Comments on Fauntleroy Place

Sure they will. PCC and its narrow isles are doomed.

Sounds like it will be "doomed" because something better came along. What's the problem? And I go to PCC and the Metropolitan Market around the corner all the time.

The five people that drink kombucha tea will have to make other arrangements.

if PCC cannot compete ... then it will close. Survival of the Fittest. That's how capitalism works.

Wait! I'm the Mayor of West Seattle... nobody ran this by me.

In addition, there is a new QFC / Office Depot going in between 41st and 42nd on Alaska, one block north. Both of these stores are going to have a much bigger effect on the Safeway across the street in Jefferson Square. It'll be great for me, I live between all three.

It's actually an example of how third way socialism works.

If it were capitalism, the old store would be pushed out by the one most able to fool it's customers into buying tainted food while most exploiting a helpless workforce. And there would hardly be a design review, would there? There wouldn't really even be building codes or zoning. Sure, there are some market forces at work here, but they are hardly free.

Now if you want to see a fine example of capitalism at work, let's talk about the housing bubble.

M, did you just move to WS? Fauntleroy Place, Whole Foods and all, was first announced almost two years ago. Guess Slog noticed our latest periodic update last Wednesday, and we love the linkage from our favoritest citywide blog, but otherwise it's old news ... wake up and smell the kombucha, or your re-election campaign (should you choose to run again) could be in jeopardy!

Wait! I'm the Mayor of West Seattle... nobody ran this by me.

I could have sworn I saw "Veto Power on Fauntleroy Place" on the auction description.

Ahem. "Isles" are islands. I think you mean "aisles."

Thank you, public copy editor @ 8. Though the idea of paddling a canoe through the isles of PCC does sound kinda fun.

Also, it becomes obvious that PCC should have abandoned its smaller, secondary grocery store model years ago to construct a few full-scale supermarkets.

If you go strictly by store hours, it looks like the Seward Park PCC would be the next one to close - only 15 hours open. All the rest, except Fremont, are open 16 hours. Fremont is open 18 hours. I doubt that the WS PCC will close for two reasons - PCC shoppers are loyal and WF doesn't have a member discount day. In fact it doesn't even have a membership concept. Why is QFC still in business?

Slog why don't you just cut & paste the West Seattle Blog

"Fauntleroy Place will contain 170 apartments, 532 underground parking spaces, and 72,000 square feet of retail space—for a new Hancock Fabrics store and a massive Whole Foods. Awesome."

I sorta hope this is typical snark, though I'm inclined to hopes failing. That's ok, I'm quite used to coughing up a little throw-up in my mouth when I read your stuff, Holden. It's getting old, though. Have a nice little boy fauntleroy life, and be kind to the homeless. Bye----eeeeee

HI WSB. Of course I knew about it, but having just become the Mayor of West Seattle I did not get a personal consultation on the projec... although I did get a lot of Mac N Cheese.

@11

Copying and pasting the whitespace-free block of comma splices and run on sentences from West Seattle Blog, excessive boldface and excessive hyperlinking and all, would have been lazy. Rewriting the story into something legible is the opposite of lazy.

And putting it on a blog that a lot of people actually want to read is a good way of getting someone to show up at the public meeting.

By the way, if you put some thought into what you say, then you won't need to change your handle every time you post.

@ 10: if I could buy Gulden's mustard & Nutella at Madison Market, I would never go to QFC.

If there was a PCC on Capitol Hill, I would never go to Madison Market.

Whole Foods is more expensive than PCC. But PCC doesn't do the fall-of-Rome style piles of bleeding meat, waxy shiny fruits and vegetables, walls of cheese like Whole Paycheck...

Anybody know what the deal is with West Seattle Blog? It really is a fine blog and I keep finding mentions on various sites about its new postings, but whenever I check its home page there hasn't been a new post since December 3 (the day of the big rains).

Yeah, I know I'm whining, and this has nothing to do with SLOG, but it's like being in the Twilight Zone when I try to access WSB, the best neighborhood blog in town, and it's just sitting there as if time stopped four weeks ago.

