The Seattle City Council Tuesday signed off on a surgical rezone in the Central District that will allow the “Afrofuturist”-styled Acer House apartment development to move forward at 23rd and Cherry.
Tuesday’s vote to rezone seven parcels of land at the corner clears the way for the project to build to 55 feet instead of the 40-foot limit the properties are zoned for. Under the zoning where the Acer House building will stand, the allowed height is only 40-feet. However, in the commercial zone to the east, the higher limit is in place.
CHS reported on the Acer House project as it passed its first round of review but still faced questions over the rezoning. The project from Ben Maritz and the Great Expectations development firm will create a five-and-a-half-story apartment building in an Afrofuturist design on 23rd and Cherry with thousands of square feet of childcare and other retail spaces with a public courtyard. Of the 114 planned apartments ranging in size from about 400-square-foot studios to two-bedroom units between 700 and 800 square fee, 30% would be reserved for low-income residents under the Mandatory Housing Affordability and Multifamily Tax Exemption requirements.
Kateesha Atterberry of the Urban Black commercial property management firm working on the development told CHS last year the team hopes to add a childcare provider to the project along with commercial spaces hoped to include the corner’s existing Flowers Just 4 U, which might be the only Black-owned florist in the Pacific Northwest.
The intersection of 23rd and Cherry is also planned for change along the Garfield Super Block, a vision that would transform the area around the Garfield High School campus with new amenities and pedestrian pathways.
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Really fantastic to see this project approved. The sad thing is how long it took, and all the extra cost the time and “seattle process” added to the project. Adding a denisty of housing adjacent to the complex of community resources across the street makes all the sense.
This is amazing for the central district. Hopefully its a quick buildout and rented immediately
I live a block away and I’m elated! It’s terrible it took THIS long to get to this point. 23rd and Cherry is commonly the site of gun violence – develop away!
I hope they prioritize POC tenants
Awesome!