The East Design Review Board busies itself Wednesday night with two projects on the periphery of Capitol Hill — one will reach six stories and add to the mixed-use overhaul around 22nd and Madison, one will reach eight stories “to create an urbane park lifestyle” on First Hill.

2100 E Madison
Planned to be part of a burst of development activity in the area, developer Jim Mueller’s planned second six-story project at the intersection is set for what should be its final step in the design review process Tuesday night.

The 50-unit apartment building with 3,800 square feet of commercial space and underground parking for 20 vehicles sailed through its early design guidance session last July. Architects Weinstein A+U return Wednesday night with their fleshed-out design proposal for a building the board has already commended for its “aesthetic of the ‘floating’ building on a transparent and inset base,” a composition that is “unique within the immediate context.” By context, of course, the board means the Safeway across Madison and, on the southern corner of the 22nd/Madison intersection where the Twilight Exit once stood, the first Mueller six-story project that is currently under construction.

2100 E Madison St

Land Use Application to allow a 6-story structure containing 50 residential units and 3,800 sq. ft. of commercial at street level. Parking for 20 vehicles to be provided. Existing structure to be demolished. / View Design Proposal  (39 MB)    

Here’s how the 21100 E Madison project design concept is described:

Design Alternate 3 locates the residential entry off Denny Way. Denny is the preferred location for a residential entry (per the SDOT Street Classification Map, Madison Street is classified as a principal arterial). There are two retail spaces along Madison, and a retail space along Denny to the north of the residential entry. The residential units are oriented in a “T” scheme. This maximizes the units with street frontage, and does not require openings along the northeast of the site, which has an adjacent to another NC-65 parcel. The residential levels are set back from the northwest property line at the alley by twenty feet, allowing for a uniform elevation at the alley façade.

And, hey, tree lovers, the building is being designed to make space for the 31-foot chestnut also currently resident on the block.

1001 James
We’re not sure what it is about Broadstone projects but the board seems to not mind calling the developer back for the relatively unusual second (and sometimes third!) recommendation level design review. So it goes with this First Hill project slated for the land where a much smaller apartment building and a parking lot are currently located at Terry and James just off Broadway.

The eight-story, 338-unit, 285-parking stall gargantuan Broadstone First Hill development tried to take its first pass through the final recommendation phase in January but the board had other ideas. “The Board suggested the building be ‘broken’ or opened up on the Terry façade,” notes from the meeting read. Elsewhere, the board members “directed the applicant to erode the building massing” to better open the project’s courtyard concept. In other words, the building was just a bit too hulking.

Developers Alliance Realty Partners and Encore Architects have responded with a new set of plans for the proposed project that attempt to satisfy the requests for a lighter approach and to “reduce the perceived massing.”

“The Board requested the applicant continue developing a residential project with an inviting sense of place for this First Hill location to create an urbane park lifestyle,” the meeting notes conclude.

Will the newly modulated design do the trick? Alliance hopes so. But they’ve gone four before.

1001 James Street

Land Use Application to allow an 8-story, 338 unit apartment building with 5,320 sq. ft. of retail located at ground level. Parking for 285 vehicles is to be provided below grade. Existing apartment building to be demolished. / View Design Proposal  (194 MB)