By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

An “incubator” hub for small businesses.

Affordable housing – including apartments for growing families and seniors.

Community gathering spaces, indoors and outdoors.

And yes, parking (underground).

Those are some of the possibilities in concepts for redevelopment of the West Seattle Junction Association-managed parking lots, as discussed at an online community meeting tonight.

The meeting was hosted by West Seattle Junction Association executive director Lora Radford, and featured guests from Community Roots Housing, which has made an as-yet-unaccepted $14 million offer to buy the lots, and Ankrom Moisan, the architecture firm CRH commissioned to rough out possibilities. The lots are at 42nd/Oregon, 44th/Oregon, 44th/Alaska, and 44th between Edmunds and Alaska.

Here’s how the meeting unfolded:

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As first announced last month, and as we reminded you Sunday, this Thursday brings an online community meeting focused on the future of the four West Seattle Junction sites long used as parking lots. They’ve been zoned for mixed-use development for decades, and now the question is not whether they’ll be redeveloped, but who will do it and how. The West Seattle Junction Association is convening Thursday night’s meeting with prospective purchaser Community Roots Housing, which has just sent this:

Community Roots Housing, in partnership with the West Seattle Junction Association (WSJA), is proposing plans for a redevelopment of four parking lots in West Seattle. On October 21, the organizations will host a virtual community meeting to gather input on the proposal.

The redevelopment plans would convert the four parking lots into affordable housing, including one building for senior housing, a 6,500 square-foot business incubator space, and replacement public parking. The housing would service incomes at or below 60% of the area median income. “At Community Roots Housing, we believe in community-led development,” said Christopher Persons, CEO of Community Roots Housing. “We are committed to listening to and responding to the needs and priorities of the West Seattle neighborhood while creating more affordable homes to combat the Seattle housing crisis.”

Currently, the lots are owned by the West Seattle Trusteed Properties and managed by WSJA. In April, Community Roots Housing submitted an offer to purchase the parking lots at the appraised value of the land. The City of Seattle Office of Housing has agreed to provide an acquisition loan to buy the property and convert the parking lots into affordable housing. The landowner is expected to take a vote on the sale at an October 28 member meeting.

“Input from the community will be a guiding factor as we begin to craft the vision for the Junction parking parcels,” said Lora Radford, Executive Director of the West Seattle Junction Association. “Being within an urban village, the critical development decisions that will impact future generations of West Seattleites is here and now. The value of early community voices is important to build and sustain a downtown that will have vision, history, heart, and soul.”

Community Roots Housing is a mission-based Public Development Authority chartered in the City of Seattle that creates affordable and workforce housing. Over the past year, Community Roots has been in community and stakeholder discussions about the property. “West Seattle Junction is the beating heart of the neighborhood, and we have a generational opportunity to transform and strengthen this community by welcoming new affordable housing, senior housing, expanded community space, and a small business incubator,” said City Councilmember Lisa Herbold. “I’m excited to see these plans begin to take shape under the leadership of the West Seattle Junction Association and Community Roots Housing. I look forward to learning more and hearing from community members at Thursday’s open house.”

Information for watching/listening to/participating in Thursday’s 6:30 pm meeting is on this WSJA webpage. The meeting agenda includes presentations from WSJA, Community Roots Housing, and architects Ankrom Moisan, as well as a period for community questions/comments.

The city sent official notices today for the next Southwest Design Review Board hearings about two projects we’ve been tracking, both on November 4th, and the SWDRB schedule shows two more projects are on the schedule for a meeting two weeks after that. All are projects we’ve reported on previously. Here’s the meeting schedule:

4406 36TH SW: Second and possibly final meeting (here’s our coverage of the first) for this project in The Triangle, described as “a 7-story, 275-unit apartment building with retail (and p)arking for 163 vehicles.” It’ll go to the board at 5 pm Thursday, November 4th. Info for attending/commenting at the online meeting, by video or by phone, is here.

3010 SW AVALON WAY: First SWDRB meeting for this “8-story, 87-unit apartment building (with) parking for 4 vehicles,” 7 pm Thursday, November 4th. We’ve been reporting on this project for two years. Viewing/commenting/call-in info for this meeting is here.

4440 FAUNTLEROY WAY SW: Second and possibly final meeting for this project (companion to 4406 36th SW, both on property owned by Alki Lumber‘s Sweeney family), described on the city website as a “7-story, 217-unit apartment building with retail (and p)arking for 153 vehicles.” 5 pm November 18th; here’s our coverage of the first meeting. Info on video/call-in/commenting for this meeting should appear here soon.

4448 CALIFORNIA SW: This will be the second “early design guidance” meeting (here’s our coverage of the first) for this project, “a 7-story, 96-unit apartment building with retail (and n)o parking.” It’ll be at 7 pm November 18th; viewing/call-in/commenting info will be at this link soon.

