Category — Capitol Hill

For anyone following the status of the challenge to the Murray Franklyn on Pine and Belmont, Urbnlivn has put together a really great update. 

Whenever the DPD issues a conditional approval for a master use permit, you will usually find within the approval a number of zoning departures. Zoning departures can serve a benefit where the strict enforcement of a code on a unique property would otherwise cause problems for the surrounding area.  However, what seems to be the case these days is that this departure process is instead used as a bonus process for developers to gain more buildable space.

Much of the problem lies with the inherently arbitrary process the DPD uses to grant these departures. Rather than using some kind of structured trade-off process, departures are granted solely by the discretion of the DPD. And very rarely are these departures married with equally significant trade-offs elsewhere that would return a benefit to the neighborhood.   

Just looking at one zoning decision  at 411 Summit Ave E. on Monday, it’s interesting to see the zoning departures that occurred between the city and the developer.Here’s a summary of the proposed project:

The project proposes four (4) residential units in one townhouse structure and four (4) garage parking spaces at alley grade.

The site is approximately 4,800 square feet in area with 40 feet of frontage on both Summit Avenue and the alley to the west. The site topography is primarily flat except for an approximately six and one-half foot grade drop from east to west approximately 25 feet from the rear (alley) property boundary. The site contains a former single-family structure, now divided into multiple dwelling units, with vehicle access from the alley.

Okay, so this looks like we have a multi-family house with a steeply sloping backyard which the developers want to replace with a four-story four-unit townhome. Fine, and here’s the list of zoning departures that the developers requested:

No north side set-back for the proposed garage and 6-foot minimum and 7 foot maximum side set-backs for the principal structure. (FYI: Code says - The average and minimum side set-back is 11-feet and 6-feet for the proposed 94.75 foot building depth)

Place the majority of the open space adjacent to Units A and B on the proposed garage roof.

Provide more than the required amount of open space for the project and units (15% of lot = 719 sq. ft. and 800 sq. ft. for 4 units) but have most of the ground or garage level open space for common tenant usage (620 sq. ft. common, 180 sq. ft. private).

To exceed the maximum structure depth by approximately 17.75 feet. The proposed depth of the largely underground garage is approximately 21 feet and the proposed principal structure depth is approximately 74.75 feet for a total of 95.75 feet.

So what this is basically saying to me is, well, if you let us build out a covered garage on land otherwise reserved for a setback, we can be good developers and build open space on top of the garage - thereby delivering more open space than what code requires. Oh yeah, and it allows us to set the building back from the street in a way that matches the neighboring buildings.

This may be great, but what it doesn’t do is address concerns that a couple of neighbors brought up. 

• There should be a community benefit from granting departures from the requirements for open space and side set-backs,

• A concern that a four-story building will dominate this lot and reduce a sense of openness and light. The request to vary the open space and side yard standards seems to place monetary profit ahead of creating a pleasant neighborhood,

• A concern that a four-story building will block light to and views from the neighboring Summit Terrace building. Building height and open space should be appropriate to the neighborhood and not vary from the zoning standards,

• A four-story building would be in scale with the surrounding buildings, but the building footprint should not be too large for the site and should include front and side yards with landscaping.

I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t seem to me like the DPD did such a great job of negotiating anything for these neighbors in exchange for the zoning departures it granted.

This Wednesday there’s going to be a Capitol Hill design review board recommendation tomorrow for the proposed Pine Street Condominiums on the corner of Bellevue and Pine meeting. The 65′ foot mixed-use condo building (designed by the architects of South Lake Union’s Rollin Street) seems nice enough, but flipping through the design proposal the image below really caught my eye.

That seems like a pretty tall and hefty neighbor going up next to the Pine Street.

(And to be fair, there is more space between the actual residences of the Pine Street and the maximum envelop of the ‘future’ neighbor shown above, but - I’ve gotta say - it seems a little too close for comfort. )

Not only will any views be blocked, but when you’re so close to a neighboring residential building there are all kinds of issues with privacy, light, and noise that you have to deal with.

