West Seattle, Washington
30 Thursday
It’s been almost two years since we took the photo at left, with crews clearing out Fairmount Park Elementary School (map) in summer 2007, after the Seattle School Board voted to close the building and merge its “program” with the former High Point Elementary School (the two together, in the HP building, are now known as West Seattle Elementary School). Seattle Public Schools‘ communications team has confirmed to WSB something we got a tip about recently – the Fairmount Park building is being reopened for summer school this year. The district had confirmed last year that the building would be kept for “inventory” rather than being put up for sale any time soon. No details so far on exactly which dates, or for which programs, the building will be used. We asked district spokesperson David Tucker why a closed building like this is being reopened for this purpose – his reply:
Using the building for summer school means not disrupting an already existing classroom at another school and also reduces the risk of vandalism during the summer with the building now occupied. So it is not a matter of lack of available space, but keeping the building in operational condition while limiting impacts on other schools. It is the first time the building is being utilized since being closed two years ago.
Seattle Public Utilities says its first week and a half of recycling, yard/food waste, and trash pickup changes has gone relatively smoothly, with a half-percent miss rate for home customers and five percent for apartment/condo/commercial customers. It’s expanded the call-center hours so that if you’re missed or have some other problem, you can reach someone at 684-3000 7:30 am-7 pm weekdays, 9 am-1 pm Saturdays. SPU also says it has “inspectors” trailing crews to check for trouble. (Photo by Christopher Boffoli)
We’ve received several tips/inquiries about this: We just called Seattle Fire Department to find out about what started as a medic response to 11th SW/SW Spokane (map). Spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen confirms it was a fatal fall from the West Seattle Bridge. She says the person pronounced dead at the scene was female. It would be up to an investigation to determine whether this is confirmed as suicide; while we had three reports of bridge deaths in 2007, we had none (this is from our archives, not a check of official records) in 2008; one person died beneath the Admiral Way bridge over Fairmount Ravine in March of last year. As we’ve said before, suicide is an epidemic that needs to be addressed, not ignored as is the policy of some media, so we report about it here as well as homicide cases (which are outnumbered in King County by suicides). For those who have thought about it — the local Crisis Clinic is there to help: 206/461-3222. There’s a national hotline at 800/SUICIDE.
7:06 PM: Wanted to repost a haunting comment just left by Lisa:
It must have been about 12 and I was heading home to West Seattle when I saw the woman as she leaned over the bridge edge, but I was two lanes away and called 911. By the time I reached Harbor Ave. the dispatcher was calling fire and police, when I got to the water taxi I heard them say there was a injured woman on Spokane and 11th and I knew we were too late. I saw her face, shining black hair in the sun, pink shirt……I am so sorry for those who loved her.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The Medical Examiner’s Office confirms this was a case of suicide. The victim was a 52-year-old woman.
This item was going to be part of our forthcoming wrapup of various campaign speeches at last night’s 34th District Democrats meeting, but we’ve just received a response to a followup question we sent City Council President Richard Conlin, so we’re breaking it out: During his campaign speech to the 34th DDs (photo left), he mentioned the jail issue – Seattle teaming up with several other cities to pursue a potential new municipal-misdemeanor jail, with the potential sites including West Marginal Way/Highland Park Way SW – and told the 34th DDs: “… siting a new jail … is a terrible idea; we should only have to do it if we absolutely have to do it. I’m encouraged by a significant decrease in the King County jail population (recently) … we’re going to be sending King County a letter asking to reopen discussions about accommodating misdemeanants, so that we won’t go ahead (with a jail) unless we are ABSOLUTELY SURE we have to.” In other words, Conlin intends to ask a question others have posed before: Can’t the county keep handling misdemeanor inmates, at least a while longer, since their jail population in general has been dropping? We e-mailed Conlin this morning for a followup, and he replied:
Councilmember Burgess and I have decided to send this letter, but not sure yet whether it will be just from us or from the whole Council. We just made the decision this week and have not drafted it yet, but expect to do so shortly.
