Design Review tonight: The Kenney, Admiral Safeway decisions
First Southwest Design Review Board meeting 
in three months tonight – if there are no projects to review, they don’t meet – and it was a 3 1/2-hour doubleheader. Toplines while we work on the longer story: The Kenney‘s redevelopment (see the presentation here) advances out of “early design guidance” after four meetings, which means one more meeting ahead for what could be a final review; most of Admiral Safeway‘s redevelopment (see the presentation here) needs to come back for at least one more look – main objection is that the California side of the store doesn’t have openings/entrances/features with which to engage – but the board gave thumbs-up to the request for final approval for the smaller retail building on the site, which Safeway wants to build fast so it can house the pharmacy while the rest of the store is closed during construction. More to come in the morning! (From left in photo: Kenney CEO Kevin McFeely, Design Review Board members Myer Harrell and Joe Hurley, city planner Michael Dorcy) P.S. One reminder: Friday (10/23) is the deadline for comment on the “alley vacation” that is part of the Admiral Safeway proposal, requiring a separate type of approval. Here’s our original story about the proposal and the call for comments (with info on how to send yours).
West Seattle development update: Link gets its financing
(digital version of the rendering substituted Thurs. morning for photo taken Wed. nite)
From the Fairmount Community Association meeting at The Mount tonight: Harbor Properties unveiled that updated rendering of its apartment/retail project Link, while announcing it’s obtained financing, with construction likely to start at the 38th/Alaska site by mid-November. Link includes 200 apartments and 14,000 square feet of retail; Harbor executive vice president Denny Onslow told the 30-plus Fairmount attendees that they haven’t signed up any retail tenants yet but are open to ideas; The north side of the building (left side of the rendering) suggests ground-floor cafe space; the building has some ground-floor housing on both the 38th SW and alley sides – “We want to put some activity into the alley,” says Onslow. He adds that construction should take about 17 months “and that’s really fast.” The contractor, Exxel Pacific, is the same one that built Harbor’s Mural (WSB sponsor), which Onslow says is now 95% rented. The financing is from U.S. Bank and an unnamed “private investor,” both of whom have worked with Harbor before, and according to Onslow, “this will be one of the few apartment buildlngs being built in Seattle right now.”
He says it was once envisioned that this and the so-called “Hole Foods” site would be built simultaneously, as “bookends” to the Triangle, but now that the latter is in limbo, they have stepped up the look of Link a bit, with a metallic finish on its north and south sides to provide reflectivity, and lighting. Also tonight, Harbor Properties confirmed to WSB that it is no longer pursuing a purchase of the 36th/Alaska motel property, though it does own some land north of that site on the same block, and it also owns the site at 37th/Alaska that’ll be used for construction staging (shown here) – slated to become more parking for Link when construction is done. (Also at the Fairmount meeting, crimefighting info from Southwest Precinct reps – that’ll be in a separate report.)
Future of the Triangle: Fairmount Community Association tour
Tomorrow (Wednesday) night, the Fairmount Community Association (not to be confused with Fairmount Springs, which is more than a mile south, with Hansen View inbetween) meets at the facility that anchors its neighborhood – Providence Mount St. Vincent (at the top of the hill in the background of our first photo, looking up 37th SW).
Fairmount residents have been keeping a close eye on development prospects for the area known as the Triangle, and recently got word that the city is ready to move into a new phase of helping the community plan that district’s future. So, looking ahead to tomorrow’s meeting, Fairmount CA president Sharonn Meeks arranged for the city rep on the project, urban designer Robert Scully, to join her and other group reps on a walking tour Monday afternoon. We joined them and walked The Triangle’s perimeter from and to Fire Station 32 (38th/Alaska):
The barbed wire around a parking lot east of the fire station (believed to be a holdover from days as a storage lot) is just one of the signs of a neighborhood in transition. More scenes from the walking tour, and what happens next, ahead:Read More
Admiral Safeway project: Newest design proposal is now online
This Thursday, the newest design proposal for the redeveloped Admiral Safeway site goes before the Southwest Design Review Board (8 pm, Youngstown Arts Center, after The Kenney‘s presentation at 6:30). Last week, we brought you a sneak peek at the latest plan, with photos of drawings shown at the Admiral Neighborhood Association‘s monthly meeting. Company and architect reps told us at the time that electronic copies would be available within days, since they had to get the design-proposal presentation to the city – and in fact, it’s available online tonight – you can download it here – warning, big file (17MB PDF), which includes the drawing you see above, and much more.
