Plans for 13th Ave E
The future view on 13th north of Mercer
It takes a brave person to develop a five-story building on 13th Ave E between a landmark 1910-built cooperative and a $1 million home. Many neighbors are looking forward to meeting him Wednesday night at the latest gathering of the East Design Review Board. Meanwhile, First Hill’s famous pavement parks will soon have more residents to enjoy them as a triangular lot where Union meets University is reviewed for a six-story, mixed-use addition to the neighborhood.
13th Ave E
The historic cooperative The Maryland on 13th Ave E just north of E Mercer has 20 units. Residents in most if not all of them have already written to the review board to lodge their complaints about the project’s height, bulk, and scale in this quiet patch of Capitol Hill between the Broadway corridor and 15th Ave’s commercial district.
There are also concerns about the loss of sunlight and the leafy lot where behind an old garage where the project is planned:
@jseattle oh my! Looks like more than a few little birds are chirping now… 32 and counting. I sure like tweets tho pic.twitter.com/iOgcwQzOg6
— Thea (@sammyhagar11) March 7, 2016
A view of the preferred design from above. That’s The Maryland next door.
Planned for the space is a five-story apartment building, with 20 market-rate units, no parking, and no commercial component from the lot’s real estate investor owner Robert Hardy and Bradley Khouri’s prolific Capitol Hill-area development architecture firm b9. The developers say their preferred design has done everything possible to take the landmark neighbor and 13th Ave E streetscape into account:
Alternative 3 provides the most effective design solution to the site. it strikes a unique balance of referencing precedent and innovating upon the rich architectural context, creating a contemporary iteration of the vintage buildings that define the neighborhood.
The scheme is also preferred for it’s reduced impact on the site. this is most evident in the narrower building volume at the street and the larger setback to the north, in deference and respect of the Maryland Apartments landmark.
Lastly, the design speaks to engagement and encourages community within the project and streetscape. An articulated entry establishes a strong relationship to the street. the shared courtyard is connected to the entry path, providing an opportunity for engagement and generation of community from within.
“Each of the three proposed schemes speaks to goals of relating to context, design innovation, and enhancement of community — Alternative 3 achieves them most successfully and with the least impact to the site and neighborhood,” the design team writes.
Wednesday night, the review board will take the first steps in determining if that is true.
614 13th Ave E
Design Review Early Design Guidance to allow a five-story building consisting of 20 residential units. Existing structure to be demolished. / View Design Proposal (9 MB)
March 9, 2016 6:30pm
1320 University
Many fewer letters of complaint have been filed for this project on the edge of First Hill just above Broadway — in fact, there is at least one letter of full support for the project on file that also notes how great it will be to see more people in one of the nearby pavement parks on Union.
The six-story, mixed-use building proposed for the current site of Sayre Law Offices is planned to include 4,000 square feet of commercial space below 36 market-rate residential units, with underground parking for 14 vehicles. The development team includes Cyzner Properties, the Berger Partnership, and Grouparchitect.
Here’s how they describe their plan:
Located on a uniquely configured triangular corner lot within the First Hill Urban Center Village, the site borders a newly indicated urban green space which occupies the ROW intersection of E Union St and University St. The project will be compromised of a mixed use structure with below-grade parking, a retail level, and 6 levels of residential market-rate apartments above.
1320 University St
Design Review Early Design Guidance application proposing a 6-story mixed-use building containing 4,000 sq ft of retail space, 36 residential units, and parking for 14 vehicles provided below grade. Existing structure to be demolished. / View Design Proposal (14 MB)
March 9, 2016 8:00pm
