A mixed-use townhouse-style development small enough to avoid the city’s public design review process but big enough to fill a Madison Valley parking lot is moving forward.

The city is conducting an “administrative review” of design plans for a proposed project to build a set of small apartment buildings in the surface parking lot outside the neighborhood’s popular Cafe Flora restaurant.

The proposal would create one four-story, two-unit apartment building with retail and a second four-story, two-unit building on the land currently used as a surface parking lot. The proposal includes parking for four vehicles.

The property has been owned by Flora’s David Foecke but is being purchased by The Flanigan Group, a development arm of Keller Williams. Seattle firm H+dlT Collaborative is the architect on the project.

With its few units, the four-story project qualifies for the city’s “streamlined” design review and won’t be subject to a public review with the board. Under the streamlined process, no public meetings are held and a Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections planner conducts the review. The city’s outreach requirements were met, the developers say, by mailing notices to residents in the area.

Administrative Design Review – No Meeting

2919 E Madison St

Administrative Design Review for 1, 4-story, 2-unit apartment building with retail and 1, 4-story, 2-unit apartment building. Parking for 4 vehicles proposed.

View Design Proposal  (28 MB)    

Review Meeting
N/A

Review Phase
EDG–Early Design Guidance

Project Number

3038148  View Related Records

Planner
Sean Conrad

The E Madison corridor continues to be a prime candidate for redevelopment. Starting this fall, the corridor’s streetscape is set for a major overhaul as construction begins on the $134 million, 2.3-mile, 10-station Madison bus rapid transit route connecting the waterfront through First Hill and Capitol Hill to Madison Valley.

The area’s largest planned redevelopment has faced a long road. In June, developers of the planned six-story, mixed-use apartment building and PCC grocery planned for the land currently home to the City People’s Garden Store won a crucial Hearing Examiner victory but no ground has been broken some six years now since the project was first announced.

UPDATE: We asked the city about the public notice component of administrative design review and why the reviews are still posted to the review meeting calendar. Here’s what we heard back:

Administrative design review requires public notice and posting of the design packet and design guidance similar to the full board process. Posting it to the calendar offers a mechanism for providing that information publicly. Typically, the date for the “meeting” is posted the week following submittal of a complete application.

The 2919 E Madison project was posted on Friday, September 17th. You can provide design related feedback on the early proposal via email at [email protected], reference project #3038148.

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