This Wednesday will be the third (and my guess final) Design Review meeting for the Runberg Architects designed 1111 E. Union project. The building is planned for the triangle at Union, Madison, and 10th and will replace the Undrearms Apartments, Buzz Espresso and the soon-to-be-departing-the-Hill Color Store.

The group was last in front of the Design Review Board back in September where neighbors seemed less than thrilled with the design. Community members, as well as the DRB felt that the building was too disjointed and the color and materials did not fit in with the neighborhood.

Runberg responded by simplifying the massing and using a “warmer color palette” for the facade. A few other changes include additional retail space at 11th and Madison and the removal of the art piece on the Street bulb at Union and 12th. Internally, a few of the units have been converted from 1-bedrooms (now 68) to studios (now 30) with 2-bedrooms remaining the same (6).

There were also some concerns about the parking entrance because it is situated adjacent to the lobby entrance in the midst of a small pedestrian plaza. To increase safety Runberg added concrete traffic calmers and bollards for more visual clarity. As much as I hate garage parking, if it’s going to happen this is the way it should be. They could have easily put the garage entrance at the South end of 11th, creating a big, blank vacuum of space. Instead they minimized the driveway width and forced cars to pass through a clearly designated pedestrian area. I like this approach because it doesn’t pretend to hide the cars and also allows drivers to engage with the pedestrian activity in their building instead of just entering and exiting without ever seeing the street life.

412 Broadway, at the corner of Broadway and Jefferson on First Hill will also be reviewed at Wednesday’s meeting. Since its not technically in the ‘hood I won’t go into too much detail but Lorig Associates have proposed a 6-story apartment building with 99 residential units, 6,700 sq ft of retail, and 117 parking spaces. It will likely be along the future First Hill Streetcar line so perhaps a destination for a streetcar pub crawl.

Project: 1111 E Union St  map

Design Proposal available (11.32 MB)

Review Meeting:	December 2, 8:00 pm (412 Broadway @ 6:30)
	SU Alumni Relations & Admissions Building
	824 12th Ave  map
	Meeting Room
Review Phase:	Recommendation past reviews
Project Number:	3007732 permit status | notice
Planner:

Lisa Rutzick

Seattle Parking originally uploaded by jaycoxfilm

Today is the final day to provide feedback to the Seattle Department of Transportation’s proposals to overhaul parking rules around Capitol Hill’s historical commercial center — Broadway. From the addition of nighttime paid parking to increased parking available on sidestreets, SDOT is considering some big changes in the way Capitol Hill’s environment includes automobiles. But those changes — as radical as some might find paying to park after 6 PM — only go so far. News that parking fines and the number of parking enforcement officers are about to increase also won’t be enough. With the incoming mayoral administration out collecting ideas for what comes next in Seattle, there are lots of Capitol Hill issues that need to be talked about — parking is clearly on the list. Josh has written about parking on Capitol Hill in bits and pieces through his articles on CHS. Here, he takes one big swing at it all to give us his $0.02 on an important Capitol Hill issue.

Over the last few decades, as Capitol Hill has grown and reshaped itself into a truly urban neighborhood, the problems related to parking have become increasingly pronounced. We, or our friends and family, are all too familiar with the 20 minute putt, up and down hills, to the far reaches of the neighborhood, in an effort to find just a single place to park for a few hours. Many people applaud developers for adding abundant parking to their buildings, seeing it as a much needed resource in our densifying neighborhood. But the truth is that off-street parking simply isn’t serving the function it is suppose to and worse, it’s bringing serious detrimental effects to our community. If we really want to solve our parking problems we need to implement a market rate parking system throughout our neighborhood streets, which, through correct pricing, can balance supply and demand and greatly enhance the public setting.

The most important thing to understand about off-street parking is that it simply is not satisfying a market demand. While trying to find a spot curbside can be a nightmare to say the least, most parking garages in the neighborhood sit empty. In its most recent Comprehensive Parking Study SDOT found that in the residential area surrounding Broadway, off-street parking utilization rates peaked at 50%, with an average at just 40% (along Broadway itself it was 65% and 51% respectively). Even validated retail parking, such as the Broadway Market, was noted by SDOT as being “underused”. This means that even though many neighbors push for more parking garages in order to minimize the parking pressure from new residents, curbside parking is consistently utilized at capacity, regardless of how many more garages, or people, are added to the neighborhood.

