Welcome to 2009 Hillites! Lots of development action going down on the hill this year and hopefully we can make sure it fits nicely into our quirky neighorhood.

January 21st brings a back-to-back Design Review meeting for two projects on the I-5 Shores.

The first is 1623 Bellevue:

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An interesting little infill project, Roger Newell Architects is planning a 6-story 23 resident complex with a bit of retail at the bottom. What strikes me here is that there will only be 12 underground parking stalls. Its unusual to see even a 1:1 ratio of parking spots to residential units but this almost 1:2 ratio is absolutely unheard of (But much appreciated!). Check out the Design Proposal  [9.1 MB] for more info.

The other project up for review is 1650 Olive Way, the infamous B&O replacement project. 

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In fact, the whole block, as well as the apartment building behind it will all be razed to make room for a 75-unit apartment complex with some retail at ground level (78 parking stalls in this guy). Unfortunately the Design Proposal isn’t online but NK Architects are designing the project. The uproar over the B&O has sparked a petition against this project. Check out 1650choices.org for more on that.

So if you want to help make sure these projects don’t suck, be sure to go to the Design Review Meetings:

Wednesday, January 21st

SCCC, Room 4106

6:30pm – 1623 Bellevue Review

8:00pm – 1650 Olive Way Review

So there hasn’t been too much activity in new construction up here on Capitol Hill (or Seattle in general) but I have a few points of interest for you this week:

Since there isn’t much going on up here, I’ll start with a few neighboring projects.

It seems that the the greenery around the Tennis Courts at 922 McGilvra Blvd on Lake Washington is slated for some restoration work. That Ivy can get out of control fast!

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Those who bike or walk to work downtown might notice a difference at 1900 8th Ave. The Watermark Credit Union Building will be coming down to make way for an 11-story Office building with ground level retail. Although I think there are enough surface parking lots out there that no buildings need to be torn down, this one is pretty ugly and does nothing for the streetscape.

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Ok, now let’s move up to the Hill. There seems to be a go ahead for another lot split at 915 17th Ave adding to this street’s new theme of tall-skinny homes.

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And finally, An Examiner’s Hearing is going on for 422 Malden Ave E. This meeting is open to the public but NOT a public meeting. In fact, the developer has already gotten the go ahead to start building (yet he hasn’t). I couldn’t get any graphics for the new townhome designs but you can check out the DB2 site for some of the other townhomes they have done (including the one at 311 14th Ave). They are more creative than most, thankfully.

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Hi All, since it will probably be pretty snowy and icy for the next couple of days I thought I would start a little thread on the best sledding slopes on the hill.

My contribution: They have closed Denny from Bellevue down to the Freeway. Steep and Icy!

Anyone else got some spots?