(Councilmember Tim Burgess chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee.) Officially, as noted in our coverage of recent Highland Park Action Committee meetings, the jail-site search is in the environmental-review phase. (WSB coverage of this issue is archived here, newest to oldest.)
We’ve heard about this now from Karen and Lela (who sent the photo) — when the latest round of street-sign-replacing work started sweeping through West Seattle recently (as noted here), at least one sign wound up causing an unintended side effect — this one on the northwest corner of California/Edmunds in The Junction (map) is blocking the view of the pedestrian signal. We’re checking with SDOT to see if a fix is in the works (and to make sure it’s being reported via the proper SDOT number).
1:53 PM UPDATE: Heard back from Rick Sheridan at SDOT, who says: “Calling 684-ROAD is the best option for this type of issue or any other roadway related problem. But I will talk to the sign replacement team about the northwest corner of California/Edmunds and we will correct the issue.”
3:25 PM UPDATE: And as noted in comments – the visibility problem is being taken care of, with a crew on scene within the past hour. Karen, one of our original tipsters, sent this photo (thanks!):
That’s one of two West Seattle projects with actions listed in today’s semiweekly Land Use Information Bulletin: the finalization of Design Review approval for a 3-story office building at 2743 California SW, the parcel immediately north of PCC (notice here). Note: The lines in the image above are NOT part of the design, but were from the markup on an image we pulled from the official January DR meeting for this project (see the full presentation here – warning, it’s a massive file, 67 MB). Also on today’s list, approval for subdividing 4133 25th SW (map) into two lots (see the notice here).
Congratulations to the West Seattle/Fauntleroy YMCA (WSB sponsor) volunteers who just celebrated reaching their goal in the Partners With Youth campaign. Shown above, from left, are campaign chair Tish Hesse, board chair Walter Reese, executive director Josh Sutton, Volunteer of the Year Craig Anderson, and associate executive Samantha Bowes, photographed at this week’s YMCA of Greater Seattle annual meeting at Sodo Park (which is run by West Seattle-based Herban Feast). Josh reports:
Thanks to the generosity of over 2,000 individuals and businesses in our community, Tish Hesse announced the successful completion of our West Seattle & Fauntleroy YMCA’s Partners With Youth campaign. This has been a tough year for fundraising, but our volunteers and donors combined to make sure kids, teens and families in West Seattle have access to the programs and services they need. Our 160 volunteers raised $410,370 on a goal of $410,000! All of those funds stay in West Seattle, providing 4 full time YMCA staff in Sealth, West Seattle High & Madison Middle schools to help students achieve, scholarships for over a thousand families in child care and camp programs, and other essential services.
Our Annual Meeting also offered an opportunity to recognize our 2008 Volunteer of the Year, Craig Anderson of NUCOR Seattle. Craig spent hundreds of hours organizing, planning and running NUCOR’s Golf Tournament – a huge event last June with more than 140 golfers. He helped turn what had been a fun tournament for vendors & staff into a fundraiser for the Y, establishing a new $45,000 NUCOR Seattle YMCA Endowment to send low income kids & families from West Seattle to Y Camps for years to come.
We’ve introduced you to three West Seattle “Shop Cats” so far — Seth at West Seattle Nursery (story here) and Presta and Schrader at Aaron’s Bicycle Repair (story here). Along the way, a few people have asked if we plan to highlight “Shop Dogs” too – we’d planned to wait till the “Shop Cats” ran their course, but then Rock Steele sent us the photo above, and this caption:
This is Baron with his person Scott Goerig – owner of Redline Music and Sports on 35th Ave SW just south of Avalon. Baron can be found most days at the Redline greeting guests as they arrive, checking to make sure that everything is OK and policing the floor between naps.
Thanks, Rock, Baron, and Scott! Meantime, we’ve already got more “Shop Cats” in queue – watch this space. (And one plug for a Shop Cat with a special event coming up – West Seattle Nursery’s spring open house is this Saturday, April 11th, more info on the WSN website.)
