SEATTLE | CITY Activity (non-downtown)

[mhays]

I wonder what they mean by "approved." Land use permits? Shoring permits? Does that include projects that are going back for new permits, or where sites have sold? Also, do they count dorms, of which maybe 1,500 beds are underway? Also townhouses, which are seemingly going up everywhere?

I think the UC number is around 10,000 including all that.

[chris08876]

Way to go Seattle! Thats very nice. And those are just the ones under construction/approved too. I wonder how many are in the pipeline/proposal stage right now. That figure will hopefully be higher by the end of 2014. Bellevue btw is booming right now. Especially when it comes to mid rise apartments.

[mhays]

Gotta be in excess of 10,000 in the pipeline in addition to the 4,000.

The 7,366 number sounded low, but on second thought, a big chunk of the "approved" stuff they're talking about (whatever "approved" means) is already in demo or thereabouts, and therefore included in the larger tally in my mind, including 600 units in a couple woodframes on the edge of Downtown.

A number of projects are in "any second" status. Maybe we'll have a big flurry of additional starts this summer.

[mSeattle]

They must be talking about stuff inside the boundary of their map (which is missing parts of Seattle).

[mSeattle]

June 4, 2014
City panel OKs rezone for Mount Baker area
By JOURNAL STAFF
http://www.djc.com/news/re/12066293.html


Rendering courtesy of GGLO

The goal is to get taller buildings with housing, retail and other uses.

Yesterday a Seattle City Council committee approved a rezone around the Mount Baker light rail station to help create a walkable area with transit, jobs, entertainment and housing.

[mSeattle]

June 5, 2014
South Park Bridge opens June 30
By JOURNAL STAFF
http://www.djc.com/news/co/12066340.html


Photo courtesy of King County [enlarge]
The $162 million project was completed by Kiewit-Massman under a $96 million contract.

The South Park Bridge will reopen June 30 following a four-year closure, King County announced on Wednesday.


Comment: I wonder if those outcroppings on the bridge deck will be open to the public?

[mSeattle]

June 5, 2014
Real Estate Buzz: First look at finalists for CapHillStation TOD
By NAT LEVY
Real Estate Reporter

Opportunities like this don't come around often.

Four prime parcels around a future light rail station in one of the hottest neighborhoods in a thriving city. This is what people mean when they say location, location, location.

Eight short-listed developers are vying to develop these sites near Sound Transit's Capitol Hill light rail station. The developers came together for a forum on Monday and talked about their desire to create something the neighborhood will be proud of, with retail, affordable housing and community gathering spaces.



More: http://www.djc.com/news/re/12066304.html

[mSeattle]

Yesler Terrace Redevelopment

820 Yesler Way may be starting in August, according to a post on SSC referencing an update (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...&postcount=318). Not a huge thing but keeps the bigger project progress slowly moving forward. This is 50/80 affordable housing.


yeslerT_820yw by mSeattle, on Flickr

[alki]

Originally Posted by mSeattle

May 14, 2014
Dallas firm Trinsic Residential starting its first Seattle project
By JOURNAL STAFF

Image courtesy of GGLO

Trinsic Residential Group of Dallas said it has started construction on its first apartment project in Seattle: a six-story, 159-unit building at 4435 35th Ave. S.W. in West Seattle.



More: http://www.djc.com/news/re/12065587.html

They are already in the ground on this one. I have rarely seen a bldg go from announcement to actual construction so quickly.

[mhays]

Apartment developers often don't care about public announcements, until they start caring about leasing.

DPD is good early warning of course. This one first hit the DPD reports in 2009, and restarted in May 2013 or so. A year from first EDG is a common rule of thumb.

[alki]

Originally Posted by mhays

Apartment developers often don't care about public announcements, until they start caring about leasing.

DPD is good early warning of course. This one first hit the DPD reports in 2009, and restarted in May 2013 or so. A year from first EDG is a common rule of thumb.

Very true but they were tearing down the bldg on site while the emails with the press releases were just going out. They're moving fast...........and can you blame them.......we may be nearing the end of this apt bldg cycle.

[alki]

In Ballard:

Solo Lofts 45% Sold



June 16, 2014 By Matt 0 Comments

After breaking ground the other week (we attended!) Solo Lofts let us know that they’re now 45% under contract (9 out of 20).

Disclaimer: Solo Lofts is an Urbnlivn advertiser.

http://www.urbnlivn.com/2014/06/16/solo-lofts-45-sold/

[mhays]

A lot of projects do no press at all. Those that do will commonly tie it to when it's useful for leasing. With an office building or condo that might be a year before groundbreaking but with an apartment it might not matter until the year it opens.

