it’s zoned NC-40.”Given the site size [10,000 sf], it is really too small of a site for affordable rental housing, the way (that) is financed.” But affordable homeownership might be a possibility. It would have to be 100 percent “public benefit” for the land to be given for this purpose – that means low-income community members – making no more than 80 percent of the area mean income – would have to be served in its commercial space, such as a food bank or preschool. It could also be live-work space.
Erika Malone from the Office of Housing explained her department doesn’t develop, own, or manage projects so if the property is transferred to them, they would then put out a Request for Proposals. The site would have to be developed as “permanently affordable housing.”
Herbold said that “if there’s interest in a ground-level use that provides a public benefit, it makes it more possible to develop the property for affordable housing.” They wouldn’t be able to do a low- or no-cost transfer if it was going to be ground-floor retail and housing above it – they’d probably have to sell it to a for-profit developer.
HPAC co-chair Kay Kirkpatrick said having commercial space there would be a public benefit in its own way because Highland Park needs more walkable businesses; the guests said that wouldn’t meet the technical definition of public benefit. Kirkpatrick and attendees pointed out that an adjacent property is currently up for sale. But that site (about 5,000 sf) wouldn’t add enough land to make affordable rental housing “pencil out,” said Blanch.
Some brainstorming ensued; community ideas about ways to have a business that served low-income residents included a FareStart-type café, serving the public and training people emerging from homelessness.
So what’s the next step? Herbold said they want to know if HPAC would be OK with a potentially non-commercial ground-floor use. Then the Office of Housing would explore seeking a nonprofit homeownership organization – Community Land Trust, Habitat for Humanity, for example. “There are still a lot of iunknowns regarding what’s possible,” Malone said. Then discussions between oH and SCL would ensue; if they worked out how it could be transferred, Permanently affordable homeownership vs. development that would include bjusinesses – which would mean a for-profit developer.
Enterprise has worked up some concepts, Herbold said. Blanch said she didn’t want to share those publicly but said the site could hold 8 to 10 townhouses, for example. Since the site is adjacent to single-family homes, that puts “some constraints’ on the “developable envelope.” Or, “condo apartments” would be an option.
What kind of a timeline are they working on? Kirkpatrick asked. Enterprise has a contract with the city that’s being renewed at least through next year, Blanch said. So a decision on a direction can apparently wait until early next year (this was HPAC’s last scheduled meeting until January).
(We’ll report on the rest of tonight’s HPAC meeting – two discussions with SDOT – in a separate story Thursday.)
That’s a new rendering of the concept for 4406 36th SW and 4440 Fauntleroy Way SW, the properties that the Sweeney family is planning to redevelop on and near the site of their legacy business Alki Lumber. Family spokesperson Lynn Sweeney sent the rendering today, as architects Ankrom Moisan sent the city the full design “packet” for 4406 36th SW, which will go back to the Southwest Design Review Board on November 4th (as reported here previously) The building is proposed for 8 stories, 284 apartments, 10,000 square feet of retail space, and 162 offstreet-parking spaces. Here’s the packet:
You’ll also find it on the city website. ]Sweeney says regarding the 2-building plan, “Our design team has been hard at work responding to the Design Review Board guidance and collaborating with the city to develop an outstanding project for the West Seattle Triangle Neighborhood. The focus of this project is to create a unique and engaging streetscape experience for the community while providing housing for more than 500 new residents. The project is well positioned with proximity to the proposed Avalon light rail station. We are excited to go before the board on November 4th (East Block) and November 18th (West Block).” Both are 5 pm online meetings; viewing/listening/comment info for the November 4th meeting is here. The Sweeneys have said they’ll look for a new location for their lumberyard; Sweeney told us today there’s no update on that yet, nor do they have a target date for groundbreaking.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
An “incubator” hub for small businesses.
Affordable housing – including apartments for growing families and seniors.
Community gathering spaces, indoors and outdoors.
And yes, parking (underground).
