Wednesday featured two City of Seattle meetings related to important Capitol Hill development projects. One of those projects is now free to move forward. For the other, it’s back to the drawing board.
Wednesday afternoon, the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board considered whether the Seattle-First National Bank Building — home to Broadway’s Bank of America and slated for demolition as part of the 230 Broadway project — should be nominated for the city’s landmark process. After poring through the architectural nature and history of the structure, hearing public comment from one Capitol Hill landowner who called the building an “unfortunate infill” and discussing whether it met any of the city’s criteria for landmark designation, the board had a clear answer. No. An “emphatic no” as one voting member put it. “It’s one of the least interesting buildings I’ve seen,” another said.
We’ve attached the landmark nomination packet PDF to the bottom of this post (available here via the City’s site). Even with presenting staff calling the building “a real mash-up of styles” and an example of the era’s “brutalism,” the packet is an interesting documentation of Broadway at the dawn of the 70s.
The unanimous “no” vote frees SRM Development contractors to move forward with their plans to demolish their block of Broadway and begin work on the . According to our in-the-know source — Africa Mama — businesses on the block will be moving out in about two weeks. Both Bank of America and Noah’s will return to the block when the project is planned to be completed in 2013. In the meantime, B of A will be operating in its new temporary home near Poppy on north Broadway while Noah’s Capitol Hill will be on hiatus.
B&O building kicked back for improved design
Also Wednesday, the Capitol Hill Design Board told architects working on the 1650 East Olive Way project that their design for the six-story (plus penthouse!) building is too disjointed and needs to be clarified before the board can give its approval.
We posted an in-depth update on the project earlier this week.
Outgoing board chair Sharon Sutton told the project’s developers that she feared architects working on the project had taken too much of the board’s past advice and produced a plan that lacked a clear design concept. “The architects hav taken too much of our advice and tried to collage it all together,” Sutton said.
Sutton also asked that the Belmont side of the structure be re-designed in a more pedestrian friendly way.
Residents had similar concerns during the public comment portion of Wednesday night’s review calling the building as currently envisioned as a modern building with “traditional detailing” a “mish-mash” and overly busy.
Not all was criticism, however. Architects Nicholson Kovalchick and developer John Stoner were praised for incorporating the board’s and the community’s past feedback in revising the design of the building over the five years it has been in front of the Capitol Hill board.
We’ve included an image of the building as concepted in a 2009 design review (left) and a rendering of the latest look and feel of the below.
The presentation from Wednesday’s meeting that includes more detailed renderings and plans is available on our earlier post. The project will return to the Capitol Hill board in about a month.
The first drawing of B&O project makes it look kinda like the Gallery in Belltown…
On a related note, a large electrical panel has gone up at the back of the People’s Parking Lot on Pine.
the style of the B of A building.
I do also…and years from now we’ll regret this decision. Yipee…another uninteresting box to be built on Broadway!
“It’s one of the least interesting buildings I’ve seen,”
Obviously, hasn’t seen the BofA building in lower Queen Anne. I wish it looked as good as the CH building.
Finally, with the rejection of the BoA monstrosity for “landmark” status, a little bit of sanity has returned. I’m glad this process was brief and now the developer can get on with the project, which I believe will be a great addition to the neighborhood.
How anyone can “love” the BoA building is totally beyond my comprehension.
This style of architecture does take a more sophisticated person to appreciate it.
I get that the B of A building is not an attractive representation of it’s era. But what will go in it’s place will be no better, and I look forward to it being torn down in 40 years.
It would be easier to take the redevelopment of Broadway and Seattle overall if the new architecture didn’t all look the the designers went to school in the 90’s and never had an original or innovative bone in their bodies!
C’mon people start making buildings that are worth keeping around for 100’s of years!
“I do also…and years from now we’ll regret this decision. Yipee…another uninteresting box to be built on Broadway! “
The fuck is wrong with you tasteless people? This is why commercial and residential architecture is so dull.
“This style of architecture does take a more sophisticated person to appreciate it.”
Oh great, “Hipsters” appreciating the equivalent of PBR.
“I get that the B of A building is not an attractive representation of it’s era. But what will go in it’s place will be no better, and I look forward to it being torn down in 40 years.”
Ugly new is the same as ugly old. Beauty is universal.
Maus,
Save your anger for your family.
Hipster?
Maus, you are an unintelligent little twirp.
“Hipster?
Maus, you are an unintelligent little twirp. “
No, really, the desire to save average commercial real estate from being replaced with more average commercial real estate strikes me as hilariously onanistic. It reminds me of the one-lady campaign to “save our Starbucks” when the one on 15th was temporarily closed (and while there were other, better places open not even a half block away.)
“Save your anger for your family.”
I’m just baffled by nostalgia sometimes.
Glad to see you finally found an opportunity to use your word of the day.
Bofa, very condescending statement..
Gosh, I guess I’m just not “sophisticated” like you are.
Not that the B of A building is NOT a landmark. Its sad that no one is talking about saving the little house (former home to the Cap Hill Chamber of Commerce) on the corner at the back end of this lot. Has the city worked to save it? Will they sell it? Probably not, they will bulldoze it into the ground along with everything else. We will have another hole in the ground. That is what we need on Broadway. Humm, I sure hope this project gets built and we fill it with some tenants. Or perhaps we can watch it be built and stay empty for years. Sad Seattle, you have no clue what you’re doing…..
The developer owns that little house, which I agree is very charming and cute…and also the small house next door, which has no redeeming value. But it is quite unrealistic to ask the developer to not demolish these, as it would significantly change the design and profitability of the new building. That’s life in the big city, folks.
I look forward to this development, as it will be a huge improvement over what is there now. I am hoping that the design will be as classy as the Brix building.