Outside of that, much of what you see is the newspapers printing what they can find out on DPD and by calling the developer, not the developer going for attention.

But let's say an apartment developer wants to send a release before breaking ground. Maybe they hold off until things are reasonably sure to proceed, which would be the last few days, when the list of hurdles has dropped from 100 to 5.

But demo isn't tied to a start. I believe the demo permit requires a good faith effort to get the project going, and to be at a certain stage of building permits. But demo is often several weeks before construction gets going. The project is still pretty uncertain then, since they don't know the price, a lot of design choices remain, they don't have their financing fully detailed, the shoring permit might still be pending, etc.

So they demo, then when they feel like it's time to announce something, if at all, they do it then.

Some developers and financiers think the apartment market might be softening. But the percent who say that doesn't seem all that different from 2011, 2012, and 2013. And every year, the pipeline keeps getting new projects added. This spring is nothing unusual, with a heavy flow of projects hitting DPD design review, applying for land use permits, applying for building permits, breaking ground, etc.

[mSeattle]

June 24, 2014
City OKs rezone for Mount Baker area
By JOURNAL STAFF
http://www.djc.com/news/re/12067037.html?cgi=yes

SEATTLE — Seattle City Council Monday approved a rezone around the Mount Baker light rail station to help create a walkable area with transit, jobs, entertainment and housing.

The rezone boosts heights up to 85 feet on some of the land. A 13-acre site that is home to a Lowe's Home Improvement store and adjacent parking lot could get buildings as tall as 125 feet.

[mSeattle]

The Burke-Gilman Trail runs more than 18 miles from Shilshole Bay in the City of Seattle to the City of Bothell where it intersects the Sammamish River Trail.
http://www.kingcounty.gov/recreation...rkegilman.aspx
-------
June 26, 2014
UW to start first phase of $19M upgrade to Burke-Gilman Trail
By JOURNAL STAFF
http://www.djc.com/news/co/12067131.html?cgi=yes

The trail will get better lighting and intersections, and the width will nearly double.

The University of Washington plans to start construction this summer on the first phase of a project that will make 1.7 miles of the Burke-Gilman Trail on the campus safer and easier to use.


Images courtesy of PLACE studio [enlarge]

[mSeattle]

Some action I've seen north of Denny Way in the past couple of months:


DSC04998 by mSeattle, on Flickr


DSC04997 by mSeattle, on Flickr


DSC04993 by mSeattle, on Flickr


DSC04992 by mSeattle, on Flickr


DSC04990 by mSeattle, on Flickr


DSC04994 by mSeattle, on Flickr

[mSeattle]

June 27, 2014
Design meetings set for 2 more Vulcan buildings
By JOURNAL STAFF
http://www.djc.com/news/re/12067171.html

Vulcan Real Estate has lined up early design guidance meetings for two more projects it wants to build in South Lake Union


Image by Runberg Architecture Group [enlarge]

[mSeattle]

8th & Seneca rising on the hill above downtown (First Hill).

March 2014

DSC04701 by mSeattle, on Flickr

May 2014

IMG_0526 by mSeattle, on Flickr

[seaskyfan]

Thanks for the updates. The area around Mercer and Dexter seems like it has construction on every block.

[alki]

How The Light Rail Will Change Rainier Valley

Thursday, June 26, 2014, by Curbed Staff

Rainier Valley is one of Seattle's most culturally, racially and economically heterogeneous neighborhoods. For many Seattleites, it carries the reputation of being a crime-ridden home to low-income families, immigrant communities and housing projects. Even Mayor Ed Murray identified the Valley as a problem area upon coming into office. However, such an image is becoming increasingly misplaced with the changes that have been occurring since the introduction of the Link Light Rail that connects Rainier Valley to downtown.

Martin Luther King Jr. Way, a boulevard that has often been compared to a placeless strip mall, has begun to see dramatic change as a result of new developments already occurring around the light rail stations aligning it. The City Council approved plans this week to upzone the area surrounding the Mount Baker light-rail station in order to increase density, allowing some buildings to be built up to 125 feet tall. The plan aims to use the light rail stations as a way to attract new investment and create more walkable, vibrant urban centers in a concept known as 'urban villages.' Yet such urban development plans will not affect everyone equally.

read more................

http://seattle.curbed.com/archives/2...ighborhood.php