Followup: Newly apparent result of the Whole Foods site work
Last Tuesday, we checked on some work at the idled Fauntleroy/39th/Alaska construction site. WSB contributing journalist Christopher Boffoli was told “routine maintenance”; he checked back on the site while in the area today after a few days of rain and photographed the moat you see in the photo above:
As I passed the Whole Foods hole I did notice something that was not immediately obvious when I went over there the other day. It seems they dug a moat around the perimeter of the site to collect rainwater. And the pumps they have installed are draining the water from these drainage moats. No one was digging at the time I was there but there was a tractor on the eastern side of the site that is no longer there. So they must have done the work after I left.
While checking out the work from earlier in the week, we did talk to DPD, which does not have any current investigations open regarding the site. Interesting side note – If and when construction resumes at some point, the city does not have to be notified until there is something for which a city inspection is required, say, a foundation; the permits are open and construction could just resume without notice.
Whole Foods opens in Interbay – so what about West Seattle?
We went to the new Interbay Whole Foods this afternoon – opening its doors for a public reception of sorts from now till 8 pm today, then officially opening at 8 am tomorrow – mostly to see if we could find out anything about the on-hold store here. We also wanted to meet regional spokesperson Vicki Foley, who has helped us get answers to WF questions over these many months (she’s based in Vancouver, B.C., so we’d never talked in person before). Nothing new re: West Seattle from their standpoint, she says – the official word is that they’re waiting for everything to get “sorted out.” That means, in particular, the court fight; two of the lawsuits over the project have been consolidated and have almost 200 documents on file (we check the online records at least twice a week). Because so many firms (construction, consultants, engineering, Whole Foods itself, etc.) are party to the suits, each document comes with a long list of who has to get a copy. In the meantime, she says, West Seattle remains the only “under development” store in the Seattle area, though she says their real-estate team is planning to tour prospective Washington/Oregon sites before the end of the year. So if WF ever does come here, what’ll you see? They’re launching kombucha bars in their Allegro coffee shops, for one, starting with Interbay:
That’s Josh from Townshend’s Tea Company, installing the kombucha machine while we were visiting this afternoon. Looking at the rest of the store, it’s the first grocery we’ve seen with neon:
For a few more photos of the Interbay store, check out this story from our fellow independent community-collaborative neighborhood-news site, MyBallard.com. Meantime, as for the status of the legal action regarding the West Seattle site (where, if you haven’t been following the story, construction now has been stalled for a year, with a huge hole sitting empty at 39th/Fauntleroy/Alaska) – various hearings are coming up regarding the foreclosure action that was filed (here’s our most recent story).
Update on Link – West Seattle’s next big construction project
You might have noticed that trailer just east of Lien Animal Clinic. It’s not for the construction project that Lien wrapped up recently (which by the way has an open house 10/25) – it’s for Link, the Harbor Properties mixed-unit project slated for this site on the other side of Lien (38th & Alaska; map), which formerly held West Seattle Montessori School (WSB sponsor, now with a new campus) and a Huling Brothers shop:
We checked with Harbor Properties today after a commenter asked if Link was still supposed to start construction in “early fall.” Emi Baldowin from HP says, “Exxel Pacific, the general contractor, is setting up trailers, hopeful for an anticipated start within the next few weeks,” and they’re still finishing the paperwork to get the project going. Link’s second and final Design Review meeting was one year ago (here’s our report). It’s a 200-unit apartment project with ground-level retail; Harbor is the company that built Mural (WSB sponsor) across from Jefferson Square, apartments over retail including Wallflower Custom Framing (WSB sponsor) and Fresh Bistro. 11:07 AM UPDATE: If you want to hear more from Link’s developers in person, Fairmount Community Association president Sharonn Meeks says they’re scheduled to make a presentation at her group’s next meeting, which is scheduled for 6:30 pm October 21st at Providence Mount St. Vincent (4831 35th SW). She adds that her group would like to thank Harbor having the contractor, Exxel Pacific, “tidy up, mow and (do) tree trimming” around the future construction site.
Followup: Design Review date for Safeway, Kenney confirmed
When we reported this last week, the date was labeled in the city system as “tentative” – but the official notices came out in today’s Land Use Information Bulletin, so you can mark your calendar: On Thursday, October 22nd, the Southwest Design Review Board will get its next look at two major West Seattle redevelopment proposals: The Kenney (6:30 pm; here’s the official notice) and Admiral Safeway (8 pm; here’s the official notice). The meeting’s at Youngstown Arts Center, 4408 Delridge (map). For The Kenney, this is the 4th “early design guidance” meeting, so the Design Review Board will look at the project at least one more time after this; Safeway passed EDG, so this could be the last look. Public comment will be taken on both. (What’s Design Review, you ask? The city explains, here.)
