Seattle Plans is back.

The blog will continue soon.

Seattle Plans on (short) leave

Yesterday Seattle Plans went on an unannounced, last-minute vacation. Sorry, this sort of thing happens during the summer. Posting will continue on Monday with the news links.

Hey, Charles (at The Stranger's Slog) finally picked up on the tiling at 5th & Madison. Did you think he would not have thoughts? His big question:

Why did the architects choose something that opposes, that works against, that almost undoes the modernistic sleekness of the tower? Most of 5th and Madison appears to be rational (the best type of architecture—or ecotecture), and this considerable confusion of tiles appears to be so whimsical. It’s not entirely bad, just remarkably odd.

Late Announcement: Meet a Central Area developement project today.

Tonight you have an opportunity to meet Jim Mueller, the developer behind the land use application for the empty lot at 23rd and Union (SW corner). Even if you don't live in the immediate area, this is a rare opportunity to understand how developers think and work. Perhaps through greater understanding comes greater respect, or at least knowledge that developers are people and they aren't all bad.

When: Tuesday, June 19, at 6 P.M.
Where: Central Cinema

More details at the Miller Park Neighborhood Association blog.

06/18/2007 Feeds Note

Sorry if your feeds are spammed. Some post label editing required republishing posts...

Now you can find DPD bulletin highlights under the label "Proposed."

Monday Compendium

Editor's notes:
Urbnlivn is having a meetup June 27th: Details at Urbnlivn
Be sure to read the NY Times article on Bellevue (under Market)

Development
Seattle developer to remake Columbia City's main plaza [PI, June 18]
12 acres in Denny Triangle on market [PI, June 15]
Clise Properties puts Denny Triangle land up for sale [Times, June 15]
Clise family behind many of city's landmarks [PI, June 15]
One big chunk of downtown Seattle up for sale [Times, June 16]
Related: Paper Noose thoughts on Clise sale [PN, June 16]
Live-work condos present own problems [PI, June 15]
Megahomes multiplying, but how big is too big? [Times, June 15]
Old news dept: Ballard Denny's to be demo'ed for condos [BNT, June 18]

Neighborhood
Maple Leaf: A Maple Leaf lot in need of a developer [Slog, June 15]
Capitol Hill: Who is leasing old Rainbow Grocery space? [CHS, June 18]

Municipal/Zoning/Politics
City tree protection not making the cut [PI, June 17]
Related (sort of): Wallingford vigilante plant clipper [Slog, June 18]
Related (sort of): A West Seattle case of legal chopping [WSB, June 17]

Transportation
Transportation Census numbers [Slog, June 18]
Related: Seattle Transit Blog digs deeper into numbers [STB, June 13]

Market
The Cranes Are Back, So Are Tenants (Bellevue vs. Seattle) [NYT, June 17]
Thoughts on Zillow's Seattle heat map [SCR, June 18]
The Pittsburgh conversion [SCR, June 14]

A thirteen acre, master planned Pop-Up Neighborhood

Image is scanned from the Wall Street Journal. Please don't sue. Click to enlarge.

Due to the increasing intensity of East Denny Triangle's construction and development, I previously characterized it as a pop-up neighborhood (posted on the original Seattle Plans site, now offline, soon back online; somewhat related post here). Notable is its recent sudden growth and diversity of uses.

But all of that would pale by comparison to West Denny Triangle if someone buys and develops the 13 acres of contiguous land the Clise family has put up for sale.

As first reported by the Wall Street Journal this morning[$], the Clise family has put the potential for 13 million square feet of development up for sale, a year after the City Council raised building heights from 300' to 500'.

"[Alfred M.] Clise says he is looking for a comprehensive, cohesive plan with world-class design. 'I envision something akin to Rockefeller Center,' he says. "Mr. Clise says the family has no specific requirements, and the investor with the proposal that impresses them the most will likely get the land. Office condominium and hotel towers are probably a given, but he is open to additional features, such as
green space, museums or performing-arts facilities."

Mr. Clise believes that the strong job growth outlook for the Seattle area and the 5% vacancy rate for top-quality Class A office space are good reasons to sell now. The WSJ does point out, however, that Mr. Clise may have "missed his window" as interest rates last week rose to nearly 5.25%. The Clise family states that they will hold out for their desired selling price (something in the hundreds of millions).

Wow. It would be a truly awesome project with tremendous impact on the city. Here is to hoping that someone with truly world-class design ideas scoops this up. It certainly would help alleviate the effects of Vulcan's uninspired Portland-cloning design ideas for South Lake Union.

Other (free) coverage:
PSBJ, PI, Times, Times #2

06/14/2007 DPD Bulletin Highlights

Just one highlight from yesterday's DPD bulletin:

Downtown: 1400 6th Ave (east side of NE block)
Modifications to east façade of Sheraton Hotel & RoW
It looks like the Sheraton is going to be a good citizen and do something about that vast expanse of concrete wall on 7th Ave. Gustafson Guthrie Nichol (of many local & famous projects), should be able to figure it out.