As reported last week (quick version here, in-depth version here), the Conner Homes project at California/Alaska/42nd is going back to Design Review for the fifth time – with one last issue on the table: The overall “massing” (shape, etc.) of the building that’s right at the Walk-All-Ways corner. The city planner on the project, Michael Dorcy, just confirmed that the meeting will happen April 23 (6:30 pm, location TENTATIVELY set for the same place as last time, West Seattle Christian Church in The Junction).
Hat tip to the Daily Journal of Commerce for reporting new information today about the Whole Foods/Hancock Fabrics site’s prospective buyers, following our report yesterday that Seattle Capital confirmed a deal IS still pending. Following up today, we reached Matt Segrest, who was quoted in the DCJ story (only available by subscription) – and here’s the statement he provided WSB (note that the name “Fauntleroy Place” is not mentioned):
The West Seattle Whole Foods site is currently under contract to be purchased by Alamo Manhattan, LLC. The firm will lead an investment team to purchase the property. Alamo Manhattan will also serve as the developer for the project. The project will feature a 45,000 square-foot Whole Foods Market, a 15,000 square-foot Hancock Fabrics and 184 apartment homes. Construction of the project began in Summer 2008 and all shoring and excavation work has been completed. The project is temporarily on hold as Alamo Manhattan is evaluating the transaction. No significant design changes from the Design Review Board approvals are anticipated.
“We are conducting due diligence regarding the purchase of the property and continue to be excited about the opportunity,” said Matt Segrest, Principal of Alamo Manhattan. “Negotiations are currently underway with multiple investors on the project. We expect to select an equity partner soon and be positioned to restart construction in the third quarter of this year.”
A resident of West Seattle, Mr. Segrest views the project in both professional and personal terms. “Of course I’m interested in the investment side of the opportunity, as I think it is going to be the crown jewel of the Alaska Junction for at least a generation. Additionally, having a large hole in the ground at the most visible location in my neighborhood is undesirable for me as well as my friends and neighbors. The opportunity to invest in my own community and to make a meaningful contribution to its urban landscape is particularly compelling to me.”
Matt Segrest is the Principal of Alamo Manhattan, LLC, and has been responsible for over half a billion dollars in new development throughout the West Coast, including over 1,750 luxury apartment and condominium units and approximately 76,500 square feet of mixed-use commercial space.
We have a request out to the site’s original developers, BlueStar, for comment, as they had told us they hoped to continue developing the project post-sale, as well as saying their other proposed projects in West Seattle (the Spring Hill mixed-use building south of The Junction (which concluded Design Review last September) and Gateway Center at the old Huling Buick showroom site) were hanging in the balance depending on what happened with the Whole Foods site. Also, as for more information on Alamo Manhattan itself, no website yet but the parked domain alamomanhattan.com is registered to Segrest.
3:43 PM UPDATE: Just talked to Easton Craft from BlueStar. He says they cannot comment on the Whole Foods site purchase situation (as we’ve reported previously, they are suing the site’s current ownership), but, regarding the other two West Seattle projects: “We are certainly working on the other projects we have in West Seattle – clearly the economy has caused a delay but we hope to move forward as quickly as possible. We hope that as we move into the next few quarters we’ll see enough (economic) recovery to move forward.”
From the WSB Forums, and now on TV – a KING 5 story this morning features West Seattleite Pamela Brumell‘s quest to reduce cat overpopulation by trapping feral cats so they can be spayed/neutered. See the story here – and note that she’s looking for translator help.
From the city’s daily “permit issuance” list, a permit’s been granted for Chase signage to go up at the West Seattle Thriftway WaMu branch; we just went down the hill to check – the illuminated “runner” is already up inside the branch; the sign over the door is in transition; the WaMu sign on the outdoor storefront (photo above) is all that remains. WaMu/Chase has five West Seattle branches in all (counting the Junction drive-through).