Those are some of the possibilities in concepts for redevelopment of the West Seattle Junction Association-managed parking lots, as discussed at an online community meeting tonight.
The meeting was hosted by West Seattle Junction Association executive director Lora Radford, and featured guests from Community Roots Housing, which has made an as-yet-unaccepted $14 million offer to buy the lots, and Ankrom Moisan, the architecture firm CRH commissioned to rough out possibilities. The lots are at 42nd/Oregon, 44th/Oregon, 44th/Alaska, and 44th between Edmunds and Alaska.
Here’s how the meeting unfolded:
As first announced last month, and as we reminded you Sunday, this Thursday brings an online community meeting focused on the future of the four West Seattle Junction sites long used as parking lots. They’ve been zoned for mixed-use development for decades, and now the question is not whether they’ll be redeveloped, but who will do it and how. The West Seattle Junction Association is convening Thursday night’s meeting with prospective purchaser Community Roots Housing, which has just sent this:
Community Roots Housing, in partnership with the West Seattle Junction Association (WSJA), is proposing plans for a redevelopment of four parking lots in West Seattle. On October 21, the organizations will host a virtual community meeting to gather input on the proposal.
The redevelopment plans would convert the four parking lots into affordable housing, including one building for senior housing, a 6,500 square-foot business incubator space, and replacement public parking. The housing would service incomes at or below 60% of the area median income. “At Community Roots Housing, we believe in community-led development,” said Christopher Persons, CEO of Community Roots Housing. “We are committed to listening to and responding to the needs and priorities of the West Seattle neighborhood while creating more affordable homes to combat the Seattle housing crisis.”
Currently, the lots are owned by the West Seattle Trusteed Properties and managed by WSJA. In April, Community Roots Housing submitted an offer to purchase the parking lots at the appraised value of the land. The City of Seattle Office of Housing has agreed to provide an acquisition loan to buy the property and convert the parking lots into affordable housing. The landowner is expected to take a vote on the sale at an October 28 member meeting.
“Input from the community will be a guiding factor as we begin to craft the vision for the Junction parking parcels,” said Lora Radford, Executive Director of the West Seattle Junction Association. “Being within an urban village, the critical development decisions that will impact future generations of West Seattleites is here and now. The value of early community voices is important to build and sustain a downtown that will have vision, history, heart, and soul.”
Community Roots Housing is a mission-based Public Development Authority chartered in the City of Seattle that creates affordable and workforce housing. Over the past year, Community Roots has been in community and stakeholder discussions about the property. “West Seattle Junction is the beating heart of the neighborhood, and we have a generational opportunity to transform and strengthen this community by welcoming new affordable housing, senior housing, expanded community space, and a small business incubator,” said City Councilmember Lisa Herbold. “I’m excited to see these plans begin to take shape under the leadership of the West Seattle Junction Association and Community Roots Housing. I look forward to learning more and hearing from community members at Thursday’s open house.”
Information for watching/listening to/participating in Thursday’s 6:30 pm meeting is on this WSJA webpage. The meeting agenda includes presentations from WSJA, Community Roots Housing, and architects Ankrom Moisan, as well as a period for community questions/comments.
The city sent official notices today for the next Southwest Design Review Board hearings about two projects we’ve been tracking, both on November 4th, and the SWDRB schedule shows two more projects are on the schedule for a meeting two weeks after that. All are projects we’ve reported on previously. Here’s the meeting schedule:
4406 36TH SW: Second and possibly final meeting (here’s our coverage of the first) for this project in The Triangle, described as “a 7-story, 275-unit apartment building with retail (and p)arking for 163 vehicles.” It’ll go to the board at 5 pm Thursday, November 4th. Info for attending/commenting at the online meeting, by video or by phone, is here.
3010 SW AVALON WAY: First SWDRB meeting for this “8-story, 87-unit apartment building (with) parking for 4 vehicles,” 7 pm Thursday, November 4th. We’ve been reporting on this project for two years. Viewing/commenting/call-in info for this meeting is here.
