Wednesday night brings two Capitol Hill projects in front of the design review board — one a local lightning rod for anti-development rancor, the other a plan to create a new apartment building on top of a rejected landmark — while City Hall hosts a public meeting on shaping the city’s development over the next 20 years.

• 748 11th Ave E: Displacement is real. And so are concerns about building new apartments on Capitol Hill without parking, apparently. Bradley Khouri’s b9 Architects and developer Robert Hardy will bring their revised vision for a four-story, 30+ unit apartment building at the corner of 11th and Aloha in front of the design review board Wednesday night for what they hope is the final sign-off on the project that has faced pushback from neighbors living along the streets just above Lowell Elementary. In addition to paring back the project by shaving off two units and attempting to reduce the project’s scale, Khouri and Hardy have thrown concerned neighbors a bone on the parking front:
  Developer has a preliminary agreement with Diamond parking for tenants to lease stalls in the parking lot directly west of the site. The lot is currently used by Seattle Public Schools for teacher parking and other neighborhood events and is not fully utilized.
  
  

  Neighbors asked for the building to be reduced to three stories — this slice shows the compromise

  

  The developer provided this view overlaying the previous massing scheme with what it says is a new design incorporating community feedback

  
  While they haven’t opted — nor are they required — to create room to park cars in the project, the nod is part of a roster of concessions documented in the new design proposal including removing the building’s planned roof deck.

  UPDATE 5/28/2015 9:10 AM: Television news folks at KIRO reported on the design review (good for them — TV usually doesn’t bother) calling the changes a victory for neighbors (also good for them, yay for neighbors) and noting that the design was reduced to three stories (well, kinda) and that the pressure forced developer (who is also happy with the “process”) to “add parking” (well, not really). It is also interesting to see 12th Ave E resident Roger Nyhus of Nyhus Communications (“a public relations and public affairs firm specializing in public policy, real estate, corporate and government relations”) representing the neighbors and touting the success of the design review process. Take it away TV:
  

  750 11th Ave E

  Land Use Application to allow a 4-story structure containing 34 residential units. No parking proposed. Storage for 36 bicycles provided. Existing structures to be demolished

  View Design Proposal      

  Review Meeting
  May 27, 2015 6:30 pm
  Seattle University

  824 12th Ave
  Admissions & Alumni Community Building
  Review Phase
  REC–Recommendation  See All Reviews

  Project Number: 3017655  View Permit Status  |  View Land Use Notice

  Planner: Shelley Bolser

•  323 Bellevue Ave E: Wednesday night’s reviews also bring a second round of “early design guidance” after a re-working of the plan for a six-story apartment set to replace The Sterling, a 1956-built apartment building rejected last year as a possible Seattle landmark. In January, developers brought a plan for a building with 24 mostly two bedroom units, 1,500 square-feet of retail space, and parking for 16 vehicles. The plan to be presented Wednesday night represents a relatively radical revision to the proposal calling for a six-story building with “34 – 47 small apartment units.” The January review went relatively smoothly for architect d/Arch and developer Daniel Chua. We’ll find out Wednesday night if the radical reinvention of the plan for space where The Sterling — a building CHS called the “anti-aPodment,” of sorts — also passes muster.

  323 Bellevue Ave E

  Design review early design guidance application proposing a 6-story structure containing 25 residential units above 1,500 sq. ft. of retail. Parking for 16 vehicles to be provided below grade. Existing structures to be demolished

  View Design Proposal  (10 MB)    

  Review Meeting
  May 27, 2015 8:00 pm
  Seattle University

  824 12th Ave
  Admissions & Alumni Community Building

  Review Phase: EDG–Early Design Guidance  See All Reviews

  Project Number: 3018682  View Permit Status  |  View Land Use Notice

  Planner: Magda Hogness
• Seattle 2035: When it comes to 20-year plans, there never really seems to be enough time for feedback. You have until June 18th to weigh in the direction Seattle’s development should take to make the city thrive ’til 2035. Wednesday night, a public meeting and open house on the city’s proposals for an updated comprehensive plan will be held at City Hall:Draft EIS Public Hearing and Open House
  Wednesday, May 27, 2015, 6 – 8pm
  Bertha Knight Landes Room
  Seattle City Hall
  600 4th Ave
  What do you want Seattle to be in 2035? Seattle is growing and changing. The Comprehensive Plan is our guide to achieving the future we want, and it’s being updated. Check out the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and four alternatives for how Seattle could grow over the next 20 years. The 45-day Draft EIS public comment period begins May 4.CHS will have more on Seattle 2035 from a Capitol Hill point of view, soon. In the meantime, you can learn more — and weigh in — at 2035.seattle.gov.

Four Growth Alternatives were studied to learn how future growth will impact Seattle
What do all the Growth Alternatives have in common?

• 20-year plan for growth throughout the city to identify how future growth could be distributed and the potential effects
• Continuation of the Urban Village Strategy, with most growth guided to Urban Centers and Urban Villages
• Amount of growth: 70,000 new households (120,000 people) and 115,000 new jobs by 2035
• Future transit system: completion of the Sound Transit 2 Mass Transit Plan, approved by voters in 2008

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