The plan for a long-empty triangle the developer calls a “missing tooth” between Capitol Hill, the Central District and Madison Valley will take its first pass in front of the East Design Review Board Wednesday night. It joins an affordable housing project that will replace a lot most recently used as a Jackson St. Nickelsville camp in an all-Central District edition of design reviews this week.

Madison Apartments
The empty wedge at 23rd and Madison will someday be home to a four-story, 53-unit apartment building above 1,700 square-feet of commercial space and parking for 11 vehicles. But for now there are only weeds and a chain-link fence alongside four-star neighbor, Crush.

Bought by Charles Waterman of Hamilton Urban Partners for nearly $2 million in 2007 from those savvy real estate investors at the City of Seattle, the land is planned to be home to the new Neiman Taber-designed apartment building. The developer calls the land “Capitol Hill” —

This area of Capitol Hill slopes down towards the east, providing views of the Cascade Mountains. The neighboring developments in this area include a mix of multi-family and single-family residences, some retail and mixed use buildings along E. Madison Street, and a few institutional uses, including churches and schools. There exist 2-3 story single family homes and apartments along the E. Denny Way. Higher rise developments occur along E. Madison Street.

Hamilton Urban Partners also touts three “goals” for the project:

1. Successfully develop a challenging site that is a missing tooth in the urban fabric.
2. Provide housing and commercial opportunities that are scaled to the local housing needs and businesses.
3. Develop a high quality building that is authentic to its time and is responsive to its context.

Beats a bunch of weeds. We say, “Ship it!”

2020 S Jackson

The Low Income Housing Institute, a developer that owns and operates affordable housing for the benefit of low-income people in Washington state will use a $5.5 million grant from the Seattle Office of Housing to create this 66-unit apartment building on Jackson. The award will enable LIHI to build 66 affordable units and four live-work units for families and individuals on the current location of a Nickelsville homeless encampment. The project will take its first pass in front of the review board Wednesday.

“The project’s goals center around providing affordable workforce housing in an easily accessible location to work,” the proposal packet from Runberg Architecture Group reads.

LIHI also plans to house its offices on the first floor of the building. Above that, the building is planned to include a mix of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom affordable apartments — eligible to households earning 60% or less of the Area Median Income (AMI).