West Seattle, Washington
29 Wednesday
The future of the vacant, recently cleaned-up High Point site at 35th and Graham (map) is again a question mark.
Last December, High Point-area residents were caught off guard to hear that the original plans for a mixed-use development on the northeast corner of 35th and Graham had been scrapped (WSB coverage here), and that a 90-townhome development (described in this story) was on the way instead. Seattle Housing Authority executive director Tom Tierney even came to High Point for a meeting at which he apologized for not letting homeowners know about it.
But this afternoon, we’ve confirmed that plan is dead. After getting a tip from Matt, we e-mailed SHA spokesperson Virginia Felton to ask about its status, and she replied: “The would-be buyer, Intracorp, decided that the project (90 townhomes) was not feasible for them at this time. Consequently, we are once again entertaining proposals for the site. Developers interested in the site may contact Frank Bosl at CB Richard Ellis.”
As of halfway through the city open house for the West Seattle Triangle draft proposals – which would rezone much of the area, including sites to the west, and put “streetscape” concepts on the record – about 40 people had stopped by. The lead planners on the project, Susan McLain and Robert Scully, are here, as are other city reps including Brian Hawksford from Councilmember Tom Rasmussen‘s office. It’s informal, with refreshments, and easels put up on two sides of the room for you to review, and to comment on if you choose – which some are doing with Post-It notes:
The open house continues until 8 pm. Your comments here count – as do comments sent by e-mail, postal mail, and phone; this Friday is the first deadline for comments on the proposals, and then, we’re told, there will be a second round. In the months ahead, the proposed Triangle plans will go to the City Council for review and votes, so if there’s something for which you want to express support or opposition, now’s the time. You can look at the plan online; major points include zoning changes that would allow higher buildings (85 feet) along the western side of the “planning area” and that would rezone what’s now “commercial” in much of the Triangle itself to “neighborhood commercial,” which means a future – if current businesses closed – that would look very different as it does now.
(WSB photo looking at the Conner site from QFC steps – it’s on Alaska’s south side, 42nd to California)
Another key approval is just in for the two-building Conner Homes project in the heart of The Junction – both of its buildings have won land-use approval. Here’s the notice for the California/Alaska building (7 stories, 70 apartments, 10,000+ square feet of commercial), and here’s the notice for the 42nd/Alaska building (7 stories, 126 apartments, 15,000 square feet of commercial). The decisions that triggered those two notices are both linked from the pages we’ve linked, as is information on how to appeal the decisions, which both finalize the reviewed design for the bulidings and the city’s determination of environmental non-significance. Anyone who wants to appeal either or both has to do so by July 7th.
The project roared back onto the front burner two months ago, when City Council votes were scheduled for an “alley vacation” needed to enable a single 271-space underground garage for both bulidings. For this story we published then, we spoke with site owner/developer Charlie Conner, who said they expect to start construction next year. One of the tenants on the site is vacating before then – as reported here on Monday, the city has decided to close the Neighborhood Service Center on June 30th.
(WSB photo of ‘The Hole,’ taken last month)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Some details remain elusive, but new court documents reveal some of what’s in the settlement that canceled plans for another trial in the longrunning legal fight over the stalled West Seattle development site dubbed “The Hole” (fully excavated for a parking garage between a once-planned Whole Foods/Hancock Fabrics/apartment building, then fenced off when it became clear things had fallen apart and gone to court).
To recap: We first reported news of a settlement on June 3rd. No one would comment on its details. Last week, King County Superior Court Judge Susan Craighead‘s bailiff Jennie Cowan told WSB they were expecting some kind of documents to be filed in the ensuing week or so – and bit by bit, that is now happening.
Just yesterday, we brought you news of a new project proposed on Avalon Way, a few lots east of 35th – six stories, 117 apartments, at 3261 Avalon. This morning, there’s word that it’s scheduled for its first Southwest Design Review Board “early design guidance” meeting. And the meeting on Thursday night, July 28th, will be a doubleheader – it also includes the second Design Review meeting for Nova, Harbor Properties‘ proposed 62-unit building at 4600 36th SW, adjacent to Merrill Gardens-West Seattle (WSB sponsor) and the motel now known as The Grove/West Seattle Inn. (Here’s our coverage of Nova’s first Design Review session.) The July 28th meeting will be at the Southwest Precinct meeting room, Delridge/Webster, with Nova at 6:30 pm, the Avalon project at 8 pm.