Not only are massive parking garages not solving the fundamental problem they are designed to solve, but they are actually significantly contributing to other neighborhood problems. The least debatable is that they necessarily undermine affordability. A study by Seattle’s own DOT found that a 250-space, underground parking garage cost up to $13.5 million, or $54,000 per space; others have put the cost even higher , at between $60,000 and $100,000 per space. Overall, parking can be up to 20% of total construction costs. Inevitably these costs are passed on through the price of commercial and residential space, exacerbating the issues of gentrification. In San Francisco one study found that parking requirements were effectively pricing out tens of thousands of moderate income households by increasing home prices by 12% or more. Here in our own neighborhood we are all too familiar with high commercial rents, which bring large national chains and their mighty corporate backing. The choice by almost all developers to include substantial parking is effectively limiting the diversity of our neighborhood creating the generic monotony so detested in new development.

Another problem with increased off-street parking is that it encourages people to drive, increasing health and safety risks and adding stress to our public infrastructure. Many people like to argue that residents on Capitol Hill walk and take public transit for almost everything, but they need a place to keep a car for “occasional trips to the mountains” or “picking up a new piece of furniture”, etc. But let’s be honest, if you make driving easy, people are going to drive. A 2008 study compared New York City’s Jackson Heights and Park Slope neighborhoods , which have nearly equivalent car ownership rates and very similar access to public transit. The study found that Jackson Heights, with six times as much off-street parking, generated 45% more vehicle trips to the Central Business District than Park Slope. Additional drivers bring increased pollution and a heightened risk of accident. It also means more public dollars spent on repairing and maintaining our roadway infrastructure, which takes funds away from other neighborhood improvement projects.

The Stroget in Copenhagen originally uploaded by blafond

But perhaps the most serious problem with increased parking is its correlation with economic vitality. Contrary to popular belief, examples from around the world illustrate that healthy, vibrant communities are where parking is kept to a minimum, not a maximum. Places like New Orleans’s French Quarter, Venice, or Paris’s city center consistently attract huge amounts of visitors, and subsequently their dollars, while keeping parking extraordinarily low (or non-existent). In contrast, places like downtown Los Angeles and Reno are infamously horrible places to be, even though, or perhaps because, they have some of the highest amounts of parking per square foot of commercial space. Implicitly this makes sense because the less space we give to automobiles, the more space there is for people, and as any business owner knows, more people means more sales.

Copenhagen is a shining example of how parking is linked to neighborhood vitality. In the 1960’s Copenhagen’s city center was just as full of cars as any other major European city. But since the 1970’s Copenhagen has systematically reduced parking in its city center by 2-3% per year and converted much of this space to public plazas and pedestrian streets. Over the same time period the number of people who spend time in the city center has increased by 350%. This huge increase in pedestrian activity has allowed shops and restaurants to thrive; outdoor cafes alone have multiplied from only a handful to nearly 150 in a few short decades. In fact, Copenhagen’s economic success has been so pronounced that Forbes magazine rated Copenhagen’s Town Center as the #1 shopping area in the world in 2007 . * 

What we should really consider in an effort to solve our parking woes is ending subsidized public parking and letting the basic laws of supply and demand work their magic. Widely regarded as the world’s foremost parking guru, Professor Donald Shoup in his book The High Cost of Free Parking illustrates how “ getting the price of parking right will do a world of good ” . Shoup explains that by setting street parking rates at the right level, cities can not only end the frustration of looking for a spot, but reduce traffic congestion, enhance the pedestrian experience, and generate funds for neighborhood projects. For example, the Old Pasadena neighborhood has buried electrical wires, enhanced the sidewalks, and cleaned the alleys with the funds generated from high parking fees that are effective until midnight, seven days a week. In the process the neighborhood has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in all of Southern California. Think what Capitol Hill could do if we priced the 3,000 parking spaces around Broadway at  just $40 a month (about half the price of a monthly transit pass and less than $2 a day). We could generate around $1.5 million in annual revenue and make it hassle-free for residents and visitors to find parking.**

