West Seattle, Washington
10 Monday
The next design review is now set for the six-story, 120-apartment project that is now in the records as 3261 SW Avalon Way (different from the address used during its first review three months ago). It’ll come back before the Southwest Design Review Board at 6:30 pm Thursday, November 17th, at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon in The Junction); here’s the official project page.
As was pointed out in the walking tour/casual chat preceding last night’s official City Council Committee on the Built Environment public hearing, the current plan for the West Seattle Triangle’s future has been more than three years in the making. But, as you’ll hear in our video of the hearing, some feel it’s still missing major components.
Fall 2008 was when the Triangle’s potential burst into the spotlight, with three meetings in West Seattle. Of particular note – as a reminder of how things can change – is a September 2008 West Seattle Chamber of Commerce-convened meeting to review eight key Triangle and Junction developments that were in the pipeline then (see the story here, for a trip back in the time machine). Three mixed-use projects have since been completed – Harbor Properties‘ Link and Mural (WSB sponsors) and Leon Capelouto‘s Capco Plaza; the plan for two sites have changed (what was going to be BlueStar’s Gateway Center is now becoming Trader Joe’s, and Harbor is developing Nova on a smaller 36th/Alaska parcel); while three other sites’ futures are still in play (“The Hole,” sold last Friday at auction; the property Conner Homes is selling at California/Alaska/42nd; and “Spring Hill” at 5020 California).
Even earlier that year – before a pivotal November 2008 meeting to semi-officially start a city-involved process – the area had been under discussion as the “West Seattle gateway,” as noted here. And that’s the point it’s not addressing well enough, councilmembers were told.
West Seattle-residing Councilmember Tom Rasmussen has been involved along much of the way, and last night he was one of the four councilmembers listening to public testimony (along with Sally Clark, who chairs Built Environment, vice chair Tim Burgess, and Sally Bagshaw) at the Senior Center of West Seattle. What is in the works now involves an “urban design” vision that the city may codify – and some zoning changes, including “neighborhood commercial” for much of The Triangle itself, and an area mostly on its west side that may be upzoned to 85-foot buildings (which, the way the rules really work, could be even taller).
What’s next with the Triangle proposals? Councilmember Clark said it was too soon to say whether a final vote might come by year’s end; it’s expected to come up again at a November 16th meeting downtown. Last night’s presentation graphics/documents, by the way, are linked from the meeting’s online agenda.
A rainbow appeared over The Triangle just as a walking tour preceding tonight’s zoning-change public hearing began.
Also as the tour began, Harbor Properties‘ Denny Onslow revealed that groundbreaking will happen soon for their new development, all-residential Nova, at 36th/Snoqualmie (if our rainbow photo atop this story were wider, Nova’s site would be on the left, north of The Grove). According to Onslow, if all goes as planned, construction will start around Halloween. Here’s the design shown at its second and final Design Review meeting last summer:
Nova is planned as 62 apartments, no retail. Right now, City Councilmembers Sally Clark and Sally Bagshaw are at another Harbor building, the 5-month-old mixed-use building Link (WSB sponsor), in a casual conversation with community/business reps preceding the hearing.
More notes to come – with full coverage of that hearing later. If you have something to say about the Triangle’s future – should some areas be upzoned to 85-foot buildings? for example – be at the Senior Center of West Seattle, 6 pm.
(WSB photo of ‘The Hole,’ May 2011)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
We’re at the King County Administration Building downtown, where the stalled development site formerly known as Fauntleroy Place, better known in West Seattle as “The Hole,” has just been auctioned off, three years after development stalled and collapsed into a court fight.
After the case was settled back in June, the resulting foreclosure sale was scheduled for today, and happened without much fanfare, shortly after 10 this morning, as part of the regularly scheduled foreclosure auctions.
Pending completion of paperwork, payment, etc., 3922 SW Alaska LLC is the winning (and only) bidder, announced by King County Sheriff’s Office fill-in auctioneer Dave Easterly, at $32.3 million. See and hear for yourself:
3922 SW Alaska LLC has been the on-the-record noteholder; it’s an entity linked to Madison Development. Its bid was submitted in writing.
Now what? We had checked with a spokesperson for 3922 earlier this week, and the response we got back yesterday was: “We are confident and hopeful that the next steps determining the future of this site will take place soon, but it would be premature to discuss any details at this time.” We are of course checking again; it should be noted that Madison has a page on its website for Fauntleroy Place, listed as 64,000 square feet of retail, 180,000 square feet of apartments. They also have a project under way in West Seattle right now – Element 42, the apartments on the southeast side of the Admiral Safeway site.