4440 FAUNTLEROY WAY SW: Second and possibly final meeting for this project (companion to 4406 36th SW, both on property owned by Alki Lumber‘s Sweeney family), described on the city website as a “7-story, 217-unit apartment building with retail (and p)arking for 153 vehicles.” 5 pm November 18th; here’s our coverage of the first meeting. Info on video/call-in/commenting for this meeting should appear here soon.
4448 CALIFORNIA SW: This will be the second “early design guidance” meeting (here’s our coverage of the first) for this project, “a 7-story, 96-unit apartment building with retail (and n)o parking.” It’ll be at 7 pm November 18th; viewing/call-in/commenting info will be at this link soon.
(WSB44th/Oregon lot
West Seattle’s biggest community event this week will be on Thursday night (October 21st), when the West Seattle Junction Association hosts an open house about a vision for the future of the four parking-lot sites at 42nd/Oregon, 44th/Oregon, 44th/Alaska, and 44th north of Edmunds. As announced last month, the 6:30 pm online event will also include Community Roots Housing, which has made a $14 million city-backed offer to the lots’ owners, and architects Ankrom Moisan. The issue, says WSJA – which has long leased the lots – is not whether the lots will be redeveloped, but when, how, and by whom. They want community voices to be heard. You’ll find participation information for the meeting – videoconferencing or by phone – by going here.
In an online meeting that just concluded, the Southwest Design Review Board gave unanimous approval to the design proposal for 3201 SW Avalon Way, a mixed-use building planned to replace the Golden Tee Apartments, while keeping the name. Here’s the design packet for the meeting:
Board chair Scott Rosenstock and members John Cheng, Patrick Cobb, and Johanna Lirman were present. Tonight’s review came three years, and one architect change, after the previous one.
That’s the “packet” from Public47 Architects for tomorrow night’s Southwest Design Review Board meeting about the proposal for a new building to replace the Golden Tee Apartments – keeping the name – at 3201 SW Avalon Way [map]. From the packet, here’s the overview:
The proposed 8-story, mixed use project seeks to achieve the following development objectives:
• Provide approx 144 residential apartment units
• Parking for 70-80 vehicles
• Provide +/- 3500 SF of street-level commercial space
• Foster pedestrian friendly sidewalk experience
• LEED Gold construction standard
The review meeting is online, at 5 pm Thursday, and includes an opportunity for public comment on the proposed design, Information for videoconferencing or calling in is on the city website. This could be the final Design Review meeting for this project; the site has been upzoned to 80′ maximum, leading to project revisions, since its first review meeting three years ago.
Another Avalon Way project has a date with the Southwest Design Review Board. We first reported two years ago about a proposed 8-story apartment building at 3010 SW Avalon Way [map]; then last month, we reported that the project was moving forward. At that time, it was described as going through Administrative Design Review, which would mean no public meetings, but now, a board hearing is planned for 5 pm Thursday, October 21st. The proposal is for 87 apartments and four offstreet-parking spaces. Links to attend the online meeting – which will include a public-comment period – will be here when it gets closer. (Here’s the draft design packet by Studio 19 Architects.)
FRIDAY UPDATE: The tentative date for this hearing has been moved on the city schedule to November 4th.
(WSB photo from 42nd/Oregon lot, January)
The four West Seattle Junction Association-leased parking lots will eventually be redeveloped. The question isn’t if, but when – and, into what? The Junction and Community Roots Housing, which has made a $14 million city-backed offer for the lots, want to hear your thoughts. They’re planning an online community open house next month. Here’s the announcement:
What could be the vision for the West Seattle Junction’s four paid parking lots? Find out and provide your valuable input and insight during the Virtual Open House on Thursday, October 21, 6:30 PM on Zoom.
See the initial architectural drawings from Ankrom Moisan (the same firm that designed the new Husky Deli building). Hear from Community Roots Housing, a local leader in affordable housing. Learn about the vision to build and sustain small businesses via the Small Business Incubator program from the director of the Junction.
