UPDATE 12/14/2016 9:27 PM: We’ll have more on the ins and outs but the project gained easy approval of the design board Wednesday night — though there is work to be done on the design by the time the recommendation phase is entered in summer 2017. The board asked for a better solution for a large residential lobby currently planned in Site C and also suggested that incorporating the planned daycare in C along Broadway needed to be reconsidered. The board will also look for a better concept for landscaping and trees in the expansive plaza as well as smart treatments for possible blank spaces created by Sound Transit requirements that force separation between the mixed-use building and structures housing the two station entrances. The board also expressed its expectation for a creative solution for the station’s large vent which will eventually be surrounded by the development at the center of the central open plaza. One public speaker suggested that the plaza could be home to plaques or murals expressing the history of the neighborhood or honoring a figure like Cal Anderson. The vent house could eventually be home to such a display. Public comment was generally supportive of the ambitious development concept. Many online comments were received including several which asked the board to do more to ensure a Market Hall small retailer concept is designed into the development. The board included the concept in is requests for the applicant to address in the upcoming “recommendation” round.

After 10 years of community process, there may not be much left to talk about Wednesday night as the four seven-story buildings destined to rise around Capitol Hill Station undergo the development’s first round of design review.

But not everything is a done deal with master developer Gerding Edlen, Hewitt Architects, 12th Ave-headquartered Schemata Workshop, and landscape designers Berger Partnership. Public comment will be part of the proceedings Wednesday night — your email comment to the city’s planner [email protected] might even make it under the wire. UPDATE: Make sure to include project numbers and addresses (found here) with your comments.

Design review: 118 Broadway E — Capitol Hill Station development

To be effective, your comments should focus on the aspects the city’s design review process is there to shape:

• The overall appearance of the building
• How the proposed building relates to adjacent sites and the overall street frontage
• How the proposed building relates to unusual aspects of the site, like views or slopes
• Pedestrian and vehicular access to the site
• Quality of materials, open space, and landscaping

In the case of the Capitol Hill Station Development, there are also design factors related to the community design framework and City of Seattle development agreement for the project.

The Capitol Hill Light Rail Stations Site Urban Design Framework document was published way back in 2011. In 2013, the City Council approved a development agreement allowing developers to plan for 85-foot tall buildings along Broadway in exchange for going above minimum affordable housing requirements.

Community attributes banged out in the processes will need a few champions to speak out in support. Some will say they support the Market Hall concept, a permanent covered market similar to Pike Place, some will say the project is designed to have too much parking and that the parking exits and entrances are distributed poorly around the project, some will ask that the design do more to make the central plaza more accessible to the public. And some will show up only to say they’re glad to see the designs are finally coming together.

First look at Capitol Hill Station development designs — Seven stories, 427 units, and a new Broadway plaza