(WSB44th/Oregon lot

West Seattle’s biggest community event this week will be on Thursday night (October 21st), when the West Seattle Junction Association hosts an open house about a vision for the future of the four parking-lot sites at 42nd/Oregon, 44th/Oregon, 44th/Alaska, and 44th north of Edmunds. As announced last month, the 6:30 pm online event will also include Community Roots Housing, which has made a $14 million city-backed offer to the lots’ owners, and architects Ankrom Moisan. The issue, says WSJA – which has long leased the lots – is not whether the lots will be redeveloped, but when, how, and by whom. They want community voices to be heard. You’ll find participation information for the meeting – videoconferencing or by phone – by going here.

In an online meeting that just concluded, the Southwest Design Review Board gave unanimous approval to the design proposal for 3201 SW Avalon Way, a mixed-use building planned to replace the Golden Tee Apartments, while keeping the name. Here’s the design packet for the meeting:

Board chair Scott Rosenstock and members John Cheng, Patrick Cobb, and Johanna Lirman were present. Tonight’s review came three years, and one architect change, after the previous one.

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Another Avalon Way project has a date with the Southwest Design Review Board. We first reported two years ago about a proposed 8-story apartment building at 3010 SW Avalon Way [map]; then last month, we reported that the project was moving forward. At that time, it was described as going through Administrative Design Review, which would mean no public meetings, but now, a board hearing is planned for 5 pm Thursday, October 21st. The proposal is for 87 apartments and four offstreet-parking spaces. Links to attend the online meeting – which will include a public-comment period – will be here when it gets closer. (Here’s the draft design packet by Studio 19 Architects.)

FRIDAY UPDATE: The tentative date for this hearing has been moved on the city schedule to November 4th.

(WSB photo from 42nd/Oregon lot, January)

The four West Seattle Junction Association-leased parking lots will eventually be redeveloped. The question isn’t if, but when – and, into what? The Junction and Community Roots Housing, which has made a $14 million city-backed offer for the lots, want to hear your thoughts. They’re planning an online community open house next month. Here’s the announcement:

What could be the vision for the West Seattle Junction’s four paid parking lots? Find out and provide your valuable input and insight during the Virtual Open House on Thursday, October 21, 6:30 PM on Zoom.

See the initial architectural drawings from Ankrom Moisan (the same firm that designed the new Husky Deli building). Hear from Community Roots Housing, a local leader in affordable housing. Learn about the vision to build and sustain small businesses via the Small Business Incubator program from the director of the Junction.

We’ve got to a point where input from the community will be a guiding factor as we begin to craft the vision for the Junction parking parcels. Being within an Urban Village, the critical development decisions that will provide future generations of West Seattleites is here and now. The value of early community voices is important to build and sustain a downtown that will have vision, history, heart and soul. Without the power of your voices, the parcels could eventually befall to more canyon development overshadowing the long-standing hometown feeling of the Junction.

The meeting participation information – videoconferencing or by phone – is here. The lots are owned by West Seattle Trusteed Properties, a group of more than three dozen organizations, businesses, and individuals who own shares of the organization and its holdings, the lots; Community Roots Housing will make a presentation to their board in late October.

(December 2020 rendering by Public47 Architects)

Three years after the first Southwest Design Review Board meeting about 3201 SW Avalon Way, the next one has just been scheduled for September 23rd. As we reported last December, the project at what’s currently the Golden Tee Apartments site has changed since the 2018 review – now 8 stories (taller), 144 apartments (fewer), 70 offstreet-parking spaces (fewer), with a different architecture firm, Public47. This document filed in December shows those new details. The full design packet isn’t available yet, and the city webpage still shows the old plan’s toplines, but what could be the final SWDRB meeting about the project is now set for 5 pm September 23rd, online; watch here for attendance details.

ORIGINAL SUNDAY REPORT: We first reported in November 2019 that an early-stage plan was on file for an 8-story, 78-unit apartment building at 3010 SW Avalon Way [map]. Three months later, an “early outreach” meeting was held. But nothing public happened with the proposal in the ensuing year and a half – until now, with the plan showing up on the city website for the “early design guidance” phase of Administrative Design Review. That means feedback mostly on massing – the building’s size and shape. Three options are proposed:

More early design details are in Studio 19 Architects‘ draft design packet uploaded to the city website (no direct link yet, so we downloaded it for access here – 73 MB file); all three massing options would have 78 apartments and four offstreet vehicle-parking spaces. If you have feedback, the assigned city planner is Theresa Neylon – theresa.neylon@seattle.gov is where to send comments.

ADDED MONDAY: Today’s Land Use Information Bulletin included the formal notice that a two-week comment period is open for Early Design Guidance – here it is.