Under previous developers, the project was scheduled to have a Whole Foods Market as well as a Hancock Fabrics store (the latter, to replace one torn down on the site), but Whole Foods formally pulled out of the project in July 2010, since terms of its lease – to have a store ready to go by a certain date – were not fulfilled.
More to come! (Footnote: No official comment from Madison by day’s end. Hopefully next week.)
It wasn’t just celebration at Saturday’s Delridge Day festival, presented by the North Delridge Neighborhood Council – it was also about information, including one of the hottest current topics in the neighborhood, 
Downtown Emergency Service Center‘s proposal for 75 apartments in the 5400 block of Delridge Way SW to house homeless people living with mental illness (and in some cases, sustance abuse). One week earlier, we reported on Delridge neighborhood advocates’ tour of two DESC facilities in Columbia City and Cascade, and mentioned their plan for a town-hall-style forum. The date has now been announced: Tuesday, October 11th (evening, time TBA), at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center. NDNC distributed flyers on Saturday in multiple languages. They also have launched a website with info about the forum; see it here.
Developers of the revived/resold 26th/Dakota project came to last night’s North Delridge Neighborhood Council meeting at Dragonfly Pavilion with a few big updates.
(From left, NDNC’s Kirsten Smith, Michael Taylor-Judd, Diane Vincent, developer Maria Barrientos, NDNC’s Amanda Leonard)
Maria Barrientos from Barrientos LLC said construction would start on the project (whose revival was first reported here a month ago) in a matter of days. (Also present was a rep from primary developer Legacy Partners, but Barrientos led the discussion.) And she revealed the 190-apartment building (designed years ago as condos, but then the market changed) now has a name: Cooper at Youngstown. (It’s close to the historic Cooper School, which in turn is now home to Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.) This morning, as we were writing this story, a news release announcing the impending construction arrived. Read on for more of what Barrientos had to say last night, plus that news release:Read More
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Downtown Emergency Service Center‘s proposal for a 75-unit Delridge building to house mentally ill homeless people is still in an early stage, though three months have elapsed since it first came to light.
It’s not a case of “out of sight, out of mind.” Far from it. Delridge neighborhood advocates are planning a town-hall-style meeting for next month, with more discussion of and information about the 5444 Delridge Way project, and this past weekend, a small group toured DESC’s two newest buildings to try to get more of a feeling for what might be headed their way.
They have Department of Neighborhoods assistance in trying to bring the community more information about the proposed project, as part of a small matching-funds grant, and so district coordinators Yun Pitre and Steve Louie were along for the tour, in a city van that set out for a three-hour tour that turned into four on Saturday.
We’ve been reporting for months on the city planning process that could result in zoning changes for The Triangle and the east side of The Junction, including a larger area where buildings up to 85 feet would be allowed, and changes in commercial zoning. Now, the date is set for an official hearing before a City Council committee, and if you have anything to say before these proposals become law, that’s your chance. Here’s the short description of the proposal:
The Department of Planning and Development (DPD) is proposing to amend Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 23.32, the Official Land Use Map, and Section 23.47A.013, and enact a new Section 23.47A.009, to rezone areas within the West Seattle Junction Hub Urban Village (West Seattle Triangle planning area).
The DPD proposal would: (1) rezone areas from Commercial 1 (C1) to Neighborhood Commercial 3 (NC3), (2) establish a pedestrian (P) designation along SW Alaska Street between 36th Avenue SW and 41st Avenue SW, (3) increase allowable heights to 85 feet in certain commercially-zoned areas west of 38th Avenue SW, (4) introduce new development standards in the proposed NC3 85 zone to control the bulk of new structures and increase pedestrian circulation, (5) apply incentive zoning provisions within the 85 foot zone, and (6) resolve “split-zoned” lots by rezoning a portion of three lots to NC3 65.
The hearing will be at 6 pm October 11th at the Senior Center of West Seattle (if you want to speak, signups will start at 5:30), California/Oregon in The Junction. If you absolutely can’t be there – you can e-mail your thoughts in advance (deadline 5 pm 10/11) to Councilmember Sally Clark, whose Committee on the Built Environment is holding the hearing, at sally.clark@seattle.gov.
2:07 PM UPDATE: The Land Use Information Bulletin is out now with a city link to the notice. You can also read the proposed zoning-change (etc.) ordinance on the city’s Triangle-planning website – go here.
The demolition work under way today at 5020 California SW, the future mixed-use development site known as “Spring Hill” (no relation to the popular restaurant), is a mixed blessing for at least some of its neighbors.