**7/21/11 NOTE – Since original publication, the meeting has moved to the Senior Center in The Junction, and the projects have reversed order, Avalon at 6:30, Nova at 8.**
Another long-dormant project is apparently about to get going again: the south-of-Junction 91-unit building called Spring Hill – no relation to the restaurant – by its previous developer, BlueStar (also the original developer of The Hole). BlueStar is long out of the picture and the site has been bank-owned for a while, and up for sale since 2009; our last update was in early 2010. Now, Paragon Real Estate Associates announced on its website that the site’s been sold to someone who wants to “break ground as soon as possible,” since the project passed Design Review 3 years ago and already has its land-use permit (though construction permits aren’t finalized, according to city online records). We’re still working to find out who bought it.
We discovered the 5020 California SW sale thanks to Jodee, who had e-mailed to point out another West Seattle item on the Paragon website, an Avalon Way sale described as a future 100-unit apartment complex. Actually, 117 units, according to an initial DPD entry for 3261 Avalon Way, one of the addresses that Paragon includes in its info about the sale. The buyer is Redmond-based CD Heritage LLC.
After two series of meetings with a citizens’ advisory group, the city planners working on the future of the West Seattle Triangle have gone public with two draft plans, opened a public-comment period, and announced a public open house.
THE PLANS: The draft “urban design framework” can be seen here; the draft “land use code and zoning amendments” can be seen here. The proposed zoning changes include a recommendation to increase maximum height to 85 feet in the bluish-purple area you see in the graphic above**; that suggestion had drawn concern in previous community-group reviews. The changes also would rezone what is now “commercial” land throughout The Triangle to “neighborhood commercial.”
COMMENT PERIOD AND OPEN HOUSE: The open house is scheduled for 6-8 pm June 29th at the Senior Center of West Seattle; public comment is being accepted on the two draft plans through July 1st – susan.mclain@seattle.gov – note that these plans are supposed to be voted on by the City Council later this summer, so if you want a say in what might eventually turn up in this area, this is your chance. Read on for an excerpt from the zoning/land-use document summarizing the proposed zoning changes, and more:Read More
The new developer/architect team for Oregon 42 – the proposed development at 42nd/Oregon in The Junction, a couple lots north of QFC/Capco Plaza – explained project changes to community members last night. In case you couldn’t be there, we recorded the 1-hour meeting on video. We detailed the changes here earlier this month, after Junction Neighborhood Organization president Erica Karlovits announced the project’s new leaders had contacted her to talk about the changes. Primary among them: The project has dramatically downsized its planned retail space, switching to more apartments instead. Karlovits raised issues on behalf of nearby neighbors, including parking and construction noise, but no conflicts or unaddressable concerns erupted. If the city signs off on the changes, the developers say they hope to start work by the end of the year; they believe construction would take about a year and a half. The deadline for comments on the project is June 29th (more in this story).
All quick notes, all from the same area of West Seattle, all businesses, so here’s the roundup:
‘THE HOLE’ SETTLEMENT: After breaking the news Friday that the longrunning legal fight over the stalled Fauntleroy Place project, alias ‘The Hole,’ had been settled, we had expected to discover the details by now. So far, no luck with any of various parties to the case. So we checked back today with the bailiff for King County Superior Court Judge Susan Craighead, who has been in charge of the case, to see what they’d heard. Jennie Cowan says the August 8th trial date technically is still on the books but, “It is likely the parties will file a notice indicating settlement and striking the trial date within the next week.” We’ll be watching for that.
TRADER JOE’S – ALL PERMITS IN HAND, PLUS …
The construction work is proceeding inside 4545 Fauntleroy Way, as the above photo (from Wednesday) would suggest, but never fear, outside work has now gotten the green light too (we reported the indoor permit back on May 21). The city has now granted ALL the requisite building/land-use permits listed on the official project page. And Trader Joe’s has applied for its West Seattle liquor license, too (for beer/wine tasting as well as beer/wine grocery store) – the online records yield a tiny tidbit: West Seattle will be TJ’s Store #157. (Its next new Northwest store, in the Kitsap County town of Silverdale, is scheduled to open one week from tomorrow.)