6:30 pm May 14 is the date tentatively set for The Kenney‘s $150 million redevelopment project to return to Design Review, location TBA – this according to an addition late Tuesday to the “upcoming reviews” page. This fits right in with what The Kenney’s CEO Kevin McFeely told us recently (as reported a week ago). This will be its fourth Design Review meeting; the third one, three months ago (WSB coverage here), ended with the project moving out of the “early design guidance” stage.
During our four fun hours at the Gathering of Neighbors on Saturday, we published a bit of news resulting from a chat with Pete Spalding, who (among other things) is on the new Parks Levy Oversight Committee: Pete told us a series of public meetings was about to be announced, giving you the chance to speak out about how you would like to see some of that money (particularly its $15 million “Opportunity Fund” for community-generated projects) spent. Tonight, we get word from Pete that the dates/times/locations of four open houses are now set, including, as he said, one meeting in West Seattle: 7-8:30 pm May 6, West Seattle Golf Course. (The other 3 open houses: 7 pm 5/4, Rainier Community Center; 7 pm 5/12, Green Lake Community Center; 7 pm 5/13, Parks HQ downtown.)
It’s been almost a full month now since that pickup truck’s driver hit more than a dozen other vehicles in The Junction, and a few WSB’ers have inquired: What happened in this case? The night of the crash, investigators were looking into the possibility the driver might have been affected by a medical condition, but they also looked into possible “impairment.” We checked with the Seattle Police Traffic Collision Investigation Squad, 
which has eight detectives charged with investigating crashes citywide, and here’s what Detective Michael Korner tells WSB: The investigation of what actually happened is complete – there’s no question that one vehicle hit the other vehicles, and that police “contacted” the driver at the scene. So now it comes down to state lab test results on the blood drawn from the driver that night. Since the possibility of a medical condition was raised, Korner says, the lab will do a full analysis, and the results might not be back for two months, depending on the lab’s backlog. (If they analyze for alcohol only, he says, it takes up to one month.) Once the results are in, he then completes the case report, and it goes into the city prosecutor/court system for review and a decision on whether charges are merited. The driver was taken to the hospital the night of the crash, as was the driver of the first vehicle he hit, and some of the vehicles were severely damaged – this comment on our original report told one such story. (Photo credits: upper left, Mark Ammann; above right, Christopher Boffoli)
Five months after the demolition of that century-old house at 4532 42nd SW (map), the development that’s replacing it has what could be its final Southwest Design Review Board meeting this Thursday night — and the presentation is now available online, with images including this one:
The six-floor Golden Crest development is at left (at right, Capco Plaza/Altamira Apartments at Alaska/42nd). According to the presentation that’s now available (see it in its entirety here), its 35 residential units would range from studio to 3 bedrooms; they would be built over 3,000 square feet of commercial space and 54 “basement” parking slots. This project has already been through the “early design guidance” phase, so if board members give it the thumbs-up on Thursday, it’s done with design review.
Golden Crest is to be reviewed at 8 pm Thursday at Madison Middle School, following the board’s 6:30 pm “early design guidance” look at Transitional Resources‘ 4-story proposal for 2922 SW Avalon (no presentation online yet but here’s the city permit page).
While reporting a few notes yesterday about Fauntleroy Place (future Whole Foods/Hancock Fabrics/residential site at Fauntleroy/Alaska/39th), we mentioned we still hadn’t heard back from primary site owners Seattle Capital regarding the status of the pending sale they disclosed two months ago. Once it’s sold, Seattle Capital had said back in January, that would pave the way for construction to resume. So we put in another request for comment today – and just heard back from Seattle Capital’s John Huddleston:
Yes, there is still a sale pending. (currently in the due diligence phase of the Purchase and Sale agreement.) Closing of the sale is anticipated to occur sometime prior to the end of June, 2009.
Construction would most likely begin very shortly after closing. The site itself is currently being actively maintained by the original contractor, Ledcor Construction Inc.