There is a fundamental parking problem here on Capitol Hill that undoubtedly needs to be addressed. Unfortunately the out-dated impression that more off-street parking will solve our predicament is simply uninformed and proven untrue. Worse yet, the creation of abundant off-street parking is actually bringing negative effects to our neighborhood by exacerbating affordability issues, adding more congestion to our roads and more pollution to our air, and endangering the economic vitality and vibrancy of our communities. The best way to confront our parking troubles is to do away with free on-street parking and start setting prices at market rates. This will not only eliminate the overutilization of street parking and underutilization of off-street parking, but will immensely improve the public environment for residents, workers, and visitors alike.

*For more on Copenhagen’s transformation see Public Spaces, Public Life by Jan Gehl

** For more on parking reform see this interview with Donald Shoup and this video of parking reform in action .

Also, special thanks to Rev. Smith, who prompted me to write this with his comment on my last post:

Josh,

I guess you implied there’s an understood truism about parking = bad. Could you please elaborate on the science, not opinion, of this position? Perhaps cite a study or two?

Being as not all cars are gasoline powered, & not all vehicles are cars, I don’t always equate cars, or their storage, with bad planning.

As a city and region, many dollars/hours/resources/years have gone into lobbying developers to not neglect proper levels of parking, right? This was because studies showed irresponsible developments put burdens on city transportation depts when they skimped on parking.

Where’s the precedence for building 200+ marketrate units (and a block of retail) in one building and not including a parking plan? In what city has this occurred and traffic/street parking/commerce did not suffer as a result? I don’t get your tone in your article, so help, please.

  We encourage Rev. Smith or anyone else to post a response here in the comments or as a separate article.

This upcoming Wednesday there will be an Early Design Guidance Meeting for the mixed-use apartment complex proposed for Thomas and Broadway (details below). The site includes the properties that house Cafe Septieme, Noah’s Bagels, Pho 900, Bank of America, the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, and the Broadway Farmer’s Market, among others and will have approximately 24,000 sqft of commercial space, 235 residential units, and about 250-275 parking spaces. The project is being developed by SRM Development and the Merrill Gardens Company, a family-owned, Seattle-based company behind the Merrill Gardens Retirement Communities throughout the United States (and most recently at U-Village).

The project is pretty standard in terms of new Capitol Hill development. Ground floor retail will front Broadway and wrap around Thomas St with upper floors consisting of mainly studios and one bedrooms, with a few 2 bedrooms interspersed. The building will drop from 65ft along Broadway to 40ft along 10th Ave and 7 Live/Work units will front the ground floor of 10th. Since it is early in the design process there are no official designs for the facade but the proposal does include a few sketches of possibilities. In talks, SRM Representative Andy Loos has repeatedly mentioned Brix as something similar in scope and design.

First Floor Plan

While all the existing buildings will be demolished, Loos said that current commercial tenants have been contacted and offered space when construction was complete. Bank of America has already agreed to return to the new building and are currently looking for a temporary location in the vicinity. No others have confirmed. Loos also said that the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce would “certainly be welcome” when construction was completed but the Chamber’s Jack Hilovsky said that they are looking for a new location for when their lease is up next Fall and don’t have plans to return at this time.

The most intriguing part of the proposal is a community space that would be available to tenants as well as community groups and organizations. While nothing has been confirmed (entrance location, square footage, included equipment, etc.) I am told that Merrill Gardens incorporated a similar space in their U-Village development.

Idea for 10th Ave Entrance

The least intriguing part is the parking. Even though the site will be less than one block from the new light rail station, the First Hill Streetcar, and bus routes 8,9,43,49, and 60 and is zoned with no parking requirements, the developers are still proposing more than 250 parking spots. I asked Loos if there was any chance that the parking could be reduced. His reply:

We have discussed the parking spaces and will do further review to determine how many we will provide.  We certainly don’t want to be under-parked since finding spaces on the street in Capitol Hill is virtually impossible today and if our residents were to have to find street parking in order to park their cars we’d be adding to an already significant parking problem.  There could be a segment of the residents that have cars but choose to use public transportation anyway.  They will still need a parking space even though they don’t use their car every day…we want to be able to accommodate them.  We certainly don’t want to build parking spaces that

I guess you can’t win them all.