LES SCHWAB WORK INTENSIFIES:
Thanks to Celeste for the tip that, after the fence went up May 28th (she was one of the tipsters then too), crews are in view outside the future Les Schwab Tires location at 38th and Alaska. We first reported the plans in late January; the company has yet to publicly discuss its West Seattle location-in-progress, but we have yet another inquiry out and hope to hear back.
One week from tonight, the new architect/developer for Oregon 42 – the official name for the revived development plan for 42nd/Oregon in The Junction – will meet with interested community members (all welcome) to discuss its revised plan. We’ve been covering it here, including, on Monday, a then/now comparison with renderings from the 2008-2009 Design Review process compared to hard-copy versions from the current revisions on file with the city. Since then, new architect JBDG has provided a PDF document with two views of the project, then/now (the one you see above is a current view), as well as their toplines on what’s changed – more ahead:Read More
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
After learning the 42nd/Oregon project plan had changed, with 50 percent more apartments and about 80 percent less commercial space, Junction Neighborhood Organization president Erica Karlovits asked the new developers for the revised drawings.
According to correspondence she shared with JuNO members, they said they wanted to wait until they could show the drawings at the community meeting they had scheduled for June 15th.
That was a potential problem, as June 15th was also the deadline for public comments when the city sent official notice of the changes last week, but Karlovits says the city has just agreed to extend the deadline to June 29th.
If you want details sooner – including a look at a few of the new project-exterior renderings – hard copies are in the city files, so we went downtown to take a look:Read More
(WSB photo of ‘The Hole,’ taken last month)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
WSB has confirmed with two sources that the longrunning legal case involving the idled West Seattle development called Fauntleroy Place, but better known as ‘The Hole,’ has been settled.
That’s according to both the bailiff for King County Superior Court Judge Susan Craighead, who has been on the case, and one of the myriad attorneys representing the many parties involved.
Neither bailiff Jennie Cowan nor the lawyer had (or could divulge) details of the settlement, and there is no paperwork in the court system so far – so that’s all we know at this point, but we are continuing to work to find out additional information. There had been a motion hearing scheduled in the case this afternoon, but bailiff Cowan says that when lawyers informed the judge that a settlement had been reached, the hearing “was stricken.”
The case had gone to mediation at the suggestion of Judge Craighead, as we reported here in April, while a second trial date continued to approach. It’s a complicated case, and the judge already had rendered one decision back in November, to settle whose liens had priority. (That decision was appealed; we’ll be checking on its status.)
The big question for most West Seattleites, of course, is whether this will lead to the resumption of development at the site. Judge Craighead had repeatedly expressed concern about its safety, and suggested that it was important for the West Seattle community to see something done with the site sooner rather than later. At one point earlier this year, she ordered a foreclosure sale, but in February, it was called off at the last minute when the concern that wants to take possession of the site, 3922 SW Alaska LLC (associated with the owner of Madison Development), put up a $7.7 million cash bond.
Ground was ceremonially broken for Fauntleroy Place in June 2008; it was slated for a new Whole Foods Market (they have long since pulled out of the project), a new Hancock Fabrics store, and apartments. The development stalled later that year, and the squabbling over why and who was to blame has been at the heart of the legal fight.
We’ll add to this story as we find out more.
From the city Land Use Information Bulletin:
42ND/OREGON CHANGE-OF-PLANS COMMENT PERIOD OPEN: The official comment period has just opened for a project change on which we reported yesterday, the 42nd/Oregon (official address: 4502 42nd SW) development changing from 89 apartments and 20,000 sf of retail to 135 apartments and less than 3,000 sf of retail. Here’s the notice; it lists the comment deadline as June 15th (and explains how to comment). Though the city website cites May 18th as the “application date” for this proposed change, it has apparently been in the works for several months: CIty documents dated in January and in March related to the developer’s application for the Multi-Family Tax Exemption (that’s the tax break spotlighted recently by our partners at the Seattle Times), list the project as having 135 apartments, not the longstanding, already approved 89.
