Hand over park buildings to developers? City might want to first look at it’s own Magnuson Park planning.

I really like Magnuson Park and think that the development there to date has been very good. That’s why it was kind of a surprise that today it was reported that the parks department is going to bring a proposal to the city council requesting that: 

A private developer has offered to pay $7.7 million for renovations to the 59,000-square-foot building sandwiched between Lake Washington and Sand Point Way Northeast.

This news came as a surprise because I already thought the city had a plan for Magnuson development, and that it was going to be focused on housing programs, restoring Sand Point’s wetlands, bringing in athletic organizations, educational services, and housing other cultural programs.  So, why does building 11 at Sandpoint need to be developed with restaurants and office spaces? I’m confused, and reading through the article it seemed like the Department of Parks is just as confused. 

I mean, is there a call within the city to develop these buildings as soon as possible? Is the city willing to put up a white flag right now even though they don’t have funding for this and can’t find enough non-profits to fund development? And why would the city accept a proposal from a development group that has caused great neighborhood concern with their Goodwill redevelopment plan?

Isn’t this where the city needs to step in, put together a redevelopment plan with financing for Magnuson Park, rally the city around it, and put it up to vote?

Magnuson is a great park and it would be a shame to see that it is developed in the same hodge-podge way that the city is allowing the rest of Seattle’s neighborhoods to be developed.