West Seattleites are much too loyal to let anything happen to our existing businesses.....remember when Ben and Jerry's moved into the junction and everyone worried about the fate of Husky Deli? Which business is still there?

gawd that building is fucking awful. what is up with developers teaming up with shitty ass architects like GGLO and driscoll to consistently push out trash. fuck, american architecture is dooooooomed.

PCC will die if they don't pull their head out of their ass. That store sucks sooo bad. A deli that is rivled with 7-11, shitty service and no sense of what is going on in the world. I wish someone would try to compete with Whole Foods (other than qfc and safeway). Hey PCC, piss off!

I thought that PCC was doomed the day the original Whole Foods opened in the Roosevelt District years back, but its taking a while longer than I expected for it to hit its expiration-date. I suspect that its generational, at it will take some years for its aging core demographic to disappear; sort of like PBS and NPR. But jeez, take your gold bars when shopping at Whole Foods! These days I get 90% of my groceries from Costco and Trader Joe's and thank god...

@holz Well, that building is ugly, but what it's replacing is HIDEOUS. While it's not the best, it's an upgrade, rest assured.

And I'm not sure when the Stranger was given the mayorship of West Seattle to auction off, cause I always thought it belonged to a drunk guy who wanders between the Admiral Pub, the Pogie, and Chuck and Sally's/the Corner Inn.

@9: You mean like a full-scale supermarket like, say, the PCCs in Issaquah and Redmond?

Also, is there another PCC 1 mile north of the West Seattle PCC? 'Cause that was the main problem with the Ravenna PCC: it ended up less than 1 mile from two competitors, the other being the View Ridge PCC.

I heard the Roosevelt Whole Foods lost a huge chunk of business when the Trader Joe's opened up. All I know is to drive very carefully around both parking lots.

@Greg Barnes: One mile north of the WS PCC is just about Eliot Bay. PCC's only competition in WS right now is Metropolitan Market, which is about a quarter mile away. I always thought the real threat to the WS PCC would be the oft-rumored Trader Joe's that was/is going to move into whatever developer project that people are talking about at the time. Closest one of those is either Capitol Hill or Burien.

@22 haha, Dennis (the drunk guy) would be a horrible mayor. I would vote Don Bogie from the Maha!

I see I have some mighty big shoes to fill. Is a requirement for the Mayor to be drunk?

@19: Hey there holz, sure enough, that Fauntleroy Place rendering is pretty scary. Just curious, are there any new projects around here that you like? Methinks it's pretty challenging to do good design in a culture that generally doesn't give a fuck about good design.

I'll bet I'm the only slogger who ever used to shop at the West Seattle Hancock Fabrics. It was sad and bedraggled, like a lot of Hancocks, but its worn linoleum had a certain charm, and the old ladies who worked there were delightful.

The fact you sew your own dresses, Fnarf, is admirable, indeed. And I'm even more pleased to learn that it was not done using human flesh.

Fnarf: I love Hancock Fabrics.... and I don't even sew. I just love going in there and looking at the stuff. I miss the old West Seattle mom and pop stores that are being snuffed out by the new gloss.. i wish we could all just get along.........

I don't sew dresses, Jubilation. I'm more of a bedazzler, me. And a crafter. M, I too have spent many hours perusing the gondolas of weird snaps and fittings and elastics. I'm sure that if I did sew it would be very enjoyable, since the most fun of any hobby for me is BUYING ACCESSORIES. And few hobbies have as many or as varied accessories as sewing -- just look at those scissors! Or the chalk -- I bought a chalk once, just because I liked the look of it. I mean, really, many of those specialized items are less than a dollar, and each of them holds a world of special knowledge.

Enough reminiscing; I have to go watch "My Husband is Gay" on BBC America.

Ooooo!!! Bedazzlers!!! Fnarf, you should donate a bedazzled whatchamajig to next year's Strangercrombie :-)

I'd bid on it!