9030 35TH SW REVIVED: Also on the LUIB, an application for 9030 35th SW in Westwood. We last heard about this site more than three years ago – here’s our report from a Design Review meeting back then. At the time, developers were talking about four stories and 30 apartments; now the proposal is for five stories and 40 units. The new proposal doesn’t appear to address what was a controversial point in that earlier review – parking. In 2008, DR Board members were concerned that the 30-unit proposal had only 38 units, given parking challenges related to the nearby Southwest Library; this new 40-unit proposal has fewer spaces, 32. Here’s the notice for the new application, which also has a comment deadline of 6/15.
Significant changes for two long-in-the-works West Seattle projects – one in scope, one in cost:
MORE RESIDENTIAL UNITS, LESS COMMERCIAL SPACE: The long-idled project at 42nd/Oregon in The Junction (map), replacing those three houses and a fourth that made a much-watched move last summer, has changed plans, and architects. When the project went through city review back in 2008-2009, it had 89 residential units, and 20,000 square feet of commercial space. Now the owners are asking for revisions to their master-use permit, proposing 135 residential units and 2,900 square feet of commercial space. The building would remain at 7 stories (as originally planned); the underground parking garage would increase to 137 spaces, from 121. The new architects, JBDG (which designed Arrowhead Gardens on the southeastern edge of West Seattle), are scheduled to be part of a community meeting that Junction Neighborhood Organization president Erica Karlovits announced is scheduled two weeks from tonight, 6 pm June 15th, at the Senior Center of West Seattle.
Another project with a notable change:
(CLICK IMAGE FOR FULL-SIZE VERSION: Top of the rendering is west)
DENNY PROJECT PRICE RISES: As pointed out by the Save Seattle Schools site team, previewing the agenda for tonight’s Seattle School Board meeting: Board members are being asked to approve another $1.2 million for the project to tear down the old Denny International Middle School and put in six tennis courts, a softball field, and an “informal playfield,” while leaving room for a potential future new elementary school (the sports facilities are replacing the ones torn out to build the new Denny next to Sealth). The board approved a $4.9 million contract with BNBuilders last December; now they’re being asked to raise that to $6.1 million for reasons including:
The cost of this project includes funds to address several issues identified during the preconstruction phase. A larger than expected amount of unsuitable existing soils was discovered during the … pre-construction services phase. Funds to remove and replace these soils are included in this contract amendment. Additional hazardous materials abatement work was identified and is funded in this contract amendment. Additional electrical services are also included for possible future use.
Tonight’s school-board meeting is at district HQ in SODO at 6 pm; the Denny cost change is item 10 on the list of “introduction” items. A community meeting on the demolition/construction project is set for June 14th (more details in our original preview).
Last Saturday, we reported the first construction permit granted for the long-awaited West Seattle Trader Joe’s at 4545 Fauntleroy Way SW, meaning construction is imminent. And here’s another sign – as of this afternoon, the fence is up. We have a message out to corporate PR to ask if they have any update from the six-month construction schedule listed in the plans we reviewed downtown earlier this year. (ADDED 4:37 PM: A TJ’s spokesperson tells WSB they won’t get any more specific than “4th quarter” for an expected opening date.)
SIDE NOTE: Seems West Seattle Trader Joe’s fans have kindred spirits across the water in Kitsap County. They’re finally getting one, in Silverdale, – and this Kitsap Sun story about its impending opening next month includes the same sort of saga we’ve gone through here over years of rumors/etc.
Thanks to Nancy for sharing that photo of demolition in progress this morning at 4149 Beach Drive (map). It’s a 95-year-old house, listed on county rolls as a duplex, being torn down for what the city lists as a new 3-story single-family house with “accessory dwelling unit.” The city site says it’s been exactly four years ago since an application was filed for a different project at the site (reported here); the same city page says that project was canceled.
SIDE NOTE: Wondering about trends? The city keeps online statistics for building permits by month. No breakdown by region or project, but in April (when this permit was issued), building, demolition and related permits totaled $305 million in value, compared to $107 million for April last year.