On one hand, the multiplexes on the site have been eyesores – plagued with squatters, tagging, and other vandalism – for the past few years. The project was once on a faster track, back when original developer BlueStar was also developing what’s now known as “The Hole” and even looking at developing what’s now being remodeled as the future West Seattle Trader Joe’s. If you don’t live nearby, you might not even have noticed how badly trashed the site had become, since from California SW, it’s hard to see – even now with demolition under way:
(The top view is from the alley on the site’s east side.) On the other hand, the neighbors fought hard, during the original round of design review 3 years ago, for development guidelines that might somewhat minimize the future apartment/retail building’s effects on nearby residents. Then the site went into foreclosure and was idle till the project was revived under new ownership earlier this summer (as first reported here and here), with an increased number of apartments – 101, instead of the original 91. The city did not require the reopening of design review for the change, but did offer neighbors reassurance that the increase would not result in any notable change to the building’s size or appearance. The developer, Burien-based F & M, has not responded to our requests for comment, so we don’t know their timeline, but we do know the city’s online files show some necessary permits are not yet finalized, and also show a recent complaint (demolition may be rendering it moot).
OUR ‘HOLE’: Following up on our recent report that the order of foreclosure sale has been issued for “The Hole,” the stalled 39th/Alaska development site known formally as “Fauntleroy Place,” the sale date has been set: 10 am October 7th, at the King County Courthouse downtown.
GREEN LAKE’S ‘HOLE’: The former Vitamilk property has been in similar straits for a few years. It’s easy – as it has been for “ours” – to make whimsical suggestions of what to do about a “hole,” but it’s not so easy to make an intricately crafted fake, city-style “Land Use” sign like this one that’s getting national attention this weekend:
Our fellow neighborhood-news publisher Amy Duncan published that photo from reader John Creed on her site MyGreenLake.com – where you can appreciate the photo in a larger size – and it’s been picked up by several national sites this weekend. (Thanks, Amy, for letting us share the photo too.) Green Lake’s “hole” is now scheduled for a new project, as MGL explains in their first story about the sign; as for ours, depends on what happens with the aforementioned sale.
(WSB photo of ‘The Hole,’ May 2011)
When we first reported back in June about a settlement ending the legal battle over “The Hole” — the excavated-then-stalled development site at 39th/Alaska, once known as Fauntleroy Place — we noted that the court case was technically kept open for one last matter to be overseen by Superior Court Judge Susan Craighead — the foreclosure sale of the property.
Today, court documents were filed to officially order that sale.
No date yet. Earlier this year, a sale date was briefly in place, till the entity that has hoped to take over the site – 3922 SW Alaska LLC, a spinoff of Madison Development – got the sale postponed by putting up a bond. In the meantime, the judge suggested mediation and that finally led to a settlement. Full details of that settlement have yet to publicly surface, but bits and pieces of it keep turning up in the online files. Here’s what we reported in June; since then, nothing much except an “order to disburse funds” in late July. We have been watching the files closely, and now we’ll be watching for a sale date. Results of that sale will determine what happens next with the site, once slated for a mixed-use development including residential units and a Whole Foods Market and Hancock Fabrics store.
(WSB photo from April 2009)
Almost two and a half years ago, it was the first stop on the “problem properties” tour organized by then-North Delridge Neighborhood Council chair Mike Dady (at left in our 2009 photo, with City Councilmember Tim Burgess) – a long-empty, vandal- and squatter-targeted, often-reported-to-the-city house on a slope facing the northeastern end of Delridge Way. Its address is officially 3804 23rd SW, and this morning, a tipster e-mailed us to point out that it’s just gone up for sale, with its 7,700-square-foot lot, for $100,000; public records say its owner bought it for half that 22 years ago. There’s a note on the listing (see it here with a variety of related details on Redfin, though the listing is credited to ReMAX): “Tear down. Value in land. View with caution.”
(WSB June 2011 photo looking at Conner site from QFC steps – it’s on Alaska’s south side, 42nd to California)
Eleven years after buying prime property in the heart of The Junction, currently planned for a two-building, 200-apartment development, Conner Homes president Charlie Conner says the site is going up for sale.
