West Seattle, Washington
25 Sunday
(Rendering by Atelier Drome Architecture)
Five months after passing the final stage of Design Review, the project planned for 3417 Harbor SW – just north of the west end of the West Seattle Bridge – has received land-use approval. Today’s city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin includes the decision on the proposal for a 5-story building with 115 apartments and 65 offstreet parking spaces. This opens a two-week period for appeals – if you’re interested in filing one, this notice explains how; May 13th is the deadline. We first reported on the plan for this redevelopment project two years ago; its first Southwest Design Review Board meeting was the last one held in-person pre-pandemic; its second and final review was online last November. The project still needs other permits before construction – building and demolition among them.
Two more teardown-to-townhouse projects are now in the city’s “early-design outreach” phase – meaning they’re required to let the neighborhood know they’re planned. Both are on blocks with other redevelopment projects:
6021 42ND SW: This proposal [map] is for three townhouse units facing 42nd SW and two behind them, replacing a 102-year-old house.
Online documents say one offstreet-parking spot per unit is planned, and that the project will go through Streamlined Design Review (explained here), meaning no public meetings, though there will be a comment period. Contact information is in this city-website post. (Added: Thanks to the commenter who points out this house was damaged by fire half a year ago.)
2612 45TH SW: Though the city-website post has two different descriptions about the project’s scope, we checked other online documents and they show 7 townhouse units with 6 offstreet-parking spaces, replacing a 108-year-old house:
This site [map] also is planned for Streamlined Design Review.
Also discussed at this month’s Alki Community Council meeting – an early-design survey has been launched by the developers of a Duwamish Head site on which we’ve reported multiple times in the past year. A 65-unit project is proposed for 1001-1116 Alki Avenue SW, currently the site of six old houses. As part of the “early community outreach” process, the developers have set up this project website, which notes:
N&M Management LLC and MZA Architecture are partnering on the redevelopment of 1001 – 1116 Alki Ave SW. The proposed 6-story residential building will include:
65 residential units
102 parking stalls
bike parking
a rooftop patio
(That’s the minimum number of offstreet-parking spaces mandated for area development by the Alki Parking Overlay district – one and a half per unit.) The website includes a community survey that’s open for two more weeks. The ACC discussion was brief; the developers weren’t at the meeting, so it was more of an FYI. But a few attendees expressed concern that the project’s size was out of scale for the area. The project’s official address is 1116 Alki.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Tonight the five-story mixed-use proposal for 9218 18th SW won first-stage Design Review approval on the second try.
In the Southwest Design Review Board‘s first meeting of the year, present were the board’s new chair Scott Rosenstock and members John Cheng and Alan Grainger, along with the project’s assigned city planner David Sachs, and Design Review program manager Lisa Rutzick. The board had told the project team last October to give the Early Design Guidance phase a second try.
ARCHITECT’S PRESENTATION: Presenting from Caron Architecture was principal Radim Blazej, who brought a team including project manager Andrew Kluess. They described the 5-story project as apartments – about 56, with 28 offstreet parking spaces (though none is required) – over commercial space fronting both Delridge and 18th.
From today’s city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin: A notice of land-use approval for a six-house project to be added on a site that currently holds one house on Puget Ridge, at 6550 21st SW [map]. You can read the decision here. The site is just over an acre. The city website says off-street parking is planned for 12 vehicles to go along with the six 2-story houses. The decision also notes that seven “exceptional” trees are on the site and that plans call for preserving all of them. The decision can be appealed – this notice explains how – with the deadline set at April 12th.
That’s the Caron Architecture design packet (also viewable here) for 9218 18th SW [map], a South Delridge mixed-use project that goes back before the Southwest Design Review Board in an online meeting this Thursday (April 1st). The project is described as a 5-story, 58-unit apartment building with commercial space, plus offstreet parking for 28 vehicles and 63 bicycles. This is the second Early Design Guidance meeting for the project, after the board told the project team in October to try again. Thursday’s meeting is at 5 pm, with viewing/listening info here; here’s how to comment on the proposal before, during, and/or after the meeting.
(Photo by Eddie, from the crane’s installation in October 2019)
Thanks to Sharonn for forwarding the alert from Compass Construction: The tower crane that’s been working on the 2-building Maris Apartments project at 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW and 4721 38th SW is coming down tomorrow (Saturday, March 27th), after a year and a half. The notice says that will re-route vehicle traffic off Fauntleroy between Alaska and Edmunds and will close the pedestrian walkway on the east side of that block. Removal of this tower crane will leave one in West Seattle, at the 1250 Alki SW project.
