12th Avenue Neighborhood & Business District

Representatives from King County met with neighbors at the 12th Avenue Stewardship Committee meeting last week to discuss redevelopment plans for the King County Youth Detention Facility at 12th and Alder. Current plans for the site include demolishing and building a new, larger court room facility with structured parking for up to 600 cars. The existing detention facility along Spruce Street will remain. The design team presented three options, which are shown below. These were not intended to be concrete design plans but rather three concepts to show general themes and to generate conversation about what is needed and wanted at the site.

Please see the attached word document below to review the minutes of the meeting and find out more about the plans for the site. Also attached is a document from King County outlining why the current court room facility is being rebuilt. King County welcomes your comments and questions. For more information, please contact their outreach coordinator, Shanon Kearney, at 206-269-0229 ext 112.

Option A

Option B

Option C

May 2010 Meeting Minutes

limitations-of-current-court-facility

There are two important community meetings coming up soon to discuss redevelopment of the Youth Detention Center and planning for a new park on 12th Avenue. Refreshments will be provided.

Tuesday May 11
7:00-9:00pm
Seattle University Alumni & Admissions Building (corner of 12th and Marion)
Representatives from King County and their design team will be holding a meeting to discuss their redevelopment plans for the site near 12th and Alder. This includes demolition of the existing building and constructing a new courtroom facility, adding up to five stories of structured parking, leaving some land for later development, and possible impacts to the open space on the northwest corner of the site.

There will be time at this meeting for questions and small group discussions with King County. We encourage you to attend and share your thoughts.

Tuesday, May 18
5:30pm
Seattle University Alumni & Admissions Building
Parks staff will be hosting a planning meeting for the new park at the corner of 12th Avenue and E James Court. The Parks Department will share information on the project scope and schedule. Please join us and tell us what you want to see in the new park!

One of King County's early design schemes for the redevelopment at the Youth Detention Facility on 12th Avenue

King County is moving forward (again) with redevelopment plans for the Juvenile Detention Facility at 12th and Alder. Basically, the detention facility itself (along Alder) will remain. The existing courtroom and office building near the center of the site needs to be replaced and will be demolished. In its place will be a bigger and better courtroom facility. King County is proposing to move all family court activities to this site which will double the number of courtrooms needed. Their plans also include an elevated parking structure for some 500 cars. The rest of the site will be redeveloped at a later date, probably by a private developer to be mixed-use housing and retail. These plans have not been developed so no partners have been identified.  King County is considering saving the open space on the site, currently located on the northeast corner where the Whale Fin sculpture is currently located.

For more detail on early site layouts, please check out the good pictures over at the CD News . I believe these were taken at the most recent Squire Park Community Council meeting and provide a good background of the potential site layouts.

If you want more information or have feedback, King County will be attending the 12th Avenue Stewardship Committee Meeting at 7pm on May 11th .  The meeting will be held at the Seattle University Alumni & Admissions building at 12th and Marion and all are welcome to attend.

alder tower at the detention site

The King County site on 12th and Alder, which houses the Youth Detention Facility, is currently planning a major redevelopment of its court and administrative office facilities. This site is about 8.5 acres within the 12th Avenue Urban Village and has enormous potential to transform the southern end of 12th Avenue. The design team for the County presented at the Squire Park Community Council meeting last weekend. Great notes of this meeting can be found on the CD News blog.

The County will next present this project on May 11th at the 12th Avenue Stewardship Council Meeting . Please join us for this important gathering!

Tuesday, May 11th

7-9pm

824 12th Avenue (SU A+A Building) corner of Marion

retrofit storefront

Something that makes the 12th Avenue Business District great is the distinct lack of national chains along the corridor. This isn’t just by chance. Today there was a nice piece in the CHS Blog on vacant retail space in Capitol Hill/Pike-Pine, where we noticed the listing for the Retrofit Home space. This space is owned by local developer Liz Dunn’s company, Dunn+Hobbes (full disclosure, Liz also happens to be a CHH Board Member).  The CHS post describes the space as:

