Community Post

Design Review Tonight for 23rd and Union

Don’t forget tonight’s Design Review for the 23rd and Union Project.
I realize it is on the front page under the upcoming events for today, but this should get a headline at the top of the page.
I personally would welcome this development and it needs our support.
Please come on out and let your voice be heard, for or against.

Tonight from 8-9pm.
Seattle Central Community College
1701 Broadway
Room 3211

I’m relatively new to this blog, but is there local opposition against this project? If so what is it?
I’ve read through the previous story’s comments, but the majority of those were discussing the possibilities of a P-Patch there on the corner. I love P-Patches, but that corner is, IMHO, not the place for it.
That corner needs an identity! It needs to have a presence! If it needs another 25 feet of vertical to give it that identity, GO FOR IT!
Imagine having 90+ residents on that corner. All of those eyes on the street throughout various times of the day would be fantastic! What about the commercial spaces on the street level? I welcome more commercial spaces along the Union corridor. Wouldn’t we all like to have more choices of where to eat or shop closer to home?

0 thoughts on “Design Review Tonight for 23rd and Union

  1. I very much want to see the corner developed. However, I want to see the use of good materials and some architectural interest. I don’t want to see the cheapest, ugliest building possible, that starts to blight the corner in 5 years. I have no idea what kind of developer is doing the project, are they local, or what other buildings have they done.

  2. http://www.jcmueller.com/index.html

    And here is the proposed project on his website. http://www.jcmueller.com/projects_2203.html
    I personally do not know much about this developer other than what I have read on the website.

    I would agree with you Cynthia. We do not want an ugly building on that corner. There is already enough of that around the city. The rendering on the website looks nice, but how close will that be to the final product? Will the developer keep the vast expanses of glass throughout the building or will those get VE’d out in the first round?

  3. Even if some of it is allowed to grow taller, the development along 22nd should remain zoned at current height for integration into the single family neighborhood.
    Joanna

  4. The developer was the property manager for Vulcan before he branched out on his own. He’s interested in developing much of 23rd & Union AND the Madison corridor. Here are assorted posts from my blog about the development:

    http://millerparkseattle.blogspot.com/2007/07/23rd-union-development-some-expert.html

    http://millerparkseattle.blogspot.com/2007/07/east-union-project-your-thoughts-please.html

    http://millerparkseattle.blogspot.com/2007/06/design-review-board-discussion-23rd.html

    http://millerparkseattle.blogspot.com/2007/06/presented-at-23rdunion-design-review.html

    http://millerparkseattle.blogspot.com/2007/06/design-review-meeting-for-2203-east.html

    http://millerparkseattle.blogspot.com/2007/06/transcript-of-23rdunion-meeting.html

    http://millerparkseattle.blogspot.com/2007/06/reports-on-proposed-development-at-23rd.html

    http://millerparkseattle.blogspot.com/2007/06/feedback-about-23rd-union-development.html

  5. aside from andrew’s blog (note Joe’s comments about Jim Mueller), but take a look at his Vulcan work. That’s not cheap and poorly done. It’s in the very same mode as what is being proposed here.

  6. my biggest concern is TRAFFIC. we live on 22nd right behind the proposed building and people already fly down our street. we have many, many kids on our block.

  7. Anna, the additional traffic and cars parked on 22nd would most likely make 22nd safer because there wouldn’t be as many cars traveling so fast down the street. There would be more cars, but they would move much more slowly. It’s been shown that people drive more slowly when there the road is more narrow (e.g. when cars are parked on both sides) and there are obstacles like cars coming the other way. People tend to fly down streets when they are empty, and that’s when they present the most danger to kids.

  8. I also live on 22nd, and I can say that the narrow lane and parking on both sides does little to deter some people from zooming down the street at high speeds. I’ve seen this at 1 PM when the street is relatively empty (while people are at work), and I’ve seen it at 1 AM when both sides of the street are packed with cars. Around 5-6 PM is the worst as people are in a hurry to get home and try to avoid congestion at 23rd and Union. Furthermore, I can corroborate that “many kids” on this block is not hyperbole.

    From what I understand, the parking garage entrance for the new development is supposed to exit into 22nd Ave. Although the up to 99 residents of the proposed development may not all have cars, or may not all use 22nd Ave South of Union to travel to/from home if they do, there is bound to be an increase in traffic on 22nd.

    The lack of a traffic circle in the middle one the 22nd and Marion intersection is one factor; the ingress/egress route at 22nd and Union is the other factor. Combined, these leave an unbroken two block stretch of road that parallels and offers an alternative to 23rd ave. A traffic circle at Marion would slow people down at that end of the block, but would not prevent anyone from shooting at high speed off of Union. In my opinion, the only solution would be a road constriction just South of the entrance to the Foster center parking lot — similar to the one on 19th just South of Union. It might take away a couple of street spots, but should give pause to our speed racers.

  9. The “road constriction” is made up of chicanes.
    Keep in mind that engineering solutions will help, but one of the most important things you can do is actually get out on the street. Motorists abhor uncertainty – if they aren’t sure what will happen next, they generally tend to slow down. I’m not suggesting anyone endanger themselves, but at some point we need to start moving back toward *sharing* our roadways, not just making them spaces for automobiles.

  10. Note than under the current proposal (presented tonight) the parking garage entrance is not on 22nd, but on 23rd at the far south of the building. In terms of overall design, its a little different from the drawing above, though still lots of glass. I assume the new drawings will be posted soon on the Mueller site or elsewhere. In the meantime you can check out the work of the architects, who did the presentation tonight, on their site (www.mithun.com). Central Area examples include the Yesler Community Center.

  11. It was not discussed at the meeting tonight, but at one of the meetings last year about this proposed construction it was suggested that this stretch of 22nd Avenue be made one way north bound, with only a right turn allowed at Union. This would divert potentially westbound traffic around to Cherry Street, with right turns all the way, rather than allowing left turns from 22nd to disrupt traffic on Union Street.

  12. As another resident of 22nd, I fear that “uncertainty” does not seem to inhibit many of the drivers that are abusing this street as an alternative to the main. I’ve had several instances of driving, forced chicken, where I was looking to find a place to allow someone by – when they were obviously going to hit me if I didn’t get out of the way! As a ped I feel the same… I’ll walk slowly into the street. But many times it’s obvious if _I_ don’t wait to cross or move, _they_ are going to win.

  13. Is anyone putting pressure on the developers/city to make this development include affordable housing? I live on 22nd just down from Union as well and the LAST thing this intersection needs is high priced condos. We need affordable housing to try and mititgate the massive displacement that is plagueing the neighborhood. High priced condos will likely bring residents who do not understand the neighborhood’s history/dynamics. This could creat the same type of situation as is happening elsewhere in the district where new, monied, and well connected residents organize to try and shut down long-standing community business instead of attempting to actually get to know the community. Let’s try and prevent that from happening here.