We’ve got to a point where input from the community will be a guiding factor as we begin to craft the vision for the Junction parking parcels. Being within an Urban Village, the critical development decisions that will provide future generations of West Seattleites is here and now. The value of early community voices is important to build and sustain a downtown that will have vision, history, heart and soul. Without the power of your voices, the parcels could eventually befall to more canyon development overshadowing the long-standing hometown feeling of the Junction.
The meeting participation information – videoconferencing or by phone – is here. The lots are owned by West Seattle Trusteed Properties, a group of more than three dozen organizations, businesses, and individuals who own shares of the organization and its holdings, the lots; Community Roots Housing will make a presentation to their board in late October.
(December 2020 rendering by Public47 Architects)
Three years after the first Southwest Design Review Board meeting about 3201 SW Avalon Way, the next one has just been scheduled for September 23rd. As we reported last December, the project at what’s currently the Golden Tee Apartments site has changed since the 2018 review – now 8 stories (taller), 144 apartments (fewer), 70 offstreet-parking spaces (fewer), with a different architecture firm, Public47. This document filed in December shows those new details. The full design packet isn’t available yet, and the city webpage still shows the old plan’s toplines, but what could be the final SWDRB meeting about the project is now set for 5 pm September 23rd, online; watch here for attendance details.
ORIGINAL SUNDAY REPORT: We first reported in November 2019 that an early-stage plan was on file for an 8-story, 78-unit apartment building at 3010 SW Avalon Way [map]. Three months later, an “early outreach” meeting was held. But nothing public happened with the proposal in the ensuing year and a half – until now, with the plan showing up on the city website for the “early design guidance” phase of Administrative Design Review. That means feedback mostly on massing – the building’s size and shape. Three options are proposed:
More early design details are in Studio 19 Architects‘ draft design packet uploaded to the city website (no direct link yet, so we downloaded it for access here – 73 MB file); all three massing options would have 78 apartments and four offstreet vehicle-parking spaces. If you have feedback, the assigned city planner is Theresa Neylon – theresa.neylon@seattle.gov is where to send comments.
ADDED MONDAY: Today’s Land Use Information Bulletin included the formal notice that a two-week comment period is open for Early Design Guidance – here it is.
(Part of the site, which also includes 2 ex-restaurants to the south)
We’re continuing to check on stalled development sites. Today, an update on 5242-5258 California SW, the site that includes a former strip mall plus two former restaurants (most recently Papa John’s, closed since 2017, and Thaitan, closed since 2019) north of Brandon. The site is listed for sale again, this time as a “permitted development site” approved for 32 townhouses. The asking price: $7.7 million.
The land is owned by entities traceable to Memphis-based Lexington Asset Management, which bought it in 2018 and 2019 purchases totaling $4.6 million, according to King County Assessor’s Office records. Development proposals for the site went through the city process in stages going back to 2017. The sales flyer for the site calls it “the largest permitted townhome opportunity in the heart of West Seattle in over 20 years,” though Rally – the townhome development at the former Charlestown Café site – isn’t far behind, at 27 units. The flyer also makes note of the closed bridge, observing that “West Seattle Bridge reopens in 2022, which will accelerate home value and rent growth (work is already underway).”
Meantime, the graffiti and trash at the site has led to complaints filed with the city, most recently early this year (we noted a crew placing new plywood over the windows in mid-March, but as our photo above shows, the tagging has been re-accumulating since then).
Construction of the new Lam Bow Apartments (6935 Delridge Way SW) has finally begun, almost five years after a three-alarm fire gutted one of its buildings. In 2019, the Seattle Housing Authority decided the remaining building should be replaced too. Here’s a rendering of the 82-unit affordable-housing building that will replace the two original buildings.