We just found this out, after asking Conner for a status report on the projects. Our request last week for comment was answered today by Conner, e-mailing us a letter he says was sent to “the Junction community” last week. The letter says he and his partners have chosen Turning Point Realty Advisors to put the site on the market, and says it’s not likely construction will start before summer 2012. The full text of Conner’s letter, ahead:Read More
A month and a half ago, we reported on the sale of the site south of The Junction known as “Spring Hill” 
(no relation to the restaurant), once slated to be developed by BlueStar, the original developer of what is now “The Hole.” The broker announced the new owners wanted to break ground ASAP on the mixed-use project site at 5020 California SW, currently holding three vacant, rundown buildings. Tonight, it looks like that plan is moving forward – the demolition permit has just been granted. And the city webpage for that permit reveals who the new owner is, something that wasn’t made public at the time the sale was announced – Burien-based F & M Development, which mentions the project on its website. A new land-use application indicates the project is changing somewhat from what was approved three years ago – it’s now set for 101 apartments, instead of 91 units, though the retail space is still described as the same size, 4,000 square feet. The renderings on the F & M website appear to be the same as those produced back in 2008, and the site mentions the same architect (Hewitt). Most of the projects listed on the F & M website are outside Seattle; the nearest one is Coronado Springs, a public-housing complex in White Center, redeveloped by F & M in 2004. We’ll be contacting them to find out more about the Spring Hill timetable and plan.
(Exterior signage going up this afternoon; photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
The official opening date and time is finally set for the new Admiral Safeway, which is close to complete, as you’ve noticed if you have driven by (or checked the construction webcam): It will open to the public at noon on Thursday, August 11th, Safeway’s Sara Osborne tells WSB. That’s ten days short of one year after the old store closed, three and a half years after first indication the store would be replaced, and one day earlier than the tentative opening date mentioned previously. More details about the opening festivities will be out soon, according to Osborne.
Other recent updates we’ve published regarding the redeveloped site (which is more than the store): Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt will join Umpqua Bank as a tenant in the new retail building north of the store along California SW, opening in September, and the 78-unit apartment project on the southeast side of the site will be called Element 42, with leasing scheduled to start sometime next year.
(Harbor’s Denny Onslow talking to SW Design Review Board about Nova; photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
Toplines from Thursday night’s two-project meeting of the Southwest Design Review Board at the Senior Center of West Seattle: Harbor Properties‘ 62-apartment Nova, proposed for a 36th/Snoqualmie site north of The Grove/West Seattle Inn motel in The Triangle, won unanimous approval.
Board members said the design brought before them (here’s the presentation “packet”) addressed the concerns/suggestions they had brought up during Nova’s “early design guidance” review earlier this year (WSB coverage here). You can track Nova via its city webpage here; we’ll be following up with Harbor regarding expected construction timetable. (P.S. For those wondering how much demand there is for new apartments – Harbor’s Onslow noted that its recently completed Link Apartments [WSB sponsor], two blocks from the Nova site, is now 70 percent leased.)
For the “early design guidance” review of the 117-apartment 3247 Avalon proposal (“packet” here), to cover what are currently five single-structure lots (one vacant) overlooking the West Seattle Golf Course: Board members asked the project team to give it another try and come back. They expressed comments similar to two members of the public who spoke – that all three design options bring the proposed building too close to its neighbors on both east and west sides; the latter sparked the most concern.
If you missed it “live” Wednesday morning, either at City Hall or via Seattle Channel, this video of the City Council Committee on the Built Environment meeting includes a 19-minute discussion that was the first step in what will be a months-long march toward a council vote on proposals to shape the West Seattle Triangle‘s future, including extensive rezoning. The discussion was last on the agenda for the meeting chaired by Councilmember Sally Clark; it starts 102 minutes in (as with most online video players, you can grab and drag the lower slider to fast-forward). The Department of Planning and Development senior planner who’s led much of the process so far, Susan McLain, gave the councilmembers an “initial overview” briefing on The Triangle itself (presentations are linked in the agenda), on the fact the planning involves an area to the west as well, and on key intents/concerns. It was repeatedly reiterated that the intention is not to chase away longtime businesses in what McLain called “a surprisingly diverse little area”; that was also brought up by the lone member of the public there to voice a comment, Karl de Jong from Admiral, who expressed concern about future building height resulting in “canyonization” and concern about existing businesses with “family-wage jobs” being pushed out.
No action was taken; next steps include a more extensive briefing on the proposed rezoning when the committee meets again on August 10th and, according to both McLain and Councilmember Clark, a public hearing in West Seattle sometime in September. Meanwhile, the public-comment period on the environmental Determination of Non-Significance regarding the proposals continues until August 4th – go here to find out how to have a say.
Will The Triangle’s transition from present to future include rezoning – buildings on its west side up to 85 feet, business areas in its central area rezoned to “neighborhood commercial”? The city’s proposals are about to get their first formal City Council review. The Committee on the Built Environment, chaired by Councilmember Sally Clark, meets at 9:30 am Wednesday; the agenda includes links to the documents they’ll review. (The second one is a briefing, featuring a page with some of what The Triangle’s known for – including, as the document labels it next to a photo, the “Infamous ‘Hole’.”) The meeting begins with a public-comment period, if you have anything to tell the committee about The Triangle (or other issues it’s considering).