Project: 230 Broadway E  map

Review Meeting:	November 18, 6:30 pm
	SU Alumni Relations & Admissions Building
	824 12th Ave  map
	Meeting Room
Review Phase:	EDG–Early Design Guidance past reviews
Project Number:	3009249 permit status | notice
Planner: Lisa Rutzik

Over the past few months it has become somewhat of a ritual for my girlfriend and I to take a late afternoon stroll down Broadway; gazing upon the familiar, and the not-so-familiar faces that make the street one of the most lively in Seattle. The destination of our walks is always Bailey/Coy where we stop out front and my girlfriend records Bailey/Coy’s quote of the day in her journal. When we learned here on CHS that Bailey/Coy would be no more, it was devastating.

As a way to honor Bailey/Coy’s presence in our lives, my girlfriend decided to assemble 40 of her favorite quotes into a short story. Remember, every single sentence below is the beginning of a different book, and graced Bailey/Coy’s sandwich board at some time in the last 6 months. So Bailey/Coy, this one is for you; you will truly be missed.

Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.  My legal name is Alexander Perchov.  When I was six I saw a magnificent picture in a book about the jungle, called true stories.  We tell ourselves stories in order to live.  Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.  Dr. Weiss, at the age of forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature.  There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.

---

My name was salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie.  I was born with water on the brain. 

Air-conditioned, odorless, illuminated by buzzing florescent tubes, the American supermarket doesn’t present itself as having very much to do with nature.  Once there was a tree…and she loved a little boy.  All children, except one, grow up.  There was once a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself-not just sometimes, but always. 

Harriet was trying to explain to Sport how to play town.  In a city called Stonetown, near a port called Stonetown Harbor, a boy named Reynie Muldoon was preparing to take an important test.

1801-I have just returned from a visit to my landlord-the solitary neighbor that I shall be troubled with.  Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.  “Marx has completely changed the way I view the world,” declared the Pallieres boy this morning, although ordinarily he says nary a word to me.  Claire: it’s hard being left behind.  Horselover Fat’s nervous breakdown began the day he got a phone call from Gloria asking if he had any Nembutals.  Mr. Jones, of the manor farm, had locked the hen-houses for the night, but was too drunk to remember to shut the popholes.  “It’s a pretty good 200,” said young Gerald McGrew, “and the fellow who runs it seems pretty proud of it, too.”  

A is for Amy who fell down the stairs.  When he was nearly 13, my brother Jim got his arm badly broken at the elbow.

In fairy tales, witches always wear silly black hats and black coats, and they ride on broomsticks, but this is not a fairy tale, this is about real witches.  True!-nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?  Don’t get me wrong: I love the restaurant business.  The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roasted chicken.  I’d been waiting for the vampire for years when he walked into the bar.  The “red death” had long devastated the country.  In Paris we eat brains every night. 

Are you there God? It’s me; Margaret.  I wish Giovanni would kiss me. 

There were ninety-seven New York advertising men in the hotel, and, the way they were monopolizing the lines, the girl in 507 had to wait from noon till almost two-thirty to get her call through.  Two boys stood in the Prince Consort Gallery and looked down on a third.  124 was spiteful.  No one is staring at you.  It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.  Then there was the bad weather.  It was a pleasure to burn.   

• The Aurora-based rental store, Aurora Rents,  has replaced its iconic elephant after six months of restoration.
• Over in Queen Anne, a mystery of brown street signs reveals the city’s new markings for the historic Olmstead Boulevards.
• Financial troubles at Moda Condos in Belltown has left some residents in a hilarious, yet hazardous, predicament.
• The city moves forward with plans for a pedestrian square at the southern end of the South Lake Union Trolley.
• McKinstry plans to open a 24,000 sqft  “Innovation Center” near its HQ in Georgetown in order to advance green technologies. Watch out Redmond!
• “Outraged Swedes” complain about their flag being removed from Ballard‘s Bergen Place. I blame the Danes.

