The view from 10th Ave E (Images: Continental Properties)

With the battle to shape development on one end of Capitol Hill rallying around preservation of the last of Pike/Pine’s old “character” buildings, an effort to push back on development plans along north Broadway is about preserving something a little less concrete — nobody seems to concerned about a giant, mostly empty parking lot this project is slated to replace. Instead, neighbors and community members near 1145 10th Ave E are seeking to preserve the look and feel of a “residential” neighborhood in a zoning environment that has been altered to enable increased density into the neighborhood. The project at the center of this push-back comes in front of the East Design Review Board Wednesday night for what could be the final step of the design process and the OK to move forward with a new three-story development on the edge of the tony — and historic — Harvard-Belmont area.

Wednesday’s session will be the third time the Continental Properties development comes before the board having moved ahead following its second “early design guidance” session in November. The Studio Meng Strazzara-designed project has now been focused on an “L-shape” concept with open space distributed around the edges of the lot and a hearty landscaping plan designed to appease neighbors’ concerns about the three-story, 64,000 square-foot, 70 unit project.

Project: 1145 10th Ave E  map

Design Proposal available (15.7 MB)

Review Meeting:	6:30 pm
	Seattle University Student Center map
	901 12th Ave
	Room 160
Review Phase:	Recommendation past reviews
Project Number:	3012337 permit status | notice
Planner:	Bruce Rips

Through the process, neighbors and community members have been a vocal — if not entirely on-target — component of the project’s design process. The DPD report on the November review notes:

DPD received approximately 51 letters immediately prior to and after the second EDG meeting. Upon viewing the design review packet at the DPD web site, the authors of the earlier letters commented on the new orientation of the driveway, the extent of the massing and scale, setbacks, materials and the relationship of the courtyard to the Broadway street level. Comments both agreed and disagreed with the orientation of the “L” shaped mass (Option 3). 

After the 2nd EDG meeting, many of the letters and emails conveyed a misinterpretation of the Board’s guidance. The authors had the impression that the Board preferred Option 2B, a two structure scheme. The priorities and guidance below indicates the Board’s interest in development of either Option 2B or 3.

The preferred “L” alternative requires two departures from zoning requirements in the lowrise area where the project is planned including a smaller than typically allowed driveway, and, more significantly, the board’s approval of the request to allow a building 58 feet wider than the 120-foot limit placed on structures in the area. The design board is set to weigh in on this departure at tonight’s session.

We documented some of the proceedings from the project’s first, less successful pass through the EDG process in September here when a large crowd assembled with most there to voice their objections to the bulk and scale of a large multi-family building filling the entire lot.

“There’s nothing in the immediate neighborhood that even comes close to the bulk and scale of this building,” a rep from the East Highland Drive association said at that meeting. Another man said he was concerned about apartments representing “a price point not appropriate for this neighborhood.” At the time, a rep from developer Continental Properties assured the crowd that it’s possible the project will be developed as condos — “if the market comes back.” “We have to preserve the elegance of this neighborhood,” he said.

The strategy to preserve that elegance should be partly based in landscaping and distributing open space around the lot, the design board said in November:

The Board conveyed its desire for open space to fulfill the following objectives: preservation of mature trees, usability for residents, an orientation that receives the most use (most likely on the southwest), provides a gesture to the neighborhood and complements or reinforces a reduced mass of the building(s). The Board clearly preferred a distribution of open space that forms a meaningful series of discrete and intimate landscaped areas rather than a large concentrated space. 

Wednesday night, the developer will find out if keeping the lovely old trees in the plan and “intimate” landscaping is enough to satisfy neighbors and move its project forward. At least nobody is talking about adding a corner store.

Continental is also the developer on the under-contstruction apartment project at 15th and Pine.

The full 1145 10th Ave E design proposal is below.

DRProposal3012337AgendaID3573