The permit for the Phase II construction has been issued. This covers the underground parking as well as the Commercial floor space above it. The Phase III permit for the residential towers above the commercial space has been applied for and is currently being processed.
Active work on the site stopped last fall; developers BlueStar had repeatedly said the project was simply “between phases” — then, last month, the allegations in two lawsuits (reported here and here) gave the situation a new dimension.
WEDNESDAY UPDATE: An article in today’s Daily Journal of Commerce (only available to subscribers) has some new information about the prospective buyers. We have a message out seeking an opportunity for comment; the article reiterates what Seattle Capital told us – construction is likely to resume midsummer (or later).
Out of the WSB inbox, from KEM … of particular interest if you think “not on OUR street”:
For the second time in as many months, our unlocked cars (shame on us, I know) have been prowled. We woke two months ago to my car doors left open, and a few items had been pilfered – a Polar heart rate monitor, and a few other inconsequential items. I assume I left my car door unlocked the night before, though I’m not totally sure. This morning we woke to my husband’s car having been rifled-through. We think his car was unlocked, too, and, as I said, shame on us for doing it twice. This time they stole a pair of iPhone earbuds, but nothing else. Risking getting caught for some iPhone ear buds? Seems sort of silly, really. Not a big deal in terms of loss of property, but we live on a quiet, dead-end street around 36th and 110th and it’s a little unsettling to think that prowlers are lurking around in the middle of the night and rifling through our stuff. Neighbors, beware! And keep your doors locked. (Duh.)
From the resource list at the bottom of our Crime Watch page, here’s the official advice on deterring car prowlers.
During the City Hall revenue-forecast briefing we covered yesterday, city Finance Director Dwight Dively noted some reasons for cautious economic optimism. This morning, we’ve got more proof a long-idle site along California SW — cleared in 2006, and with townhouse permits issued one year ago (WSB coverage here) — is finally about to see construction work. First, Anne from Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) tipped us that a telltale sign (a porta-potty) had shown up at the site. Now, there’s a brand-new permit for temporary power to the site. The permits granted for the site span four addresses from 6021 to 6031 California (map), and if our math is right, they add up to 6 live-work units and 8 townhouse units. ADDED 9:36 AM: Just went by to check, and in fact, a backhoe is at work on the site right now:
“A very sad day for all of us involved with this school” is how this news is described by the WSB’er who e-mailed to let us know: 
Holy Rosary School‘s longtime principal Kris Brown just announced she is leaving after this school year to lead St. Catherine School in Maple Leaf. In a letter on the Holy Rosary website, Brown writes, “It has been exciting to be a part of Holy Rosary School during its time of tremendous growth. However, at this time in my life, I believe I can sustain the energy required in the role of principal for many more years at a smaller school.” (St. Catherine has 200+ students; HR has 400+.) Also on the HR website is a letter from School Commission president Terry Scanlan, saying in part, “It is difficult to imagine Holy Rosary School without Kris at the helm. … Change is never easy or smooth. But change also brings with it the opportunity for genuine growth.” Scanlan writes that the principal search will start immediately.
From Wallingford’s neighborhood-news site Wallyhood comes the story behind yellow ribbons and peals of laughter at Lowman Beach over the weekend: The replacement swingset installed last fall was dedicated in memory of Emma Kowalczyk, a Wallingford baby who died one year ago today. (More photos here.)
Last Monday night, in our first West Seattle “Shop Cat” story, you met Seth from West Seattle Nursery. Tonight, we head about a mile south on California SW:
By Keri DeTore
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Meet Presta and Schrader at Aaron’s Bicycle Repair – the award-winning cats:
Look in the picture windows filled with bicycles at Aaron’s shop in Morgan Junction and you may find a pair of bright green eyes looking back at you. Presta and Schrader, the feline brothers who live at the shop, regularly perch themselves on a bike saddle in the front window to take the measure of the world outside.
One more photo from our 8:50 am King County Water Taxi (WSB sponsor) run downtown this morning … looks like tomorrow will be conducive to commuting via water, too.
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