Boom Coming Down/Going Up
Future installments of this column will delight in the conflicts that accompany major construction projects in Seattle, but our first stop, First Hill, is an exception to that rule. Here at least, developers are welcomed — or at least those who have the good sense to consult with neighbors before they call in the backhoe.
Says Michael Gray of First Hill Home Improvement Association, “We want a mix of housing. We have very high-end housing and we have low-end, but we don’t have much in between.”
Until now or very, very soon. First Hill’s got the boomingest condo market in the city, and most of these new buildings are targeting young Seattle professionals who make around $50,000. I’ve snapped pictures of all the ground zeroes. Next to those I’ve pasted artists’ renderings of the future project. Yes, this is illustrated land use wonkery.
In this post I’m only covering the major residential projects. There’s an expansion project at Harborview, as well as one at Virginia Mason, but as you’ll see we have more than enough condos and assisted living communities to discuss. I don’t want to clog the Slog, so the slide show presentation starts after the jump.
The biggest construction quagmire on First Hill is this intersection of Marion and 8th Avenue, designated as a pedestrian corridor in the neighborhood plan. This picture is looking northeast, so downtown is behind you.
The construction you can see is the M Street project. A mixed-use building, it will top off at 15 stories and on the ground floor will be an urban market of roughly 12,000 feet. Tom Warren, president of Holland Development, partnering in this joint venture with Opus Northwest, says the firms are recruiting an independent grocer for that space. Gray says his fellow First Hill residents are thrilled at the prospect of finally being able to buy their groceries close to home. Above the market there will be 220 residential units.
For more recent news on the urban market, see this June 21 Slog post.
Here is a view of the project from the Seattle First Presbyterian Church parking lot, which is kitty corner across Madison and 8th:
And this is an artist's rendering of the finished product.
Holland and Opus (please resist the Richard Dreyfus joke here) are taking bids next week and the building's buyer will be able to decide whether the units will be condos or apartments. Warren says that either way, this building already has a demographic in mind: "We're really looking for people who value an established neighborhood, and this building is well-suited to professionals in the medical field young doctors, nurses and clinicians, as well as for young people who work in the financial field downtown.”
Across 8th Avenue at that same intersection with Marion an 8-story condo will begin construction next February. Here's what that site looks like right now -- we're looking northwest, so downtown is to your left.
That brick building on the right side, adjacent to the parking lot, is going down. Of all the residential developments, this one is more modest, and prices will reflect that. Says Martha Barkman, project manager for the developer, Harbor Properties: "We're deliberately not building to the 160-foot height limit so we can keep the units affordable.” The building will sell to buyers with incomes ranging from $40,000 to $65,000. It will have 90 condo units in all.
There is room for about 2,500 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. "We'd love to do a coffee shop, but we're exploring what the neighborhood needs,” says Barkman, adding, "the neighborhood needs a hangout.”
Alas, Barkman says she doesn't have an artist's rendering to share. She says the building will be finished by the end of next summer.
Just one block south on 8th Avenue, at Columbia Street, is the site of what will be Skyline at First Hill, built by the nonprofit Presbyterian Retirement Communities Northwest. The $198-million project will take up all four sides of a city block, up to 9th and south to Cherry. Here's the view from 8th and Cherry.
The Capri Apartments (just visible on the right side of the above picture) will be demolished. Marketing director Lee Blanchard said that a 26-story tower will rise from this location and that up the hill onto 9th Avenue there will be another 21-story tower. According to the group's presentation to First Hill residents, the complex will house seniors from independent living to assisted living, assisted living memory support (Alzheimer's and some dementia care) and skilled nursing. Construction will begin early next year and the facility is due to open in early 2009.
There will be ground-floor retail but Blanchard says it's too soon to know exactly what kind. Since the buildings' design remains a work in progress, no artist renderings have been released.
Staying on 8th Avenue, but two blocks north of Madison, a 23-story condo only just yesterday submitted a master use permit to build on 802 Seneca, kitty corner from Town Hall. This picture was taken from Town Hall's front step.
That brick apartment building is doomed, and the new condos will also absorb the adjacent parking light, on the right side of the above picture. Freeway Park is off the left side of the photograph, and by building open space and a pedestrian walkway into the park (as well as making their condos affordable to moderate incomes) the California-based developer, Levin Menzies & Associates, was allowed to exceed the 160-foot height limit, up to 240 feet. Freeway Park preservationists support the project, which would look like this -- this drawing is also from the vantage point of Town Hall:
Like other developments, this one is targeting young professionals. "We're looking for a buyer who is working downtown, who walks to work,” says Bob Kagan of Levin Menzies. "Young and maybe married, about 25-40 but probably doesn't have children. This is kind of entry level housing.”
No final word yet on what type of retail will occupy the 1,500-1,800 feet of space on the ground floor, but Kagan expects a coffee shop or small restaurant.
Three blocks north, near the intersection of University Street and Terry Avenue, construction has begun on the expansion to Horizon House, an assisted living community. Here's what that site looks like today downtown is to the right.
Also, here's a link to the live construction web cam. When finished, the building will be 19 stories high with 100 apartments, and it will look something like this.
Heading up the hill and back toward Seneca at the intersection of Boylston, you'll arrive at the ambitious Skygarden project. Here is what the site looks like today:
That homely little building is going down and a tall, leafy one will grow in its place. The design plan, by Arca Architecture, calls for a 22-story, 97-unit condo tower. And as its name implies, all four faces of the building will be wreathed with lush plant life a different species depending on the height. In community meetings, First Hill residents have expressed concern that the building's future residents will not be up to the challenge of tending their plants; but Arca's Kyle Clark says his firm is working with landscape professionals to ensure that the distinctive plant life is sustainable.
Arca has only recently finished an artist's rendering of the project, and we're glad to show it to you first.
OK, so the "leafiness” is hard to detect from that shrunken photo. Trust me, it's there.
Kitty corner from this building, at the corner of Boylston and Spring, this parking lot...
will become....
The Boylston! A 43-unit luxury condo that promises to open by next summer, if you can believe that, which you shouldn't. This project remains somewhat speculative, and expect the developers to push back that completion date soon.
Phew! That was a lot of work. Sorry, but next week we'll focus on one, maybe two projects. Feel free to play armchair archtect on the projects above. And I'm still taking suggestions for next week's column. Put your suggestion in the Comments thread or email it to me at tfrancis@thestranger.com.
cool. but "First Hill Skygarden.jpg" is just text ....
firefox tells me the image contains errors ... but IE will load it ... nope never mind.
fix it yo, this sounds fascinating.