(The project went through Administrative Design Review – public comment but no meetings; here’s the packet by SMR Architects, if you’re interested in design/layout details.) When the city first put the project out to bid last year, no one bid. So they tried again this year, and Walsh Construction was the winning bidder; SHA spokesperson Kerry Coughlin says the contract is for $32 million and that the building is expected to open by spring 2023.
From today’s city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin, a longstanding proposal for the High Point site of True Living Church has reached the official application stage, three years after the first preliminary “site plan” was filed. The project with an official address of 2900 SW Myrtle [map] is described as “17, 3-story, single-family dwelling units with attached accessory dwelling units. Parking for 34 vehicles proposed.” Much of the site is open space now; project documents include these notes from a meeting with city planners:
…The site is 115793 SF+/- and includes (Environmental Critical Area) Steep Slope Areas and Salmon Watershed. The arborist has also identified numerous exceptional trees and groves present on the property.
It is proposed to proceed with a Clustered Housing Planned Development Administrative Conditional Use Process by eliminating any development within the steep slope area and buffer. It is also proposed to retain exceptional trees and groves.
The notice explains how to comment; deadline is August 4th.
After the Southwest Design Review Board took its first look at the 4448 California SW proposal last week, we wondered about the status of other planned West Seattle Junction projects that have long since finished Design Review but aren’t under construction yet. Our first followup is about 4747 California SW, with a development team including Husky Deli proprietor Jack Miller, whose legendary Junction shop would be the building’s major commercial occupant.
(Rendering by Ankrom Moisan)
The SW Design Review Board gave its final thumbs-up to the project in a meeting two years ago tonight, on July 19th, 2019. At the time, Miller told us that if all went well, they might be able to start construction about a year later. But now two years have passed. Miller’s partner in the project, West Seattle-residing developer Ed Hewson, told us last September that the project was still “moving forward,” albeit “slowly.” We just checked in with him again. “Our project is definitely on the shelf for a little while but certainly not cancelled,” Hewson told WSB. “Currently this is a casualty of the bridge and Covid, which has put enough of the dent in the West Seattle rental market for anyone to start any new apartment projects of any size.”
There’s one major project close to wrapping up, Legacy Partners’ Maris at 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW, but Hewson notes it “probably started just in time to get a construction loan, but might not have been feasible after January 2020. We are hoping they have great success and make our neighborhood attractive to lenders again despite the slow-go on the bridge repair.”
The 4747 California SW plan was approved as a proposal for 73 units, 45 offstreet-parking spaces, ~5,000 square feet of retail, in a 7-story building (though the site is zoned for 9). Hewson added, “We love the Husky Deli plan and can’t wait to get started when the West Seattle world gets back to normal!”
(WSB photo: Project site in foreground)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The newest mixed-use proposal for The Junction will have to try again for Early Design Guidance approval.
That’s what the Southwest Design Review Board ordered tonight after its first look at the 96-apartment mixed-use plan for 4448 California SW.
SWDRB chair Scott Rosenstock and members John Cheng, Patrick Cobb, and Alan Grainger were in attendance for the online meeting, along with the project’s assigned city planner Greg Johnson. This phase of Design Review focuses on the building’s size. shape, and placement on the site, and board members generally favored the exterior of the development team’s preferred option, but took issue with mostly interior details.
Here’s how the meeting unfolded:
The newest redevelopment proposal for The Junction goes to the Southwest Design Review Board in an online meeting this Thursday. It’s a first look at 4448 California SW, in the Early Design Guidance phase, so the proposal focuses on options for the building’s size, shape, and placement on site, not its final appearance. It’s proposed for 96 apartments across six stories over ground-floor commercial space, no offstreet parking proposed (none is required), on a parcel zoned for up to 75 feet, currently holding the commercial building that’s rented to Doll Parts Collective and a mortgage lender. Here’s the meeting packet by architects Atelier Drome:
(You can also see the meeting packet here.) Information on how to attend/watch/listen to the meeting at 5 pm Thursday (July 15th), and how to comment on the project’s design, can be found here.
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