That’s an early-design concept for 1123 Harbor SW, the site from which the historic “Stone Cottage“ will soon be moved. The project is expected to have six stories, 18 residential units, and 27 off-street parking spaces. The project’s land-use application is now filed, opening a two-week comment period, through April 7th – the notice explains how to comment. As announced last weekend, the “Stone Cottage” move is expected to happen soon, probably next month.
Two updates on development sites we’ve mentioned before in their earliest stages:
(Image courtesy Google Maps/Street View)
1116 ALKI SW: It’s been almost a year since we first mentioned an early-stage concept for “50 to 65” residential units replacing houses on six lots including the one with the official project address. Now it’s officially entering the Early Design Guidance phase of Design Review, and the description has firmed up to “a six-story residential building with 65 units, 100 parking stalls, and a rooftop terrace.” (The Alki area has a “parking overlay” that requires one and a half spaces for each residential unit.) The formal comment period hasn’t opened yet, but if you have a question, there’s a project-contact email address in this notice.
6007 CALIFORNIA SW: Four days ago, we mentioned the early-stage site plan for a four-story mixed-use building to replace the preschool and fourplex on this site in north Morgan Junction. No new details on the plan yet, but the project team has just launched a webpage and hotline for community comment as part of the “early outreach” requirements.
The new office/warehouse building that Bee’s Plumbing plans for its new HQ at 2216 SW Orchard [map] has arrived at “early design guidance” feedback time. The project at the ex-Tug Inn site is proposed for 3-4 stories (the site is zoned for up to 5), with about 7,000 square feet of office space, 5,000 sf of warehouse/office space, and offstreet parking for more than 40 vehicles. The project is going through the Administrative Design Review process, which means no community meetings, though community feedback is invited. Here’s architect Andrew Finch‘s design packet for this stage of the process, focused on massing (size and shape). The notice published today sets March 31st as the early-design feedback deadline and explains how to send yours.
Two development notes this morning:
6007 CALIFORNIA SW: An early-stage site plan has been filed proposing a “new 4-story mixed use building” for 6007 California SW [map]. currently the site of a preschool/day-care facility and a 4-plex.
No other details, since this is a very early filing; the site-outline document is by the architecture firm Atelier Drome.
4515 44TH SW UPDATE: It’s been almost a year since we first reported a plan for apartments at the former CDE Software site in The Junction, at 4515 44th SW [map].
(King County Assessor’s Office photo)
The formal application is now in the comment stage, according to a notice in today’s city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin, which now describes the project as a “4-story apartment building with 43 small efficiency dwelling units. No parking proposed.” You can comment through March 29th; the notice explains how.
Demolition has begun at 2715 California SW, across from Hiawatha, clearing the site where the long-planned Admiral Station mixed-use development will be built. We reported on the project’s land-use approval two years ago, when it was described as a “4-story, 49-unit apartment building (44 units and 5 small efficiency units) with retail and office” and 46 off-street parking spaces. The view above is from the alley on the west side of the site. Here’s a rendering from when the project went through Design Review in 2017:
(Rendering from design packet by architect for project’s second Design Review Board meeting)
The site held three small commercial/residential buildings; construction is expected to last about a year. (Thanks to the reader whose recent tip about activity at the site put this back on our watch list!)
The Southwest Design Review Board‘s calendar has been empty for months, but now it shows the tentative date for a review meeting: The second Early Design Guidance review for 9218 18th SW [map] is set for 5 pm April 1st, online. The project is expected to be mixed use, 5 stories, 56 units, some retail space, and 28 offstreet-parking spaces, according to Caron Architecture‘s draft packet for the next review. Its first review was four months ago; the board told the architects to try again. Our report from the October meeting details the concerns voiced by board members. The meeting will include a public-comment period; when it gets closer, viewing information and the final design packet will be accessible on this webpage.
2:40 PM WEDNESDAY: That’s the former West Seattle Christian Church preschool building, more recently an arts center and clothing bank, on the southwest corner of 42nd SW and SW Genesee, and if you want to take one last look at it, your time is running out. Multiple sources tell WSB it’s set for demolition starting tomorrow (a no-parking zone has been in effect around the building since yesterday). It’s been a year and a half since we first reported on the redevelopment plan for this site, which was upzoned to a 55-foot maximum by HALA Mandatory Housing Affordability.
It’s expected to include 72 “small efficiency dwelling units” – microapartments – and 5 live-work units, with 36 offstreet-parking places.