WSB Extra: A south-downtown project to watch
By Kathy Mulady
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Any West Seattle resident who commutes past the baseball and football stadiums probably keeps track of home-game schedules to avoid sitting in the thick of a traffic jam.
So what’s the traffic going to be like when Nitze-Stagen adds nearly 1,000 apartments, condominiums and row houses, offices and shops on the north half of the parking lot at Qwest Field?
Where are you going to park when you go to a game?
And what happens to the tailgate parties?
Read More
Kenney, Admiral Safeway set to return to Design Review
A sign of the development slowdown – the Southwest Design Review Board hasn’t met in 2 months – no projects to review. But now the schedule shows encores for two redevelopment projects that have both been before the SWDRB at least once: The Kenney and Admiral Safeway (each of those links will take you to the official city project page). The city’s scheduling page cautions that this date is tentative, but for now, they’re both on the schedule for a SWDRB meeting on October 22nd at Youngstown Arts Center in North Delridge. The last review for The Kenney was in May (WSB coverage here); since then, its iconic cupola-topped Seaview building has been declared a city landmark. The last review for the Admiral Safeway project was in November (WSB coverage here); last Tuesday, the city announced it’s seeking comments on the request to “vacate” an alley section that goes through the site. If the scheduling doesn’t change, The Kenney is scheduled for a 6:30 hearing October 22, followed by the 8 pm review for Admiral Safeway.
Admiral Safeway project: Latest details and request for comment
A new filing in the Admiral Safeway redevelopment project, and this one comes with a request for community comment (read the request memo here): The plan proposed by Safeway would require that the city “vacate” part of an existing alley – the L-shaped one shown here on the south side of the site:
The petition now has been received by the city and that means it’s time for comments, which are requested by October 23rd. The five-page document explaining exactly what Safeway wants to do and where also contains the newest outline of the proposed project (including “flexible workspaces” as first reported here in July, and the “public benefit” items meant to satisfy a city requirement that the public get something back if it gives up right-of-way). See the document (which includes maps) here. Then if/when you are ready to comment, here’s what the city asks you to do:
Return your comments to: Moira Gray, Seattle Department Transportation, PO Box 34996, Seattle, Washington 98124-4996, or e-mail comments to moira.gray@seattle.gov. Please include your name and whether you are responding as an individual or as a representative of an organization when you return your comments.
As for the project’s overall status, lots of city decisions yet to come: Because this vacation is part of the project, that means the Seattle Design Commission will have to sign off on it, after at least one hearing to review the project, particularly the “public benefit” proposals; rezoning also is requested, and that requires City Council signoff. Meantime, the project had not finished going through Design Review, so the West Seattle board also needs to see it at least once again before it gets a green light – nothing scheduled so far – here’s our report from the last DR meeting in November ’08.
Alki Homestead’s future: Restaurant, bar, spa, B&B?
(Long-form full report has been added following this first short summary)
Quick summary from Alki Homestead owner Tom Lin‘s presentation that just wrapped up at the Alki Community Council: His architect and engineers say so much of the building was damaged in the January fire, compounding long-pre-existing deterioration, that the landmark would need to be “reconstructed.” Lin proposes doing that and adding 25,000 square feet of other buildings on the 15,000-square-foot site, with the potential end result a new Homestead, plus a bar/lounge “Seattle Auto Club” and a bed/breakfast “The Fir Lodge” (both names from its past), plus a wellness center/spa. The Landmarks Preservation Board will have to sign off on any proposal. Where will the financing come from? Lin says he hasn’t started working on that yet, but says that the perceptions nothing’s been happening at the site since the fire are incorrect, as the evaluation and planning work has been happening all along. Full report to come. ADDED 2:20 AM FRIDAY: Read on for the long-form story, with more photos:Read More
Admiral Neighborhood Association: Concerts’ encore, and more
Notes from WSB contributor Keri DeTore, covering Tuesday night’s Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting:
(August photo)
SUMMER CONCERTS AT HIAWATHA:
The concert series was a hit and plans are already in the works to do it again next year. There will be an effort to increase the diversity in the music, but certain bands will be asked back as well. To provide feedback regarding the concerts, music types, or what you thought was successful or not successful, e-mail coordinator Katy Walum at: katy.walum@gmail.com.
(August photo by WSB photojournalist Christopher Boffoli)
DEVELOPMENT:
No updates for either the Admiral Safeway redevelopment or the 3200 block of California rezone. But the 2743 California Avenue project—the 14,100 sf medical and administrative office building behind PCC (WSB sponsor) — is moving forward and a hole for the foundation has been dug.