All I have is my bedazzled suit that says "Dirk" on the back, and you're not having that. I need it.

I like to think of myself as one who can sew, and I even have a sewing machine, but alas I have very few manual skills. Any seam I sew is a sad seam indeed.

With that said, I did make my living room curtains (just don't look too close) and this past Christmas I slapped together a cute little Mrs. Santa outfit for my mannequin. But I used the glue gun for both. I'm just now recovering from the burns.

As for the new building. Ugh. But that's what is mostly being built these days. No pizazz. Nobodys got no class no more.

WF opened on Roosevelt and Rainbow Foods on 15th Ave E went belly up.

But look, WF's business model is based on a boom economy. Once oil hits $100 a barrel, and the dollar tanks, and the credit crisis takes out a few more sectors of the economy, WF will look like an unnecessary luxury [as will Starbuck's]. The winners will be Trader Joe's, and PCC.

Besides which, Fnarf, the Hancock store will be right back anyway. You'll just have to enter on 40th instead of cutting across Alaska to the parking lot. I've been in there, too. Great idea store for art and anything which needs "stuffing." Got some great rolls of felt which I used to stuff my kick drum. Gives it a very deep and low-felt sound. Hancocks - a drum accessory store!

Hope these guys have saved their pennies. They paid $2.2 mil in July of this year for the land.

This developer stalled out a highrise condo project in Vegas - they announced it two years ago, but haven't been able to break ground since that market started slumping around then. Last year they announced a Riverside County project in California too - that county's seen prices drop 50% since last year.

Maybe you can tell which markets are about to tank by tracking this developer's press releases.

If so: Fauntleroy, you're next!

Henry Miller Lite @27:
damn straight it's tough to do decent architecture in this town. but where i grew up in DE, most people didn't give a shit about design, yet lame ass projects like the one shown didn't pop up all over the place.

not really impressed w/ anything as of late. and i'm kinda bored w/ the lack of originalty w/ the usual folks: cutler/miller hull/kundig et al/eric cobb

part of the problem is most of the focus/recognition on NW architecture is residential. we need better designs for public projects, the library bond surely helped and has made for some interesting projects... and here's to hoping the firestations turn out just as well. i'm not really enthusiastic about that as of yet, but there is hope...

as far as projects i've not been bored by the last year or so...

the agnes lofts (weinstein)
pierce county ESB (miller|hull)
novelty hill winery (mithun)
douglass truth library (but only as a diagram, schacht aslani)
olympic sculpture park (which would be great if they extended down tot he stadium, weiss/manfredi)
park modern (build llc)
nordheim court (minus the hideous color palette, mithun)
dow construction (though the detailing wasn't done very well, hutchison & maul)

A few random thoughts:

1. I just returned from Tokyo, where the architecture is abysmal and spaces tiny. I'm not too worried- all this hipster architecture should just fall down in the next large quake. Yet people in Tokyo survive pretty well because of:

2. Good Transportation. Tokyo's got a great transport system that gets you everywhere ya need or want to go. Yeah, yeah, Seattle is 1/20th its size but with all these fancy developments going in here in W Seattle the intersection where the former Huling Bros was is gonna make I-5 look real good. And even packed, buses, trains and stations were spotless. Maybe some of the ex-PCC people that don't work at Whole Foods can get a job cleaning the No. 3 or 4 (or 54 if they wanna stay in W Sea).

This means so I don't have to travel there that my partner and I want:

3. A Trader Joes closeby
4. A Quiznos. (we're tired of driving to the one in Tukwila, and no, I don't like Husky Deli's sandwiches, and Subway is boring)

I think the PCC in W Seattle is an overpriced dump. As was the one in Seward Park when we lived near it. With prices that high it better fucking be a Whole Foods or something similar. At least the Metropolitan Market is someplace nice to shop; this idea that all of us want to continue shopping in shitholes because it's the trendy hipsteresque thing to do is way off base.