Honestly, it’s too bad that a nice plan couldn’t have been made for this block where maybe the two buildings could have gone up a little higher in exchange for pulling each one apart a little apart from the other and perhaps creating some kind of nice mini-park between the two.

What’s happening on Capitol Hill? The very businesses that have made it so funky and interesting are disappering so quickly. The next building and business on the chopping block is B&O Espresso. However, there is an effort now on at 1650choice.org to try and save this building. Check the site out for some great historical photos and feel free to sign their online petition if you so choose.

Wow, this building proposed for the old QFC/Taco Bell site on Capitol Hill has been through four design review meetings already, it should be interesting to see if the final version is any different than this one.  It’s other location of note is that it will be located directly across from the Brix condos being built on the other side - do I hear cross-Broadway waterballoon fights somewhere in the future?

Personally, the design seems a little dull for Broadway and I was personally saddened to see that nowhere does it pay homage to its Taco Bell heritage. Maybe they’ll come to their senses and name it something like ’The Cheesarito’ as a tribute to the late night diners who preceeded this building.

Anyway, the design review board meeting is Wednesday Feb 20th at 8pm, Seattle Central Community College.

The Stranger wrote about the November design review board meeting.

(Photos from The Stranger)
 

It seems like everyday I keep learning about a new ‘hyperlocal’ news site. This one covers Seattle’s Central District and they have a really good article called ‘Required to be Ugly‘ which talks about how garage requirements force townhomes to be ‘less beautiful’ than they could otherwise be.

(Of course, I do have to point out an earlier article on SmarterNeighbors where I found an example of townhomes on Capitol Hill/Squire Park that were able to meet these requirements and look good doing so)

 (photo image from CentralDistrictNews.com)

I used to live right around 16th Ave and Union and just up the street from the location of this newly approved six story building on the corner of E Union St and 14th Ave. Back in the day (oh about 10 years ago) on this lot you would have found four little buildings featuring such businesses such as; a weird little shop that repaired lawnmowers & then displayed them on the sidewalk, a nifty junk/antique shop, a great little coffee shop and a tiny neighborhood beauty salon. Ah…how times change, hopefully some interesting new shops will replace the character that was once there. (If you have any photos of how this intersection used to look, could you leave a link in the comments? Thanks!)

Pulled this from an email going around right now that is discussing a proposed project for 1605 Bellevue Avenue Project on Capitol Hill. Couldn’t pass up this comment from 1605 Bellevue Ave’s presubmittal conference about a neighboring building that is clearly seen as a mistake.

“The Hawthorne” - a recent mixed-use building situated directly across
Bellevue Avenue from the proposed site is a glaring failure. In its
half-hearted decoration and ignorance of context, it may be an object
lesson in contradicting the neighborhood personality.”

Ouch! Visit the Hawthorne Apartments web site.

(Photo below: The Hawthorne)

While driving around Capitol Hill today I went down a really lovely street on 17th Avenue with row after row of co-ops, condos, old houses, and new townhomes. What was really striking about them all is how pedestrian friendly they were by opening up to the street with happy little entrances. All of them, except for the townhomes below.

Seriously, what were the designers thinking when they broke up the flow of this residential street and created what amounts to useless enclosed front yards. And I know better design it can be done, because I saw it a block later on 17th Ave where the designers used much better fencing.

Menacing townhomes on 17th with bad fencing.

Welcoming townhomes on 17th with nice fencing.

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!)

This week the DPD published an application notice for 1205 E Pine St (Foley Sign Company Building):

Land Use Application to allow a 5-story structure containing 61 residential units and 5,050 sq. ft. of retail space and 1,345 sq. ft. of office space at ground level. Parking for 36 vehicles will be provided below grade.

This is a fine historic building that was nominated for Historic Landmark Designation in July. The plan is to add three stories on top of the current building, while also refurbishing the bottom two floors.

Anyway, it would be a shame to see this building turned into a Frankenstein or torn down, so if you feel the same and have some good ideas what should be done here the DPD is soliciting comments via their web site. (Of course, these comments generally just tend to go straight into a project file they keep around.)