10:53 AM THURSDAY: We went by to check, and indeed, demolition is under way:
ORIGINAL 2:35 PM: Just discovered in city files: Another redevelopment proposal for The Junction. This one would be a 7-story mixed-use building with almost 100 apartments, proposed to replace 4448-4456 California SW – the California/Oregon buildings that formerly held a real-estate office and currently hold The Salon at The Junction and Shadowland, plus a small office building (which includes the West Seattle Junction Association headquarters).
(King County Assessor’s Office photos)
(7 stories is what the site is zoned for – 75 feet.) This is a very early-stage proposal, meaning actual construction would be years away; this roughed-out site plan was filed Friday by the architecture firm Atelier Drome County Assessor’s Office records show the north part of the site is owned by an LLC headed up by Craig Haveson of STS Construction Services (WSB sponsor), who has been busy in South Delridge redevelopment lately. and the south part is owned by an LLC including Shadowland founders. We have followup questions out to a project spokesperson and will add whatever else we find out.
7:02 PM: Michelle Linden from Atelier Drome has answered some of our questions and provided a key correction: “There is a typo that we are working to correct with the City. The addresses are 4448 and 4452. The Shadowland building is not part of this project.” So Shadowland fans can stand down. She adds, in response to two other questions we asked: “We are planning for regular apartments (not micros) with commercial at the ground floor. Parking is tbd.”
(‘Preferred alternative’ massing for 7035 Delridge)
From today’s city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin: The city has reissued its notice that a land-use application has been filed by the developers planning 9 townhouses at 7035 Delridge Way SW. The project, which includes 9 offstreet-parking spaces, has been in the pipeline for more than two years. It’s been going through Administrative Design Review; here’s the original design packet from last August. Comments will be accepted through February 2nd; the new notice explains how to send in yours.
(King County Assessor’s Office photo)
South Delridge continues to be a redevelopment hot spot. One year ago, we noted a project proposed for 9020 15th SW [map] – six 2-story houses, with offstreet parking for six vehicles, replacing the house shown above. The site is 13,000+ square feet, zoned Residential Small Lot, which allows one unit for every 2,000 square feet. The plan now has city land-use approval, which means an appeal period is open, deadline January 25th, as explained by this notice.
One year after we first reported on a redevelopment plan for a HALA-upzoned Morgan Junction site, the early-design proposal has appeared on the city’s Design Review site. You can see the packet here. The site’s official address is 6314 41st SW, but it also spans 6308 41st and 4023 SW Grahamp. The project will go through Administrative Design Review, which means no public meeting, though comments will be taken via email. The proposal is now described as “three apartment buildings (3, 4, and 5 stories) with 6 Efficiency Dwelling Units and 30 apartment units (36 units total). Parking for 15 vehicles proposed.” The design packet shows a mix of studios, 1 bedrooms, and 2 bedrooms. The developer/designer is still Texas-based StoryBuilt, though property records still don’t show a change in ownership. The parcels in this project were originally put on the market in 2017, as part of a package that floated the idea of a larger project, but instead the area’s seen smaller proposals such as this one and townhouse clusters. Design comments for this project? greg.johnson@seattle.gov is who to email.
More than two years after clearing the first phase of Design Review, the redevelopment proposal for 3201 SW Avalon Way – site of the Golden Tee Apartments [map] – is back on the front-burner. We dug into the file after a tip from C that the city put up new signs today. Documents show the project has gone through some changes since that 2018 meeting (WSB coverage here) – including a new architect (Public47 has replaced NK) and a change in toplines (now 8 stories, 144 units, 70 offstreet-parking spaces, previously 7/150/85). The new signage mentions a “grocery store and restaurant” but the new documentation shows two retail spaces only totaling 3,600+ square feet on the building’s north side. The project still needs to go before the Southwest Design Review Board at least one more time, but that’s not yet on the board’s calendar (which currently is wide open for 2021).
Two development notes from the city’s latest Land Use Information Bulletin:
1606 CALIFORNIA SW COMMENT TIME: This site in North Admiral has had redevelopment plans for seven years – but they’ve changed over time, from a small apartment building, to the current plan, an 8-unit rowhouse project, 3-stories with 8 offstreet parking spaces in “basement garages.” Its developers have now applied for a land-use permit, and that’s opened a public comment period through December 21st. This notice explains how to comment.
6940 25TH SW: The city has denied a developer’s request to be exempted from a requirement “to extend the public drainage system across the full frontage of the property.” specifically, extending “a 12-inch diameter storm drainage main … from an existing 18” storm drainage main in SW Myrtle St north along 25th Avenue SW approximately 300 feet to the north boundary of the property.” A representative of the developer, who was considering buying the 22,400-sf site to build at least three houses, said the requirement would “caus(e) a severe and unexpected financial hardship.” In a written decision, the city disagreed:
Since this property has not even been purchased … it cannot reasonably be claimed to meet the test of 22.800.040.C(a) as a severe financial hardship, and as the requirement was communicated to the applicant during the City’s first notification of the proposed project on 8/5/2019, neither can it be considered unexpected.