Final note... Alaska between Fauntleroy and California is doomed to be a canyon. Maybe Mayor McFat and his minions on the counsel can have some discussions about how West Seattle is really, actually a part of the City of Seattle. Where's your bus rapid transit now Greg? Is that too now down the dumper? Although I hate BRT and you gotta have true right of way (something no plan yet has had ALL THE WAY to the 5th Avenue busway) it would at least be the start you and the other politicos have been huffing about.

Alternatively maybe we can entice Paul Allen out here so we can get one of his SLUTs running over here.

i'm sure the design review board will strip those pointless cornices off.

@40 -- "pointless" cornices? I disagree. Not only are they the only rationalizing aspect to the whole mish-mash (Building to self: "Am I oriented horizontally? Am I vertical? Help!"), they say to the eye: "This piece of shit ends here -- fear no more for your sky."

And I just realized there's an FP on the upper right wall. I hereby proclaim that it stands for Fudge Packer.

Go back to writing about drugs, D.

@41:

good point. i stand corrected. and to think the Design Review board will do anything but suggest the drivit cornice get larger is naivete.

how many architects are on Slog, anyway?

No sleazy bars or restaurants that stranger staffers eat, drink and have sex in torn down.

Balconies.

This is deserving of the vaunted:

STRANGER GOOD DEVELOPMENT AWARD

@43: I'm not an architect, but I'm flattered if you thought I was one. I grew up in Columbus, Indiana -- Google it if this reference leaves you wondering -- and, thus, had a deep immersion in architecture and what it could and could not do for the individual, the community and the culture.

Once in school, I did not pursue an architecture degree, but read every book I could find the time for on the subject; this continues to this day. It's my passion, even to the degree that I plan my vacations to see new buildings around the world. Sick, I know.

At any rate, while I allow that my opinion can be disagreed with by learned men and women, I'm going to offer it because this is a conversation I find invigorating!

I look forward to reading more of your posts on Slog.

Fnarf: I have the chalk too. In my dresser drawer. Unopened.

hey forest-WSB is updated more than this lame ass slog ever is.

@45:

i know columbus well. i'm from Cincy, went to UC undergrad, & my sister lives in Madison In.

i went to Columbus 2 years ago on a typical summer 95 degree, 90% humidity day - & spent it outside sweating & seeing everything i could. good things, but nothing even comes close to the N. Cristian Church. we had the interior to ourselves for an hour - it is sublime.

the elevator up the tower in the park downtown was scary as fuck.

North Christian Church, by Eero Saarinen, is where I had my Cub Scout troop meetings every week :-) Greetings, fellow Midwesterner!

PS -- I worked a pork BBQ roach coach in Madison during the regatta one summer, and used to bang a dude from Hanover. Woot!

Development that replaces worthless PCC granola outlets with actual grocery stores deserves an award. So does the constantly-updated West Seattle Blog at www.westseattleblog.com.

This is tragic. Whole Foods, which is run by a vehemently anti-union libertarian, will run two good employers (Metro Market and PCC) out of business. Sure, sure, I know Whole Foods treats their employees alright ... now. But when they drive other good employers out they won't have any competition and they will be free to lower pay, benefits and working conditions. They're like the organic WalMart.

holz@38, et al: Speaking of Driscoll, have you seen what they're cooking up for the QFC site on Broadway?

Check it out here: www.hugeasscity.com

Sorry for the broken link above. Try this:

hugeasscity

@53 --

Unemotional and inconsequential? Check!

A mottle of surfacing that makes no whole, or soul? Check!

Color palette chosen to match Pottery Barn furnishings? Check!

Suspected use of corrugated metal siding and oodles of EIFS? Check!

Ladies and gentlemen, we are at LOW ROTTERDAM, DEFCON 1!!!

STOP THE WHINING, plant a kitchen garden, rent space at a pea-patch, learn to can, freeze what you grow for winter use. Pray for sweet little PCC that if rest in peace. The time has come Americans to do it yourself when possible and force prices down by NOT having to buy every little thing.

51 posts before anyone got around to mentioning the best reason not to shop at Whole Foods. Sheesh.