P.S. Speaking of public comments – DPD is still taking your comments on the proposed Triangle plans/changes till August 4th. And documentation is now available on whether they would have environmental effects – the links (look for SEPA) are on the right side of the city’s Triangle-planning page.
The second “packet” for this Thursday’s Southwest Design Review Board doubleheader is now available – the design proposal for Nova, Harbor Properties‘ 62-apartment project at 36th/Snoqualmie in The Triangle, north of The Grove/West Seattle Inn motel. See the full “packet” of graphics and info here. Nova is the second of two projects on the Thursday night schedule, with discussion expected to start around 8 pm (its first SWDRB review was in March); the meeting begins at 6:30 pm with the “early design guidance” review for the 117-apartment 3247 Avalon Way project (its “packet” was available last week, as reported here). Both discussions will happen upstairs at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon).
If you’re keeping track of the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) proposal for a 75-unit apartment building in the 5400 block of Delridge Way SW, to provide permanent housing for homeless people dealing with mental illness/substance abuse, here’s an update: When we first reported on the proposal in mid-June, nothing was in the city Department of Planning and Development online system yet. Now, it is. There are two project numbers to track: This one is for the land-use permit application; this one is for the construction permit. Both are filed for the address 5444 Delridge Way. The page for the land-use application notes “Tree preservation and additional commercial space to be considered”; the latter came up at the first informational meeting for the project, a standing-room-only June 27th gathering at Delridge Library from which some were turned away. We are checking with DESC about future meeting plans.
Another multi-big-event night coming up – next Thursday, July 28th. That night brings the “Voice Your Views” West Seattle Candidates’ Forum … the first Summer Concerts at Hiawatha performance … and the next meeting of the Southwest Design Review Board, with, as first reported here a month ago, two projects on the schedule. The “packet” is now available online for one of those projects, 3247 Avalon Way, which is on the schedule for its “early design guidance” meeting. West Seattle-headquartered Nicholson Kovalchick is the architecture firm.
Their packet says this is proposed for 117 apartments and 117 parking places on five lots, four of which have single-family homes, one of which is vacant. The architects’ “preferred option” is a six-story H-shaped building, and though exterior design features aren’t required at an “early design guidance” session, the packet also includes their preferred option for that, which is the sketch we’re showing above. The “preferred option” would require so-called zoning “departures” including entering the building’s garage from two driveways on Avalon, rather than the alley behind the building, which has been the city’s preference for projects in recent years. The public meeting is at 6:30 pm next Thursday at the Senior Center of West Seattle, right before the 8 pm second design-review meeting for Harbor Properties‘ Nova (the “packet” for that isn’t online yet). Public comment will be taken on both projects.
As the new Admiral Safeway store gets closer to opening – now less than a month till the August 12th date – we have new information this morning about the apartments being built on the east side of the site. The developer is Kirkland-based Madison Development Group, also parent to the entity that is trying to take over the stalled Fauntleroy Place (aka “The Hole”) development. This morning, Madison has announced that the 78-unit apartment project along 42nd SW will be called “Element 42,” with 78 studio and one-bedroom apartments “designed for the working urbanite”; sizes range from 420-square-foot studios to 660-square-foot one-bedrooms with dens. They say the apartments will be available for leasing “in 2012” (what part of the year isn’t specified – we have a followup question out), and they don’t plan to announce the pricing until next year. Their announcement also says the buliding includes a 720-square-foot “amenity room” with a community kitchen, dining area, lounge area, and fireplace, and an “intimate 2,600-square-foot rooftop plaza” with views from the Olympics to the Cascades. You may recall, the building originally, under a different developer, was planned to include flex-work space and fewer apartments; Safeway said that developer couldn’t get financing for that project configuration, and the more-apartments plan was revealed. You can read Madison Development’s full news release about the apartment project’s status by going here (2-page PDF).
The official notices for an upcoming two-project Southwest Design Review Board meeting are in today’s Land Use Information Bulletin from the city. 
They include two changes from what was on the city schedule when we published first word of this meeting two weeks ago. The meeting is still on July 28th, but the location and order have changed. The meeting is now planned for the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon): At 6:30 pm, the board will take its first look at the 117-unit proposal for 3261 SW Avalon Way (site photo at right; here’s the notice); at 8 pm, the board will take its second look at Nova, the 62-unit Harbor Properties proposal for 4600 36th SW (here’s the notice).
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