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Friday, January 30, 2009

Boom The Blob on Broadway

Posted by Dominic Holden on Fri, Jan 30, 2009 at 11:54 AM

a593/1233344418-broadway_and_thomas.jpg Developers proposing a 115-unit apartment compound on Broadway—on the corner of East Thomas Street—have canceled a public meeting scheduled for next week. But the project hasn't stalled—it's getting bigger.

A couple weeks ago, I reported that the architect believes the project may add about 75 more apartments by expanding the building to cover adjacent properties to the south. If all three buildings were demolished, I wrote, it would push out Café Septieme, Noah's Bagels, Pho 900 and other commercial tenants.

And now, Bryan Stevens, a spokesman for the city's Department of Planning and Development, confirms the expansion. "The applicants have decided to postpone the meeting due to some recent changes to their property boundaries and uncertainties in the economy," he wrote in an email last night. Tax records show that on January 7, SRM purchased the Café Septieme building—the furthest south of the three lots from the previous development boundary—for $1.8 million. Although the economy is uncertain, the Septieme purchase indicates SRM Development fully intends to build on all three parcels to the south, eventually.

Comments (12) RSS

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Translation: the liquidity crisis means they can't get the loan instruments.

Posted by Will in Seattle on January 30, 2009 at 12:01 PM

Yeah, for now. The folks who end up living in those apartments will be steps away from the Sound Transit station that opens in 2016. There's time. Let's hope thought that the current buildings aren't vacated and surrounded by chain link fences for the next 7 years.

Posted by hillboy on January 30, 2009 at 12:06 PM

The Farmers Market people expect that they may be around for another couple years there....

Posted by Napoleon XIV on January 30, 2009 at 12:08 PM

Forget that, tell me what's going on here: http://web1.seattle.gov/dpd/luib/Notice.…

Posted by Thanks in advance. on January 30, 2009 at 12:46 PM

@ 4) That's a project by developer/renovator extordinaire Liz Dunn. I asked for drawings of the project yesterday, but she didn't want to release them to the public before she gave them to the city. Fair enough. It's called the 12th Ave Marketplace, and it's been on hold for three years, from what I can tell on the DPD website. This next phase of the project won't replace any buildings on 12th, but it will build on the empty lots on 11th, creating a semi-public alley between the two streets. Way cool!

Here's a link: projecthttp://www.dunnandhobbes.com/prj_pike.php

Posted by Dominic Holden on January 30, 2009 at 12:57 PM

go away

Posted by captothehill on January 30, 2009 at 1:02 PM

I don't understand why the city allows developers to blob-ify parcels like this. Huge buildings may be good for density, but it will be crappy-looking density that kills street retail.

Posted by Greg on January 30, 2009 at 1:09 PM

@5 ... is that la spiega and the chop house?

Posted by infrequent on January 30, 2009 at 1:11 PM

@8: looks like it is...so when does ferrari go? That seems a bit more useless.

Posted by derek on January 30, 2009 at 1:21 PM

@8 & @9: No, Liz Dunn just redeveloped the Ring and Piston Building which houses La Spiega. Liz proposes to revelop the buildings housing Retrofit and Pacific Hardware on 12th ave. Then add a new building on the 11th ave side of that block (replacing a private parking lot). All the buildings would be interconnected. Tito's Ferrari space is not part of this project.

Posted by Daddy Jeff on January 30, 2009 at 2:19 PM

They should just bulldoze everything from the 100 block of Broadway East to the 700 block of Broadway East and make it all a parking lot. We all know that the 100 block of Broadway East will be a vacant eyesore for five years.

Posted by Joseph on January 30, 2009 at 2:37 PM

Bummer. I work above Pho 900 and was about to sign a new lease on office space. Guess I should be looking elsewhere...

Posted by Josh S on February 2, 2009 at 3:00 PM