Read More
West Seattle Whole Foods site update: Judicial foreclosure sought
Discovered this during our periodic peek into the online records for the various lawsuits pending related to what was the Fauntleroy Place site (map), 
nicknamed “Hole Foods” since currently it’s a huge excavation awaiting a development that’s still supposed to include a Whole Foods store (as well as Hancock Fabrics and residential units): The newest development is that a legal action seeking “judicial foreclosure” was filed in King County Superior Court last week, by a firm identifying itself as 3922 SW Alaska LLC (the official address of record for the site), as a third party intervening in the lawsuits and liens pending regarding the site. The documents say that new entity holds the note/deed to the site as of late June (with the note’s most recent valuation listed as $21 million).
You can read the “complaint for judicial foreclosure” here; here’s an associated document, an order putting off a motion for summary judgment by a party to one of the lawsuits, because of the “intervention.”
As soon as we found this, we sought comment from Foster Pepper, the legal firm representing the party seeking foreclosure. They have not called back.
So to make sure we’re interpreting the action as accurately as possible, we informally consulted a real-estate-transaction expert (not involved in the case) who tells us it’s not unusual for a new entity to be formed in a situation like this to take over the financial and other liability. He adds, though, it’s not so commonplace for judicial foreclosure to be sought instead of nonjudicial – this type, he says, tends to take longer.
Bottom line, though, it’s another step in the path to getting the site’s future resolved, but it’s the first time the word “foreclosure” has been formally raised in this situation, and it could lead to the property being sold at auction. As we reported two weeks ago, Whole Foods’ official stance is that they are still expecting to open a store there, but they are “watching (the project) closely” to see if the commitments in their lease will be met. (When ground was ceremonially broken in June of last year – WSB coverage here – a February 2010 completion date was projected.) Lots more to follow up on this, of course, as we have done and will continue to do.
Whole Foods’ current stance on West Seattle’s “Hole Foods” site
We’ve been working on an overall update regarding what’s up – or not up – with the excavated-then-stalled site many West Seattleites have nicknamed “Hole Foods.” We’d hoped to wait to nail down a few more aspects of the story before publishing what Whole Foods itself is saying about it these days, but since a couple people (thanks!) have already e-mailed us about a short item at seattletimes.com today, we’d better just go ahead and share what WF’s regional spokesperson Vicki Foley told us yesterday afternoon, regarding whether they are still committed to that stalled site or possibly looking elsewhere:
We are watching the Fauntleroy Place project closely as the developer appears to have a number of obstacles to overcome, if he is to deliver the space to us by the deadlines in the lease.
Our original inquiry to WF earlier this week had been regarding whether there is a certain point at which they are no longer committed to the site (whose permit history is listed here); according to Foley, their commitment currently extends into next year. Meantime, WF announced earlier this week that its Interbay store is set to open October 14, and in other West Seattle grocery news, two sources (including this WSB Forums post) say the new QFC at Capco Plaza will open September 16th (10:31 am update: QFC spokesperson Kristin Maas confirms to WSB, “that’s the date we’re shooting for”). Our last Whole Foods WS site report was a month ago, when we broke the news that a West Seattle investor who’d hoped to buy the site was no longer pursuing a purchase. The financial firm that now owns the site has not yet responded to our requests for an update; there are currently four legal actions pending related to this project.
One more day to take The Survey – and we’ve been challenged
That’s the latest bar chart for responses to the neighborhood-plan survey we’ve been talking about – literally a once-in-a-decade chance to have an official say on where growth and planning goes from here. Whether or not you made it to the July 28th meeting to discuss the plans face to face, the city is hoping to get as many people as possible to fill out an online survey asking the same four questions. Yes, we know, it may not seem fair that Ballard/Crown Hill is ahead because it’s all lumped together as one neighborhood, while West Seattle has FIVE (Junction, Admiral, Delridge, Highland Park/Westwood Village, Morgan Junction), but nothing we can do about that now; it’s how things shook out a decade ago. But we’re not even being challenged by Ballard – our fellow online-only neighborhood-news providers at Rainier Valley Post are issuing a challenge to other neighborhoods. Not sure if this will turn into one of those Super Bowl bet deals where we each offer some famous local foodstuff (what IS an iconic West Seattle food, anyway? Husky ice cream, maybe?) – but we’ve up for a challenge. Before 5 pm tomorrow, go here to take the survey. If you don’t live in any of those five neighborhoods, fill it out for one that you frequently visit. The more voices are heard in this process, the better the end result; tell your friends, tell your neighbors, use SHARE THIS below to send this around.
One of the most recent citywide-media reports about developer Michael Mastro – forced into Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, with properties including the half-done 35th/Avalon building as well as Harbor Ave land and the West Water condo conversion –
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