12:44 PM UPDATE: House gone. Katie E shares this new photo:
She adds, “Thanks for the tip on the demolition on Beach Drive. It made for a nice pre-lunch outing for my three year old son and I. … The house is now a pile of boards and rubble. Also, Henry (who’s 3 and fancies himself a construction vehicle expert), tells me it’s an excavator, not a backhoe. Not sure if he’s right, but that’s what he insists!” (Editor’s note: Consulting Google Image Search, we will take Henry’s correction. So much for the first alliterative headline; we’ll scrap “busy backhoe” for “duplex demolished.” Thanks!)
STILL skeptical about the West Seattle Trader Joe’s that was first announced almost a year ago (after years of rumors, speculation, discussion, etc.)? If nothing will cure your skepticism but the sight of construction work at the site, get ready to see it.
On the heels of the land-use approvals first reported here earlier this month, the first construction permit was granted yesterday – for interior “soft demolition” work, and a source tells WSB that construction work is expected to start next week. The exterior construction permit is still pending (here’s its page on the city website).
If you are just catching up on all this – Trader Joe’s plans to open a store at 4545 Fauntleroy Way SW, the old Huling Brothers Buick showroom. They are not tearing down the showroom building, but instead, converting it, and adding a facade (the rendering above was distributed when the store plan was formally announced last June). So when will it be open, you ask? When we reviewed hard-copy plans at city offices downtown in February, we found a projection of a six-month construction schedule.
The new Triangle building Link (WSB sponsor) was celebrated as the development that beat the odds – and bucked a trend – at an invitation-only reception on its sweeping-view rooftop last night. In our photo above, you’ll note West Seattle’s highest-ranking elected officials – King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen. Neighborhood leaders and local businesspeople were there too, admiring the view and the rooftop herb/vegetable gardens, pausing briefly to hear speeches. West Seattle Chamber of Commerce board chair and West 5 owner Dave Montoure (below left) hailed the 60 jobs the new development is estimated to have created; after the jubilant opening remarks from Harbor executive vice president Denny Onslow (below right):
Barely a year and a half earlier, a short distance to the east, Onslow had stood at a meeting of the Fairmount Community Association and announced that Harbor had secured financing for Link – at a time when almost nothing else of its kind was being built in the city, since the commercial-market dive was so fresh. Seattle Department of Planning and Development director Diane Sugimura spoke too, describing Harbor as “bold” for moving ahead at the time.
And now, less than 2 months after its first move-ins, Onslow said 85 of its 200 units are leased. And as of yesterday, all three of its ground-floor businesses are open, with Breathe Hot Yoga‘s first classes, next door to one-month-open Chaco Canyon Organic Café, and recently opened Bright Horizons. If you’re interested in a first-hand look at Link, its next public open house is scheduled for Saturday, May 21st (one week from tomorrow).
(video unavailable due to blip.tv shutdown)
Every so often, we like to put an entire local public meeting on video for those who can never make it in person, but are interested in how the discussions proceed, what it looks and sounds like, unfiltered. So we rolled on the West Seattle Triangle Advisory Group‘s meeting on Thursday night; unedited, our video is broken into the first hour (above), the second hour (below). This is still Phase II for the advisory group. City planners led by Susan McLain presented land-use “concepts” last time, and the focus this time was “street-use concepts,” including whether the much-discussed tree-lined “boulevard” concept would be feasible for Fauntleroy in the Triangle area, as well as more land-use alternatives.
(video unavailable due to blip.tv shutdown)
Eventually, Triangle proposals are expected to go before the City Council for consideration, though that’s expected to still be months away. The presentation from Thursday’s meeting isn’t on the Triangle website yet, but we’ll publish a followup when the material appears there (you’ll see much of it on the screen in our video, which is fairly low-light since slide decks play a big role in these discussions). P.S. Can’t find an official online list of the advisory-group members; but it should be noted, this phase of the discussion includes the area with most of the former Huling Auto properties, and Steve Huling is a member of the group – he was in attendance at this meeting.