The design proposal for the 11th and Pine development was posted to the Design Review website today, in anticipation of the second Early Design Guidance Meeting scheduled for next Wednesday, Nov 4th (details below). You can download the entire proposal here[3.5mb]. But for those too busy (or lazy) to go through it, here is a brief overview of what’s new (see our earlier coverage here and a recap of the first EDG meeting here):

Courtyard View

First, according to DPD and the Design Review Board, this meeting is scheduled as a second Early Design Guidance meeting, but the proposal seems to suggest otherwise. While EDG’s are required to have three alternatives for height and bulk within the allowable zoning, the current 11th and Pine porposal looks at only a single option and has many more details than the EDG is suppose to consider. I spoke with Bob O’Malley of Kohler Architects, and he did not seem to think that three alternatives were necessary at a second EDG. The project planner, Lisa Rutzick could not be reached at this time.

Unlike any of the options in the first EDG, the new design calls for a fully enclosed residential courtyard that would start on the second level. The unit breakdown has gone from 54 studio, 30 1-bdrm, and 12 2-bdrm (total 96), to 6 studio, 76 1-bdrm, and 10 2-bdrm (total 92). Similar to the first proposal the original facade will be maintained on 11th and Pine and will wrap around a bit into the alley.

One of the main concerns at the last EDG meeting was the splitting of the original two-story ceiling of the interior by bringing the residential units down into that space. The new proposal is a bit of a compromise in that about half of the street level retail, the side facing Pine St, will have two-story ceilings, while the rest will not.

11th Ave Facade

The upper floors are designed to “pay respect” to the existing building by using similar window patterns, column spandrels, and glazing divisions. While most of the upper floors will have very little setbacks, half of the 11th Ave facade will be recessed above, to accentuate the original entrance and garage door, which is being restored for commercial use (not parking). The original masonry is intended to be restored while the upper levels will have metal panels with minimal treatment and trim. They have also opted to name the building the “Sunset Electric” building, apparently ignoring Dennis Saxman’s request that they maintain the character of the “Winton Motor Co.” a company that, according to Saxman’s research, owned the property prior to Sunset Electric.

The new proposal has also increased the parking stalls from 4 to 36, therefore removing the 14,000sqft of basement commercial space that was designed for arts and cultural uses. This is interesting because, according to the first EDG report, neither the community nor the Design Review Board suggested additional parking.

Street Level Floorplan

A few personal opinions:

• I think the additional parking in lieu of arts and culture space would be a travesty and must be stopped.
• If they are only going to have double high ceilings in part of the building, it should really be facing 11th, a much better pedestrian street and the front of the original building.
• I like the upper story design elements but I think I would rather see concrete instead of metal siding.
• They should put “Winton Motor Co.” on one side and “Sunset Electric” on the other at the top
• There are P-patches and worm bins on the roof top deck. Thats pretty cool.

Come voice your thoughts on this development at the next EDG meeting Wednesday:

Project: 1530 11th Ave  map

Design Proposal available (3.65 MB)

Review Meeting:	November 4, 6:30 pm
	S U Alumni Relations & Admissions Buildings
	824 12th Ave  map
	Meeting Room
Review Phase:	EDG–Early Design Guidance past reviews
Project Number:	3010451 permit status | notice
Planner:	Lisa Rutzick

It’s been a decade since Seattle’s 38 neighborhood plans were approved so this year the Seattle Planning Commission decided to check in with residents to measure the success, and frankly relevancy, of the Neighborhood Plans today. You may remember CHS encouraging you to fill out a survey on this topic and beat Ballard as the most politically engaged neighborhood. Unfortunately they won. But we had more fun right…

Anyway, today the Planning Commission released its report on those surveys, combined with a few poorly attended public meetings it held over the summer, in an executive summary. An important thing to note is that with respect to the neighborhood plans, Pike/Pine and Capitol Hill are separate neighborhoods.

