Just build it already. Wednesday night brings a design review for a 20th Ave project that seems like nobody really needs to review — four four-story townhouse buildings creating sixteen new homes replacing a set of two 1909-built single-family style structures that have seen better days.
But the East Design Review Board will give the projects a final once-over Wednesday:
With a road ahead of years of soil clean-up and Seattle’s long and winding public design process — plus a few stops along the way at Jim’s Hilltop Service Station which is hoped to keep operating through the process — the future of the corner of 15th Ave E and E Mercer is coming into view.
An early site plan for the property from developer Hunters Capital and the architects at Studio Meng Strazzara details a project planned to rise five stories and feature 75 units over 5,000 square feet of commercial space and 27 underground parking stalls.
The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce first reported the city filing Tuesday. Continue reading
An example of good pedestrian-level design on Capitol Hill from the new proposed design guidelines for the neighborhood (Image: City of Seattle)
New guidelines developed through a multi-year community process set to refresh the design of Capitol Hill development projects are up for public comment.
The Office of Planning and Community Development announced that the proposed neighborhood design guidelines for the Capitol Hill Urban Center Village have been determined to not require Environmental Impact Statement and that the comment period has begun, running through January 30th. The decision can also be appealed to the city’s Hearing Examiner. Continue reading
A trio of single-family style homes that have somehow survived in the heart of Capitol Hill at the corner of Harvard and Denny for some 116 years will make way for a planned seven-story building with 80 or so new apartment units. But first the 102 Harvard project must pass through design review. The process begins Wednesday night.
View the city’s MHA proposal maps here
The City Council is planning a March vote on Mandatory Housing Affordability upzoning hoped to further stem the tide of Seattle’s expensive rents and impossible house payments.
The council’s MHA committee meeting met for the first time in 2019 Monday to begin the process of sorting out amendments to the proposal before a February 25th public hearing on the plan and the March 18th vote hoped to bring the multi-year process to fruition. Continue reading
After a few years of rest there is a familiar scene rising above Broadway’s Capitol Hill Station. A massive construction crane has again risen above the land between John and Denny along Broadway.
The busy giant being put to use by lead contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis is a sign of new progress. After a June ribbon cutting — and a true groundbreaking in July — contractor crews have set in on creating an expanse of housing, retail and commercial space, community spaces, and a new plaza about the bustling subterranean station. Continue reading
A plan for adding massive installations of art panels to help the project better reflect the culture and the history of the Central District wasn’t enough to convince area design officials Wednesday night as the Midtown: Public Square mixed-use project was kicked back for yet another round of review.
After a four-hour design review meeting, a blended group of the newly created Central Area Design Review Board and the East Review Board decided to ask the developer and its architects at Weinstein A+U to return with plans for art on the building that is more fully fleshed out.
“What we’re going to want to know is where the art is going to be located, and why it is reinforcing the larger design concepts of the building,” East Review Board chair Melissa Alexander said. “Is it art that is speaking to the larger community? Is it drawing people in? How is that art drawing people into the space?” Continue reading
The future of 11th Ave is coworking (Image: Ankrom Moisan)
The preservation-incentive boosted development that is turning the old Capitol Hill Value Village space — and before that, REI, and before that, the Kelly Springfield Motor Truck Company — into an office and retail complex in the heart of Pike/Pine will be filled with desks from coworking startup WeWork.
The Puget Sound Business Journal broke the news Tuesday on the plans for the company to be the sole tenant in the five-story building, filing the project’s 70,000 square feet or so of office space with WeWork’s brand of glossy coworking space, entrepreneurial and “business incubator” services, and, maybe a WeWork company store. Continue reading
A key Central District project to create a set of seven-story mixed buildings at 23rd and Union is ready to finish off 2018 Wednesday night with what many hope is the final step in a multi-year design review process spanning two different developers.
An important group will be on hand to see the process through.
The City of Seattle’s Department of Construction & Inspections tells CHS that the members of the newly created Central Area Design Review Board will be part of the December 19th review joining the East Review Board that has been overseeing the process since the first look at a project from a previous developer in early 2017.
“Based on community interest, the East Board has agreed to incorporate members of the newly created Central Area Board into the recommendation process for this proposal,” a city rep tells CHS. “While the permit application was vested to the previous design review board district boundaries, the property owner has voluntarily agreed to incorporate members of the Central Area Board into the discussion and recommendation process.” Continue reading
The Twilight Exit’s alley mural (Image: CHS)
Development, once again, is following the Twilight Exit. Fortunately for the E Madison ex-pat dive bar and its E Cherry neighbor the Tana Market, this round of change still has years to play out.
Development “is always in the back of your mind,” Stephan Mollmann tells CHS about the business of building bars outside the Pike/Pine and Broadway core of Central Seattle.
As the Twilight prepares for its 20th birthday next spring and a decade after its move from E Madison to make way for development there, Mollman’s bar is again being prepared for a changing neighborhood. Continue reading