Tonight, the West Seattle Triangle Advisory Group is scheduled for the second meeting in its Phase II – which is focusing on land use (zoning). The frame grab above is from the group’s first Phase II meeting last month, at the heart of the presentation you can see in full here: Should higher buildings be built in The Triangle (and the area spilling over the area to its west dominated by ex-car lots)? Here’s how that same presentation saw that area as it exists now:
Tonight’s meeting is at 6 pm at the Senior Center of West Seattle (California/Oregon). The public is welcome, and there’s a time for public comment, if you have anything to say about the area or the process. (Other documents, including renderings for possible “massing” of future development, are linked from this page on the city’s Triangle website.)
But what’s happening so far is not sitting well with the Southwest District Council, whose monthly meeting last night again included a discussion of discontent with the process. There was also some concern about how what’s been discussed at previous SWDC meetings has been conveyed – if at all – so for tonight, they were planning to prepare a statement to get those concerns on the record, including questions about whether the area’s key stakeholders have truly been included in the process (at most of the meetings, property owner/business owner participation has been fairly light), and whether the “concepts” are in line with the area’s longterm goals.
The council also discussed a report that a public-comment period will start later this month when draft streetscape proposals from the Phase I are made public, including the “Fauntleroy Boulevard” concept that has long been under discussion – and that proposal has reportedly undergone a dramatic revamp from the previous concept of a tree-lined boulevard, because bicycle lanes have been added, according to SWDC co-chair Susan Melrose of the West Seattle Junction Association. SWDC’s Morgan Community Association rep Chas Redmond called the reported bike-lane additions an “11th-hour move” that he says would not be in keeping with the city’s longstanding Bicycle Master Plan. The road proposal also is likely to come up at tonight’s meeting
After another wave of “what’s up with the West Seattle Trader Joe’s and why hasn’t work started already?” we checked around this morning, and uncovered big news: The city’s decision on the project’s Land Use Permit will be published in the city’s next Land Use Information Bulletin, which comes out on Thursday, according to Bryan Stevens from the Department of Planning and Development. (That’s also noted behind the “land use” tab of this DPD page.) And sources suggest to WSB the decision’s a thumbs-up. That’s a major step toward the start of construction, though Stevens cautions, “The related construction permit will need to be obtained before work can begin. Corrections are currently being addressed by the applicant.” (If you are interested in all the minutiae, you can click through the tabs at the bottom of DPD project pages like this one for the TJ’s building permit, particularly “reviews” – the department now puts more detailed information online than they used to.)
Of course, we know the main answer you want is – when will it be open? Project documents we perused at DPD HQ downtown for this February update project a six-month construction schedule, so there’s still a chance it will at least be open in time for Christmas shopping. (And if you are completely new to this story – the location is 4545 Fauntleroy Way SW, the former longtime Huling Brothers Buick showroom; the building will get a new facade on its southeast-facing side, but the project overall for the 14,000-square-foot store boils down to remodeling, not rebuilding. It’s now been almost eleven months since the original announcement.)
The underground “alley vacation” for the two-building Conner Homes project between Alaska/California/42nd (south side) in The Junction won final approval from the City Council this afternoon on a unanimous vote. The Seattle Channel video above shows the entire afternoon council meeting – this item is 30 minutes in; Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, whose Transportation Committee (with only one member, him, in attendance) presided over the official public hearing last week before recommending approval (WSB coverage here), spent several minutes explaining the project to his council colleagues. Then, they voted 9-0 in favor of it. Next step? The permits will finish going through the system, now that this component of the project (which facilitates a large underground parking garage) is finalized. Then, as developer Charlie Conner told WSB last month, he doesn’t expect anything to happen in terms of construction any sooner than the end of the year – the businesses now on the site have leases till then.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
A new mixed-use development proposed for central Delridge finished making its way through the city’s design-review process Thursday night, with the minimum number of meetings – passing “early design guidance” in one Southwest Design Review Board meeting last year, and the “recommendation” phase in one meeting tonight.
(2010 WSB photo of the site)
The project includes apartments, houses, and a small amount of retail, all on a site to be carved out of what is currently a green hillside on the north edge of the mid-Delridge commercial zone (the Delridge/Orchard area with The Home Depot, two gas stations, the Tug Inn, and a storage facility, among other things).
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