For Capitol Hill the city received 273 online surveys along with 10-20 meeting attendees. According to the Executive Summary, this is what we said:

• Newer mixed-use development represents positive progress to many, but it also engenders a deep anxiety about change.
• Respondents are eager for rail transit service to begin, but are apprehensive about unknowns regarding the streetcar route and the prospect of further development
• Respondents appreciated the lively street life spurred on by new development, however they lamented the loss of notable neighborhood businesses.
• Many feel that the relatively consistent aesthetic qualities of new development detract from the “eclectic” character of the neighborhood
• Cal Anderson Park and the new library are widely seen as positive additions to the neighborhood
• Many respondents related growth in the Pike/Pine Corridor to change on Capitol Hill

Only a few respondents commented on the impact of Seattle Central Community College

For Pike/Pike the city received 39 online surveys and sadly had no meeting attendees. Here is the how the Executive Summary sums up that data:

• People are generally pleased with the amenities that come from new development (ie. parks, open spaces, new businesses, etc.) but are equally concerned that this is destroying the existing character, gentrifying the neighborhood and driving out affordable housing and art spaces.

Of equal concern is public safety–people are concerned about illegal and dangerous activities in and around public parks–and transportation opportunities to other Seattle neighborhoods.

So what do you think? Did the Planning Commission get it right? Do they understand our needs well? You will have an opportunity to share your thoughts about this data, and anything else you think they missed at a final public meeting on November 10th from 6-8pm at Seattle Central Community College, Rm. BE 1110/11.

A few interesting things that struck me in other neighborhoods:

• Parking was a huge issue for West and North Seattle neighborhoods. I’m proud that it wasn’t for us :)
• New townhomes in Delridge have both helped and destroyed the neighborhood.
• People in Westwood/Highland Park really love Zippys!
• I was unaware that Morgan Junction existed. My apologies Morgan Junction folks.

• Apparently Ballard was the PC’s favorite. The report states that,  “People in Ballard are poised and energetic to engage in a community-wide discussion of their neighborhood plan”. That could have been us if you had filled out your survey.

You can download the full executive summary here. Its also a good idea to review the Cap Hill and Pike/Pine neighborhood plans, which you can do at the Department of Neighborhoods Website.

This Sunday, October 18th Grace Kim of Capitol Hill’s own Schemata Workshop will be hosting an event called, “Curious About Cohousing” at SU’s new A&A building . The event is aimed at familiarizing people with cohousing and determining if their is sufficient interest for a cohousing community in or around Capitol Hill. For many people, including myself, the idea of cohousing conjures up images of free frolicking individuals milking cows and hosting drum circles under the full moon. But in reality, cohousing is a healthy alternative to standard home ownership and can be great way to have more control of your living situation.

According to the Cohousing Association of the US, the most defining characteristic of cohousing is that residents are, “consciously committed to living as a community” . Of course, this does not mean that individuals only get a small closet for privacy; many cohousing communities are made up of full single family homes or townhouses with all the private amenities one could need. But there is always an emphasis on community. There is always a set of shared spaces where residents can come together for meals, parties, movies, games, etc. Oftentimes these shared amenities might be things that are expensive in a private residence, for example, a large workshop, exercise room, crafts area, or even just guest rooms for visitors.

Another important aspect of cohousing is the participatory design process. Instead of a developer constructing a structure for residents and then selling it off, cohousing communities are heavily involved in the planning and design process, making sure that it fits their needs and wants.

Daybreak community in Portland, design by Schemata (photo courtesy of Grace Kim)

Sunday’s event is an opportunity for Schemata Workshop to bring their nationally-recognized expertise to their own neighborhood. According to Firm principal Grace Kim, Schemata Workshop is one of only a dozen firms in the country who are known for cohousing. Schemata recently helped the Daybreak community in Portland design their new cohousing complex, which officially opened this month. Kim, herself is a board member of the Cohousing Association of the United States and was the chairperson for the 2009 Cohousing Conference in Seattle in June.  This year Schemata will recieve the Mayor’s small business award for fostering communities that “emphasize a holistic view of social, ecological and economic sustainability” .

So if you have been thinking about mixing up your living situation, this is your chance to learn the benefits and challenges of creating a cohousing community. And if you’re happy where you are, then consider coming out to Sunday’s event simply to learn about the different cohousing communities throughout the US and beyond.