"AWESOME COMMERCIAL SPACE ON CAP. HILL! Retrofit Home is Moving Around the Corner!!! We are moving around the corner and our Space will become available some time May-ish. Restaurant/Cafe/Retail Storefront Super Hot, Super Hip Location. Restaurant / retail / café space in extremely desirable location on 12th Avenue in the heart of Pike-Pine. 30’ x 100’ clearspan storefront space in vintage wood and concrete building. 3,000 square feet @ $25/sf plus NNN. No national chains ." (emphasis mine)

Many developers in the neighborhood understand that it is the presence of small local businesses that makes a business district feel vibrant, exciting and unique. National chains aren’t necessarily bad — but a mix of business types is needed for an authentic feeling and a thriving district. Liz Dunn is just one Pike/Pine developer who gets this concept. Hopefully we will get another great tenant in this space soon and we will miss Retrofit on 12th!

future location of james court gathering place park

There are a couple of great meetings coming up soon in the 12th Avenue and Squire Park neighborhoods. Please come out and get engaged in what is happening in your community…

The monthly meeting of the 12th Ave Stewardship Committee is next Tuesday, April 13 at 5:30 P.M. at 824 12th Avenue (Seattle U. A. and A. bldg.) All who have a stake in or who are interested in the neighborhood are encouraged to attend. Refreshments will be served. Agenda will include:

• Seattle Parks Dept. regarding planning for new park (12th Avenue Gathering Place, pic above) at 12th and James Ct. and search for new additional new park space.

• Seattle Housing Authority on plans to expand Yesler Terrace, including possibility of expanding to 14th Avenue.

• Lorig Associates which is requesting a contract rezone for a new mixed-use development at Jefferson and Broadway.

• Transportation issues update: SDOT and the Mayor have recommended the two-way Broadway alignment for the First Hill streetcar. Interest in extending route on Broadway to Aloha? What are next steps for 12th Avenue?

We also want to advertise the upcoming Squire Park Community Council meeting ,  Saturday, April 10th 10am-Noon at 722 18th Ave (CAMP) . The agenda includes great topics and live music!

• Welcome, refreshments, and one Honkfest band: Bakra Bata (Caribbean).

• Kay Smith-Blum Seattle School Board Director: a conversation about community concerns and ideas regarding our neighborhood schools.

• King County Youth Detention Center development: Update on current status and next steps by representatives of King County and the development team.

• The Brass Messengers will lead the crowd at the end of the meeting to Honkfest! at Washington Hall.

Trace Lofts is holding a free community tour next Monday, March 29th at 3pm. This condominium building is 70% sold with many great view homes left, and Trace would like to invite the neighborhood to tour these homes before they are sold out. The tour will also include a look inside the retail spaces on the ground floor.

Trace Lofts is located at 12th Avenue and Madison Street and incorporates the 90-year old Bekins Storage building as well as a new building to the north.

Please meet at the Trace North Sales Office at 1414 12th Avenue #203. Dial 003 from the buzzer outside.

RSVP to Cecelia Gunn at 206-204-3832 or cgunn at chhip dot org

Spirit of Our Youth sculpture on the KC Youth Services Center Site (corner of 14th & Remington)

Please join us next Tuesday night for the 12th Avenue Neighborhood Meeting. The meeting will be at the Seattle University Admissions and Alumni Building at the corner of 12th and Marion.  Drinks and snacks will be provided.  Here is the agenda:

Early design for 1111 E Union Street development

The second design review meeting for the triangle parcel at Union, Madison and 12th Avenue is coming up December 2nd at 8pm . The meeting will be held at the Seattle University Alumni and Admissions building at 824 12th Avenue (at E Marion Street). The project will be 6 stories and have 105 apartment units above ground floor retail spaces. Bring your comments and questions to the meeting.

Central District News has updated renderings of the new Seattle University/Seneca Development student housing project in the works for the full block at 12th & Cherry. The developers of this project will be out to speak with the 12th Avenue Neighborhood Group soon, hopefully in January, so be on the lookout for that announcement.

This is an important development for many reasons. With more than 200 student beds, it will add a lot of people, and presumably vitality, to 12th Avenue. This project will also have several neighborhood retail spaces, and we are hoping that Seneca will be renting to student-serving AND neighborhood-serving businesses. Lastly, the southwest corner retail space (in the third rendering) will face the park at James Court that is currently in development (between this project and Watertown Coffee) so getting a restaurant in there that is active and lively throughout the day and night will be key to achieving safety goals at the pocket park.