Comments on Goodbye, Sunset Bowl. Hello, Giant Letter “G”

"G" as in Gentrification.

Why do they need to provide so many parking spots? It's right on numerous bus routes (to downtown and to the UW), it's a short walk to neighborhood places like supermarkets, theaters, etc.

I'm sure there are many car-less people who would love to live there.

No. G is for Gay. And not in the good way.

feel free to make their pro forma work in some other way.

@2: Fuck you. Haven't we learned our lesson about insufficient apartment parking from the urban gridlock hellhole that is Capitol Hill?

People here have had the good goddamned sense to realize that if you're going to have 230 apartments in Seattle, that means at least 230 motherfucking cars.

It would be nice if there were alternate ways to reliably get around this burg, but until then, we have to make buildings that reflect the fact that Seattle is a car town. If you don't build parking for a 230 unit building, you'll only turn the streets of the surrounding neighborhood into a parking lot, instead.

@5, providing 230 parking spots doesn't necessarily mean providing 230 spots aboveground. Sure, folks need their cars, but can't we have a little first-floor retail too?

@5: You seem to assume that everyone living there will want a parking spot. Wouldn't you agree that there are some people (no, not everyone) who would be happy to live there and not have a parking spot (either in the building or on the street)?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/12/realestate/12nati.html

Additionally, offering less parking would make the units more affordable. And some more affordable apartments/condos would be kinda nice.

I live in a two-person household with no car. I think we can make it 229 parking spaces for 230.

Anyway, a structured parking space costs $30,000. It's a huge hit on a pro forma.

The developer's financiers (his bank) is probably insisting on at least 1:1 parking for the units (and 2:1 for the 2+ bedroom units) and parking for the commercial space. In their minds, all of it is worth it in order to reduce the rent-up/operating risk by making the units more marketable (again, in their minds).

Unforunately no-car households like mine still have to pay rent for that parking space... That's why I live in a 1913 building with no parking. Instead of paying for parking I don't need, I pay for location; my commute to work is less than 100 feet.

I'm really not kidding about that 30K number. The extra 20-30 spaces on this behemoth cost $600-900K. (Structural concrete!)

I'm sure the developer would prefer to keep that in his pocket, but if the bank will finance it, who cares, right? That's the mentality, folks.

Now, where have I heard this "dinky, shallow" retail space argument before? 30 feet is tragic. Ice cream shop, Subway, that's about it.

They should at least mandate "no chains, not even local ones".

Fnarf, you will have to pry the pho tai from my cold dead hands.

I dunno Pho Tai, but Than Brothers is just down the street.

Fucking great. Just when Ballard has finally started to shake its "gangsta" image, some homie goes and does a big ol' "G thang" right the fuck in the main-ass center of the hood. There goes all the legit cred we work so damn hard for. Straight up, yo.

I hope the G is at least colored gold and shit.

At least it's not that ugly old Dennys. Boy, was that ugly. It didn't look anything like today's popular chain restaurants, so it must have been ugly. You'd never catch a Macaroni Grill looking like that, and the Macaroni Grill is very classy.

The television tells me that this new building will be lovely. As lovely as the old Denny's was ugly. So it must be true. The television never lies - at least when it comes to taste.

Since when is the (singular) "the developer" a (plural) "they"?

Oh, Fnarf. Your wisdom informs all debate. I totally WWFD'd tonight when selecting my shampoo from the hair care aisle at Safeway (Suave Clean Scent).

"G" as in "gee, we thought it would be cool to provide a light well that's blocked off from the south so that no light actually gets in."

Or "gee, don't you wish you still had a bowling alley?"

LOL!!!! I love it! Seattle is getting just what it deserves! HA HA HA HA !!!!!! A world class city indeed!!

Than Brothers sucks, and is expensive. Ever wonder why the only people eating there are white hipsters? The only occasional asians you see are the younguns who are 2nd or 3rd gen americans and only speak english.

On a different note, it's a funny joke that they have included a shadow representative of latitudes below the US-Mexico border. As if you'll ever see the sun inside that courtyard.

I'm with you @14. Sure is a good thing Ballard is getting rid of dogs like that Denny's. We need more Subways!

what is the cost of doing sub ground level parking?

Anyone defending the old Ballard Denny's, please leave. This is a discussion for adults.

@22, I agree! They need to put in a Dairy Queen or an A&W!! Now those are good eats!

@19, you're crazy. Maybe at the Ballard Than Brothers, which I never go to -- but there are no Vietnamese in Ballard. The one on Aurora is packed with Asians, and is delicious.

Am I the only one thinking, "230 new apartments = increased density in Ballard's commercial core + a welcome bit of rental housing supply"?

Ballard's new G-spot!
The developers are screwing with the old school Scandinavians.

@25

people are only upset at the implementation of housing supply, not the fact it exists.

Parking should not be required. IF we keep requiring it then any movement away from autos is penalized because once you ahve paid the $30 K for your parking space, you get a car, you are forced into the automobile dominant paragigm.

Do we force people to buy meat at the grocery store?

As to the thirty feet, developers seem to have trouble attracting businesses on the ground floor. There are lots of ground floor retail spaces in these mixed projects that just sit vacant for years then end up with franchises.
If it were more profitable to them to have deeper retail spaces they would do it.

Maybe there should be no required retail at all, or perhaps the spaces should be required to be "flexible" and under lease only, so that they can serve as residential now and small retail later -- this would allow change over the next 50 years as Ballard grows and people drive less to megabox stores -- eventually it can change from residential to a "Ballard market" concept (fruit and veg stands, bakery, butcher, cleaner, fish, it's Ballard after all, pho restaurants, flowers, cobblers, bric 'n' brac, electric car battery drop off and exchange, etc. like Pike Market, Les Halles or many blocks in Greenwich Village). That kind of development may not be doable now but it should be possible for the very near future as we stop driving 4 miles 5x a day to get stuff and walk more.

If we have laws mandating 30 foot deep retail spaces, shouldn't we have laws to prevent ground floor parking in tall buildings!??

I don't mind the small retail spaces... there are plenty of places to put a pizza shop. Not that many spaces to put a small boutique for someone without a lot of money.

Uhh oops... never mind about small retail spaces. I re-read and looked at the picture. Those are ginormous retail spaces. :( Sucks.

it seems that the small retail space issue is in part a result of the parking space requirement...

government mandates and unintended consequences go hand in hand.

I thought smaller retail spaces were supposed to be good, because they allow local independent retail businesses to afford the rent? Large retail attracts The Gap, etc.

I never think of that end of Market as a place I want to walk around. Between Safeway, the gas station, the fire department, KFC, McDonalds, and Burger King, what is there to visit down there?