The East Design Review Board has signed off on plans for the redevelopment of the old QFC block of 15th Ave E to rise six stories.
Wednesday night, the board approved the design and the requested zoning departure to allow the building an extra story in exchange for a layout that will preserve a prized European hornbeam tree along E Republican while also transitioning the project to the adjacent lower areas surrounding to the north.
A group of neighbors had opposed the plan for the extra height along this growing commercial corridor of Capitol Hill that has so-far lagged development seen in the neighborhood’s core. The decision could still be appealed to the city’s Hearing Examiner but no cases related to the development have yet been filed.
The development from Capitol Hill-based Hunters Capital and Runberg Architecture Group will create a new mixed-use structure including a new 15th Ave E plaza to break up the retail facade that will also provide additional corner retail space, a north podium deck, and a “pedestrian through block” breezeway on the south end of the project next to the old firehouse building that will remain.
With approval and the eventual start of construction hoped for in the next year, the existing block including the old QFC grocery store and parking lot and the adjacent 1904-built Moore Family building’s mix of a handful of apartments and small businesses will be torn down.
Changes are already afoot. Much-loved neighborhood convenience store ShopRite announced its closure and the block’s Rudy’s is making preparations to move into the just-completed Hunters Capital development across the street — ground was broke on the five-story, nearly 70-unit mixed-use Capitol Hilltop Apartments in 2022.
The former QFC has been put back into temporary motion. The Punk Rock Flea Market is set to use the space as a venue for markets and events. The Quality Flea Center will operate through at least the end of the year.
Changes on 15th Ave E have moved forward at a steady but slow pace. CHS first reported on the property deal that put the block in the Hunters Capital portfolio in 2017.
The opening of the Hilltop Apartments this summer will be the start of a wave of major redevelopment along 15th Ave E.
What the QFC block redevelopment will look like — eventually
That wave will also include a plan at 15th and John where Safeway has been working to redevelop its property with developer Greystar. CHS first broke the news on the plans in 2019.
That Weber Thompson-design will create two new five-story buildings including a new 50,000-square-foot grocery store, around 330 market rate apartment units, some new, smaller retail spaces, and an underground parking lot for more than 300 cars.
Plans had called for a start of construction in 2024 and a possible 2026 opening of the project but that timeline has clearly shifted. One factor could be the planned $25 billion merger between Safeway parent company Albertsons and QFC parent Kroger.
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Density for the WIN! This is what is sorely needed, HOUSING! Love it
thank god, please start next week
I am so glad we have one more building to go in my part of town and then we are done.
Sweet!
Finally, this development looks fine. Just build it already.
Also: does anyone know when the Safeway redevelopment will be moving forward? IIRC it was supposed to start this past July, but — of course — the cult that occupies the decrepit home on the corner with the painted-over windows (how, exactly, does a cult still operate on the hill in 2024?) sued and pushed it back…but didn’t that get tossed?
Yeah Seattle is for those who can afford it. 15th has been stagnant on creating housing, aside from those adorable townhomes they slapped up just past the Walgreens. But can you really blame 15th. It’s such a quaint little stretch!
thank god
You can blame the developer for all the delays here. They still won’t get their MUP for awhile because of the shenanigans they are pulling.
Please elaborate?
Their desire for an extra floor was only possible if they had a tier 2 tree that reduced development capacity. They don’t have a t2 tree.
In comes a draft rule issued 1-2 weeks ago that says if a t3 tree would become a t2 tree in next couple years and development capacity is reduced by 2%, you can claim your t3 tree is t2.
There’s a bunch of extra delays introduced by this. Besides the delays that come from this being a new draft rule, a group of neighbors will definitely sue to block it.
I wish we’d just eliminate departures and design review, which would actually speed up the building of new housing.
Yay! It’s great to see new housing moving forward.
Any idea how much units will cost? Kinda useless towards mitigating our homelessness crisis if it’s not kept affordable. Rent control pls.
They will be “market rate” (expensive). No mention of any affordable units, so probably the developer will be paying into the fund for such units elsewhere.
The units facing toward the East are all townhouses with a view. None of these units will be cheap. The additional floor is what is giving the builders the space to turn these into luxury units, i.e. whatever the market will bear.
Those two trees they talk about saving are nothing special, there are older and taller trees in the center of the lot which will be ripped down.
Instead of focusing on two trees, who without access to light will become sickly, the builder should be required to create a green roof in order to help with the cities quickly disappearing canopy.
The building as designed is contributing to our local summer temperatures, which in turn are creating the heat inversions which wildfire smoke in the city.
Zero affordable housing it’s all market rate. Look down the street at their new building. It won’t be affordable for anyone except tech workers.
At least the folks who live in the new building won’t be bidding up the price of older housing stock. The only way to leave less-expensive older housing available for people with lower incomes is to ensure that enough new buildings get built to soak up all of the higher-income demand.
And this is exactly the positive outcome that’s happening with the Hilltop building—anecdotally, I live in an older nearby building, and one of my long time neighbors is moving into one of the new units at Hilltop and freeing up a more affordable unit in our building.
Density fixes that at least, partially
No homeless people will be afford any rent of any sort, you’re dreaming.
No one is saying that, we still need affordable housing, but this is still better than a useless parking spot and dead grocer
More supply is more supply. There will be hundreds of additional households in Seattle with a roof over their heads after this. Perhaps those people are housed now, but now their existing housing is open for someone else to use. We need more supply folks, not whining over who is building or owns the supply.