On Monday, the City Council unanimously approved changes to the Living Building Pilot Project, creating another tier called the Seattle Deep Green Pilot Program, which allows Skanska’s Stone34 project to move forward.
Projects qualified under the new ordinance must meet sixty percent of the program’s requirements, including the use of less than 25 percent of energy and water used by comparable buildings. According to the City Council’s announcement, the new buildings must also capture at least 50 percent of stormwater used on site, in addition to the many “regulations for building design, construction materials and community integration that go beyond current Design Review guidelines.”
Hey, if you can’t meet the standards… just change the standards.
This is fantastic news. I live just a couple of blocks away and am very happy to know that our voices were heard by the City Council. This building and its tenant will be a great addition to the neighborhood. And in a year or two, the building will seem like it’s always been there and people will get on with their lives just fine.
We submitted our move out notice last night. The kite shop leaves today. I wish lower Wallingford well, but look forward to the less dense neighborhood we chose in another part of town.
Good news!
I got a letter from Richard Conlin this morning that noted that the Fremont Neighborhood Council supported the new legislation and the building.
@Chris W – Do you have a new site for the kite shop?
I am leaving Wallingford as well, tired of the endless condos going up, the ugly block buildings, the increasing density, increased traffic and cars, and loss of great local businesses to be replaced by highrises and chain shops. I know it happens everywhere, but I’m going to keep fleeing it as long as I can. Wallingford is no longer what it was, and this Skanska building is a shining, glowing example of how unpleasant the neighborhood is becoming. As avid said “if you can’t meet the standards… just change the standards”. As for Junipero, who sounds like a press rep for Skankska (sp intentional), it’s amazing how the city council did NOT listen to so many of us who were absolutely against this building. This new building, the city council’s actions regarding it, and what it represents to the future of this neighborhood, is one of the absolute primary reasons myself and my partner are leaving Wallingford.
We will miss you Wallyhood, and those of you who are staying. Amazing how many of our neighbors are moving though in the past few months…
@FreGirl, I’m curious… where are you moving? From what I’ve been reading, nowhere is immune to this kind of growth.
@Barb The kite shop is going online only. They’re basically retiring. You can follow their progress on Facebook if you like.
@Lauren, FreGirl is going to West Seattle, where rents are currently lower because drivers find the construction/bridge closures to be problematic. We will be getting more square footage for our money, in a residential area with high walkability and very little development (for now, of course) with a new Rapid Line to downtown being rolled out 9/26. Personally, I believe lower Wallingford is the next SLU with development being ramped up here because so much SLU real estate is already spoken for. We live at 34& Wallingford, and have been told by Regatta Condo residents that they were informed both Avtech buildings will be demolished for two 4 story condo buildings to go in there (just feet from our windows!) and there’s another development planned where a house now sits just 6 doors north of us. I also read somewhere that a number of the old warehouse type buildings south of 34th between Stone Way & Fremont Ave have recently been purchased by a development company.
If you are a fan of the Varsity Inn restaurant, it rents space in an Avtec building.
Future Wallyhood headline: “No one lives in Wallingford anymore, it’s too crowded.”
I am very happy about the Council’s decision on this legislation. I also appreciate that during their meeting yesterday, the Councilmembers acknowledged that they’d heard from many citizens, and that the input was definitely a mix of support and opposition. So I appreciate that they gave consideration to multiple points of view.
Like Junipero above, I live near the 34th and Stone site, and I believe the new building will be a fine addition to our neighborhood. Great news!
The consideration they gave to multiple points of view seemed to take two forms. Best articulated by Conlin, the predominate approach amounted `sorry … but you’ll see, it will be great!’ Licata seemed to actually get it, suggested that current system gave the appearance of being a way for developers to game the system, but his answer is to set up a better system that will prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future.
Whoopee. That’s sure called for, as Conlin promoted this legislation as a way to make these green buildings “the norm”, and if the incentive to make that happen continues to be exemptions of this nature, evidently conformance to zone requirements would become the exception. Licata can’t stop it by himself, deserves credit for trying to do something about it, but it will be a miracle if his proposed oversight board will turn out to have the power and the disposition to make a big difference. And of course, it’s no help here.
Come on, folks.. it was a 9-0 vote! Every Councilmember said they heard you, but they disagreed, and so do I, and so did many other people who expressed their opinion.
Win, win, win, win, win is all I see. This will be good for the ‘hood.
The artist’s rendering looks great. Those offices will have spectacular views!
I do anticipate mischief from some radical anarchist types. (Remember the mysterious new contruction site fire near 45th across from the old WaMu bank? That wasn’t done by someone who lives in Florida.)
So excited for this new business. Wallingford needs this. Boo to you all neighsayers.
Licata get’s it huh? Then he votes yes…..now that’s funny.
I was not at the Council meeting but I heard from people who attended that most of the opponents who spoke out were revealing in that they were not really opposed to this project and the pilot program, rather they were more concerned with preserving their personal views.
Glad it was approved. The “standards” were just a bunch of made up regulations by an idealistic council regurgitating unrealistic “policy” from an irrelevant green organization, get over it. No real buildings ever met them.
This project apears to just be a bunch of talk about “being green” in order to scab a couple extra floors. There is nothing that says the building will perform because there is no penalty for not matching what the models predict. Yes, the potential for sustainable design is there, but this was more about knowing someone in high places who would change code for your project.
All in all, it’s just another brick in the wall.
The dominos will fall as the tall buildings line up along our waterfront. The better approach would have been to step up gradually from the lake, affording modest views from many, many properties. This writer fears that the current approach will lack foresight and quality because those with connections will bully their way to the front. Sadly, this kind of special treatment seems to be the norm now throughout
Seattle.
Wallingford is moving on to the next rush of development. Let’s hope that the emphasis will not be on the WALL in Wallingford.
Oh, Boy! Does this mean we are a “world class” city?
I agree with Ozymandias. I’m so happy for those Brooks executives and their excellent views! Maybe than can also install an eco-commode on the top floor that sprays their vip waste onto the anarchists walking around down below.
big money changed the standards.. there lies anothr empty building which they could have used without buying our water views.. crap crap
@FreGirl I have nothing to do with Skanska, I’m just a press rep for myself and my wife who find the hostility to a green, sustainable building and new jobs in our neighborhood to be absurd.
@Chris W it sounds like we live nearby; I’m on Wallingford between 34th and 35th. I have a great view from my apartment but I only have that because of a decision to build tall and dense on that site in the late 1980s. I’m not selfish enough to deny that opportunity to someone else merely because I got there first. 4-story condos at the Avtech site would affect me immediately and directly, but I’ll support that too, because I know that more density makes for a better community and a better environment. As to empty warehouses being torn down and rebuilt with new density, well, that just makes sense to me.
There are a lot of us in the neighborhood who are willing to embrace change for the better, and I am glad that our voices were heard at the City Council.
If we weren’t planning to move, I am quite certain we would be priced out of this area with the next density-driven rent increase. The most recent one was $60 a month, and a friend at 40th and Stone had his rent increased by $300/mo this summer.
I have never been opposed to high density…. I live in a city. What I have always opposed is the general walling off of the lake for a privilege few.
Much has been made of the opposition to a “green building” when in fact it has always been about preserving our view corridors. No matter how you cut and shape this building it is still huge….” green” or not.
So this monstrosity will go forward – it’s just too big, IMHO
Any idea when they’ll start digging? Guess Suzie will have to kick her tenants out first.
When was the last time that the city turned down a project (that wasn’t a porn store or strip club)?
Looks like the city council is a bunch of boomers too (as is the mayor). Go figure.