After the Southwest Design Review Board took its first look at the 4448 California SW proposal last week, we wondered about the status of other planned West Seattle Junction projects that have long since finished Design Review but aren’t under construction yet. Our first followup is about 4747 California SW, with a development team including Husky Deli proprietor Jack Miller, whose legendary Junction shop would be the building’s major commercial occupant.

(Rendering by Ankrom Moisan)

The SW Design Review Board gave its final thumbs-up to the project in a meeting two years ago tonight, on July 19th, 2019. At the time, Miller told us that if all went well, they might be able to start construction about a year later. But now two years have passed. Miller’s partner in the project, West Seattle-residing developer Ed Hewson, told us last September that the project was still “moving forward,” albeit “slowly.” We just checked in with him again. “Our project is definitely on the shelf for a little while but certainly not cancelled,” Hewson told WSB. “Currently this is a casualty of the bridge and Covid, which has put enough of the dent in the West Seattle rental market for anyone to start any new apartment projects of any size.”

There’s one major project close to wrapping up, Legacy Partners’ Maris at 4722 Fauntleroy Way SW, but Hewson notes it “probably started just in time to get a construction loan, but might not have been feasible after January 2020. We are hoping they have great success and make our neighborhood attractive to lenders again despite the slow-go on the bridge repair.”

The 4747 California SW plan was approved as a proposal for 73 units, 45 offstreet-parking spaces, ~5,000 square feet of retail, in a 7-story building (though the site is zoned for 9). Hewson added, “We love the Husky Deli plan and can’t wait to get started when the West Seattle world gets back to normal!”

(WSB photo: Project site in foreground)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

The newest mixed-use proposal for The Junction will have to try again for Early Design Guidance approval.

That’s what the Southwest Design Review Board ordered tonight after its first look at the 96-apartment mixed-use plan for 4448 California SW.

SWDRB chair Scott Rosenstock and members John Cheng, Patrick Cobb, and Alan Grainger were in attendance for the online meeting, along with the project’s assigned city planner Greg Johnson. This phase of Design Review focuses on the building’s size. shape, and placement on the site, and board members generally favored the exterior of the development team’s preferred option, but took issue with mostly interior details.

Here’s how the meeting unfolded:

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The newest redevelopment proposal for The Junction goes to the Southwest Design Review Board in an online meeting this Thursday. It’s a first look at 4448 California SW, in the Early Design Guidance phase, so the proposal focuses on options for the building’s size, shape, and placement on site, not its final appearance. It’s proposed for 96 apartments across six stories over ground-floor commercial space, no offstreet parking proposed (none is required), on a parcel zoned for up to 75 feet, currently holding the commercial building that’s rented to Doll Parts Collective and a mortgage lender. Here’s the meeting packet by architects Atelier Drome:

(You can also see the meeting packet here.) Information on how to attend/watch/listen to the meeting at 5 pm Thursday (July 15th), and how to comment on the project’s design, can be found here.

The Southwest Design Review Board‘s first meetings in three months top our roundup of West Seattle development notes:

9201 DELRIDGE WAY: This project’s next – and possibly final – Southwest Design Review Board meeting is set for 5 pm July 1st, online (here’s our coverage of the previous one last October). The project on the site of a former auto shop is now described on the city website as a “5-story, 77-unit apartment building with 73 apartments, 4 small efficiency dwelling units, and office,” no offstreet parking. Watch this page for meeting-access info when it gets closer.

4448 CALIFORNIA SW: 5 pm July 15th is set as the first SWDRB meeting for the proposal to replace a small commercial building (currently holding Homebridge and Doll Parts Collective). The city website describes it as 7 stories, 96 units, retail space. no offstreet parking; a draft version of the meeting packet is here. Watch this page for meeting-access details.

EARLY-STAGE ROXBURY PROPOSAL: New in the city system this week, an early-stage proposal for 1704 SW Roxbury, a commercial site that’s been on the market for a while. The site plan filed with the city describes the proposal as a 4-story, 42-apartment mixed-use building with retail and lists the prospective developer as Craig Haveson of STS Construction (WSB sponsor), also on record for the two projects mentioned above, along with Atelier Drome Architecture. The building on the site now is home to Meineke, which has a lease through 2025, according to the listing flyer.

HIGHLAND PARK PROJECT AWARD: The three-unit project at 7782 Highland Park Way SW has won a national award:

The project is called Tsuga Townhomes, and it’s been honored with a 2021 AIA National Housing Award. Wittman Estes – whose principals live in Highland Park – was the architect, developer, and general contractor for the certified 4-Star Built Green project. In addition to green roofs, reclaimed fir stairs, and high-efficiency energy systems. its attributes include that it was built at a cost of $185/SF, which the announcement says is just a bit over half the Seattle average. The project was featured on the Northwest Green Home Tour last fall.