The Seattle City Council Tuesday signed off on a surgical rezone in the Central District that will allow the “Afrofuturist”-styled Acer House apartment development to move forward at 23rd and Cherry.
Tuesday’s vote to rezone seven parcels of land at the corner clears the way for the project to build to 55 feet instead of the 40-foot limit the properties are zoned for. Under the zoning where the Acer House building will stand, the allowed height is only 40-feet. However, in the commercial zone to the east, the higher limit is in place. Continue reading →
Imagine this: five-and-a-half stories of apartments in an Afrofuturist design on 23rd and Cherry with thousands of square feet of childcare and other retail spaces with a public courtyard. Of the 120 apartments, which range in size from about 400-square-foot studios to two-bedroom units between 700 and 800, 30% would be reserved for low-income residents.
Thursday night, the proposed Acer House project will move forward with its first pass through the Seattle design review process:
2210 E Cherry St
Design Review Early Design Guidance for a 5-story, 120-unit apartment building with 4 live-work units, childcare, and retail. No parking proposed. Project relies on a contract rezone. View Design Proposal(23 MB)
Kateesha Atterberry, founder of the Urban Black commercial property management firm working on the development, says the team wants a childcare provider focused on “Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.” Commercial spaces will likely include the existing Flowers Just 4 U, which might be the only Black-owned florist in the Pacific Northwest, with Atterberry saying she would additionally like to see a recording studio and other artists in the five micro retail spaces for small businesses.
On top of the housing affordability, Atterberry also hopes the project, known as Acer House, can be commercially affordable.
“Creating vibrant communities where businesses can thrive and contribute to the local economy is dependent upon them being able to afford the spaces they are in,” Atterberry told CHS in an email. “Our goal is to provide affordable leasing terms and access to resources for additional support. We believe in partnering with businesses to ensure their success because their success is our success.” Continue reading →
The Central Area Land Use Review Committee community group will hold an online meeting this week with developers behind the Acer House project, a five-story, mixed-use building planned to rise at the corner of 23rd and Cherry.
CHS reported on the project here in what developer Ben Maritz said he hopes will be the “first truly anti-racist private sector development” in the city by addressing issues of ownership, displacement, and equity a privately financed project.
The Acer House project is also seeking a rezone to allow an extra floor of height from the Seattle City Council. Legislation for the rezone is beginning its path through City Hall after being transmitted last month. The city’s design review process will also start soon with community feedback first on elements of massing and context and later on the finer points around the afrofuturist design and colors. Continue reading →
Legislation to allow a rezoning of the corner of 23rd and Cherry could allow a five story, mixed-use building to rise at the corner, connecting a wave of redevelopment across the 23rd Ave corridor through the Central District where major new developments have already risen at 23rd and Union and 23rd and Jackson.
But developers of the project say the surgical rezone would bring more than an extra story of height to the corner across from the Garfield Community Center and the Garfield High School campus. Acer House, they say, can be an example of a different recipe for equitable development beyond dependence on public funding.
“We believe in the power of housing,” Ben Maritz, the Capitol Hill developer of affordable housing behind the project says.
Acer House, Maritz said, could be the “first truly anti-racist private sector development here in Seattle.” Continue reading →
Reports of at least two people taken to nearby hospitals with gunshot wounds followed reports of a massive bout of gunfire in the Central District Tuesday night.
The shooting scene appeared to be spread out around the gas station at 23rd and Cherry where a shooting happened Monday night that sent multiple people to the hospital and left one dead.
UPDATE 7/23/20 2:20 PM: SPD announced Thursday that a 18-year-old hit in Tuesday’s shooting has now died. The victim has not yet been publicly identified.
Witnesses reported hearing dozens of shots just before 10:45 PM involving multiple weapons. Seattle Police reported the shooting took place in the 2200 block of E Cherry and left at least one injured. Continue reading →
Thanks to a CHS reader for this picture from the scene
At least two people were reported shot after a bout of gunfire outside the Garfield Community Center gas station at 23rd and Cherry Monday night
Seattle Police was called to the scene just before 10:30 PM to a report of gunfire and found one victim with life threatening injuries. While officers were reported performing CPR and Seattle Fire was rushing to the scene, a second shooting victim was reported dropped off at Harborview.
There was a possible third victim in the shooting but CHS does not have further details. SPD and Seattle Fire have not yet confirmed the shooting response.
UPDATE: Seattle Police said overnight that three people were shot and one died at the scene:
Detectives are investigating after three people were shot in the 2300 block of East Cherry Street Monday at 10:15 PM.
Officers responded to the intersection of 23rd Avenue and East Cherry Street for reports of shots fired Monday night. When they arrived they found two people on the ground who reportedly been shot. Officers provided first aid to one of the victims. The second victim was pronounced dead at the scene by Seattle Fire Department Medics.
A short while later, a third victim, who was transported by private vehicle, arrived at Harborview Medical Center. Detectives are attempting to determine if this victim was injured during this shooting or if there was another scene.
Homicide detectives responded to the scene and are currently trying to determine what led up to the shooting. Detectives are asking anyone with information to please call the tip line at 206-233-5000.
Monday night’s shooting follows another bout of gun violence that sent one to the hospital Saturday night after a shooting at 18th and Madison.
UPDATE x2: The Central District murder was one of two homicides investigated by SPD on the night. Police were also collecting evidence after a man was shot to death inside an Aurora Ave motel room early Tuesday morning.
Police were collecting evidence at the scene including shell casings found west of the 23rd and Cherry intersection, according to East Precinct radio.
Monday night’s shooting joins a string of gun violence across Capitol Hill and the Central District that included two teens killed in incidents around the CHOP protest camp.
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A Renton man is the first person charged in Seattle Police, federal, and King County Prosecutor efforts to stamp out a string of gun violence across Central and South Seattle.
Demarco Pressley, 25, faces three counts including an assault charge and two charges of unlawful possession of a firearm after being arrested in the shooting of a woman caught in the crossfire of an apparent gang dispute.
He has not yet entered a plea on the charges, according to court records.
Police say Pressley can be seen in security video from the night of May 3rd incident at the AMPM service station at 23rd and Cherry firing off a series of shots as a vehicle speeds away and returns fire along 23rd:
The Seattle City Council Tuesday signed off on a surgical rezone in the Central District that will allow the “Afrofuturist”-styled Acer House apartment development to move forward at 23rd and Cherry.
