What makes building development good or bad? It’s a combination of the owner, developer and zoning envelope.

The Seattle Times reported today that the Odd Fellows Hall on Capitol Hill has been sold and is going to be updated and restored (not torn down!). They report that many tenants are justifiably worried that in the updated building rents will be so high that many of the current artist tentants will be displaced.

But rather than speculate on what will happen, these are three major factors that will go into what is eventually built.

* The Owner - The owner has tremendous leverage determing the final development. They can set binding requirements in the agreement for what is built next and they can determine the final scale of the building by raising/lowering their asking price. Properties are usually sold to developers outright or on contingency (this means that the property sale occurs when some other action happens - usually when a Master Use Permit is issued). You have more sway over an owner if the property is being sold on contingency since an active neighborhood has lots more time to actually lobby them. (In the case of Oddfellows it looks like the sale has already happened).

* The zoning envelope - For each project, there is a corresponding maximum amount of ‘build’ that can take place. This maximum amount is capped by whatever type of zoning is in place and this really dictates the kind of building which will go there. So, think of this as what sets the price, because it determines what the potential build could look like. (This is also where the design review process kicks in, where issues unique to the site can reduce the amount of buildable space the city will permit).

* Developers - These are the folks who actually decide what is going to be built, how it will look, and how it will be priced. They have to push their proposal through the city and depending on the integrity of each individual developer - they choose whether to work in partnership with a community or not. However, they can be lobbied too, and their goal is to get a Master Use Permit with the least amount of headache possible. (Since Oddfellow’s new owner is the group that refurbed Trace Lofts, I don’t think quality will be an issue. However, they will need to be lobbied hard to preserve affordable space for artists!)