It’s not clear whether the proposed project is still active; county property records show the land is still in the same ownership as it had since long before this proposal, and there were no permit applications since the aforementioned 2019 date.
Just announced by the mayor’s office:
Seattle Mayor Jenny A. Durkan announced new steps to further electrify buildings using clean energy and ban fossil fuels for most building use. By updating its energy code, the City will ban the use of fossil fuels in new commercial and large multi-family construction for space and most water heating in order to cut down on the significant emissions contributed by the building sector. Space and water heating account for most building gas use according to City and national data. These actions come as new City data show building emissions have been steadily increasing in past years. …
After years of notable progress in reducing climate pollution, Seattle’s most recent greenhouse gas inventory shows that Seattle’s overall core greenhouse gas emissions – emissions from our waste, transportation, and building energy sectors – increased 1.1% since the last report. The largest greenhouse gas emissions increase was the buildings sector, which increased 8.3% between 2016 and 2018, a significant jump. Major factors contributing to the increase in building emissions are new buildings with fossil gas space and water heating, colder winters, warmer summers, and a growing population and workforce. Residents and businesses will be able to view additional data and visualizations by visiting the Office of Sustainability and Environment site. ….
The proposed Seattle Energy Code update includes the following key changes for commercial and large multifamily buildings:
-Eliminates all gas and most electric resistance space heating systems
-Eliminates gas water heating in large multifamily buildings and hotels
-Improves building exteriors to improve energy efficiency and comfort
-Creates more opportunities for solar power
-Requires electrical infrastructure necessary for future conversion of any gas appliances in multifamily buildings …In 2019, Mayor Durkan issued an Executive Order committing the City to new actions that will support the goals of Seattle’s Green New Deal. In addition to requiring all new or substantially altered City of Seattle buildings operate without fossil fuels, City departments work with the Office of Sustainability & Environment to develop a strategy to eliminate fossil fuel use in existing City buildings, improve data collection and sharing on Seattle’s climate emissions and engage stakeholders like the philanthropic community, business community, labor community, non-governmental organizations, health care community, county and state agencies, state legislators, and tribes achieve the goals of the Green New Deal. …
The Mayor will transmit legislation to City Council at the end of the year. City Council will discuss the legislation, and with their vote of approval, would allow code updates to become effective in the spring of 2021, along with the full suite of Seattle building code changes in line with the statewide building code updates. For more information about the proposed energy code updates, including the proposed code language, visit the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections energy code web page.
You can read the full announcement here.
(Massing sketch from October meeting)
Now that the newest plan for the ex-auto-shop site at 9201 Delridge Way SW has passed the first phase of Design Review (here’s our coverage from October), the project team has applied for a land-use permit, and that’s opened the next round of comments. The project is in the city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin today with a different address, 9208 20th SW. The proposal is now for a 5-story, 77-unit building – 73 apartments and 4 small efficiency dwelling units, and no offstreet parking. You can comment through December 16th; this notice explains how. The project also will have to have at least one more meeting before the Southwest Design Review Board; no date yet
(Rendering by Atelier Drome Architecture)
The Southwest Design Review Board voted last night to give its final approval to the 115-apartment proposal for 3417 Harbor SW, just north of the west end of the West Seattle Bridge. All five board members were there for the online meeting – eight and a half months after the first review at the board’s last in-person meeting – along with the city’s assigned planner Crystal Torres and architect Michelle Linden from Atelier Drome Architecture. Board members agreed that the architects had done a good job of followup on the recommendations from the first meeting. Most of the board thought the east side facing Harbor could use more balconies. Linden said that the current design reflects SDOT‘s rules on how to use space above streets, but she would see if it is possible to add balconies.The board also wanted the architect to rethink the materials for the southeast-entrance area. Public comment came from neighbors on 30th behind the building. One said they appreciated meeting with the developer and architects, but the building just isn’t in keeping with the overall character of the neighborhood. The others also said the building wasn’t what they thought should be in the space, again because it is out of character. Design Review boards, however, only have say over the design (see the meeting packet here), not veto power over projects. You can still comment on other aspects of the proposal, though, through the planner – email crystal.torres@seattle.gov – as it continues to go through other reviews for land-use and construction permitting.
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