Curious About Cohousing?

Date: Sunday, October 18th, 2009

Time: 2:00 – 4:00pm

Location: SU Alumni and Admissions Building (12th and Marion)

Register at http://cohousing.eventbrite.com/

The Art Gallery in A&A (Photo by Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)

Next Saturday at 3pm, Seattle University will be proudly showing off its newest campus facility, the Admissions and Alumni building at the corner of 12th and Marion. Constructed in less than nine months, this LEED Gold structure is intended to be the first example of SU’s new approach to community engagement.

The first thing that strikes you when strolling the beautiful central walkway of Seattle University is how utterly removed it feels from the surrounding urbanity. Not to say this is bad, its a great place to escape the chaos of our modern metropolis. But when you look at Seattle University from either 12th or Broadway you can’t help but feel like your looking at its back; its as if the University has no interest in the community it calls home. But according to Director of Facilities Michael Kerns, over the next few years SU hopes to reshape itself and become an integral part of the rest of the neighborhood.

The area around SU was entirely different when the college first began. Much of the land was industrial, or owned by the city. In this context SU worked hard to create a welcoming place in the midst of its campus. But now, as the surroundings have become much more dynamic Kerns says its time that SU became a more prominent part of the neighborhood.

The Coca-Cola Building repurposed (Photo by Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)

Nothing embodies this more than SU’s new Admissions and Alumni Building, or as Kerns likes to put it, the “relationship” buidling. He says the building was designed to promote a comfortable environment for anyone engaging with Seattle University. Unlike most of the University’s buildings, the A&A building actually faces the commercial street of 12th Ave. With a minimal set-back and lots of transparent glass windows, the building stands in stark contrast to the University Services Building, set far off the street and nestled in thick landscaping.

The corner of the A&A building was designed as a community gathering space. The layout, with tables on one end, couches on the other, and benches around the perimeter, allow it to easily accommodate any style of community event. The huge windows are intended to engage the outside world, allowing people to easily see whats going on inside, and even join if its public. Even before next week’s official opening, at least 3 different community groups from Capitol Hill and the Central District have held events here. SU has also agreed to offer all future Capitol Hill Design Review meetings in the building, a much better venue than the hard-to-find classrooms somewhere in Seattle Central Community College.

Public Plaza off Marion St. (Photo by Lucas Anderson/Neighborlogs.com)

Other features of the building also embody the community spirit. Much of the space that faces 12th Ave is a public gallery with paintings and art pieces visible from the street. People are invited to come in and view the art anytime during building hours. In the back of the building there is also a small public plaza with an entrance on Marion. While there are design features that delineate the building space from the public right-of-way there is no fence or gate that is closed after hours.

While the A&A building is the most visible, Kerns points out that there have been other projects SU has done over the summer to improve its presence in the neighborhood. The old Coca-Cola building on 14th Ave was turned into the Interim Library, compelling students to explore a bit farther out than SU’s central campus. They also painted Ballermine Residence Hall, hoping to break up its imposing facade.

SU is already in the process of constructing another building on 12th. A new student housing structure is going up at 12th and Cherry and will have retail uses as well as open up to the new park on the lot just to the South. As reported earlier there are also plans to adapt the huge warehouse at12th and Madison into a more pedestrian-friendly structure.

Alumni and Admissions Building Public Opening

Date: October 17th, 2009

Time: 3:00pm-4:00pm

Location: A&A Building, 12th and Marion

There will be a short tour of the building followed by food and drinks.

Note: This event is timed in conjunction with the Capitol Hill Community Council’s Mayoral Candidate Forum. So you can get a tour, grab some snacks, and have time to be political active!

Murder in the Graveyard Originally uploaded by Photo Munki

Now, I’m not trying to belittle Bruce Lee here. He was a great actor/martial artist/man and paying homage to his resting place is no doubt a worthy cause. But sometimes I feel like he eclipses the fact that Lake View Cemetery has a whole list of historic Seattle celebrities worth visiting. And who might they be you ask?

Check out this handy google map for my list of famous Lake View gravesites. If you know of one that didn’t make my list, you can also add it!

View Lake View Cemetery Map in a larger map