the Northgate Activist
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AREA PROJECTS
Northgate Urban Center Park Development: This project will convert the Park and Ride lot on 5th Avenue NE and NE 112th Street into a 3.73 acre park. A Project Advisory Team (PAT) has formed and began meeting regularly in February 2008 to provide community feedback to the Seattle Parks Department. The first public meeting was February 20, 2008. For information, contact Kim Baldwin @ 206-615-0810 or kim.baldwin@seattle.gov.
Northgate Area Rezone Proposal would upzone many properties along or adjacent to Northgate Way in order to create greater density in the Northgate Urban Core. The upzone might also encourage developers to maximize the potential for their properties, adding housing above retail locations. It would directly benefit 3 large parcels owned by Mullaly, Kauri and Wallace. An EIS is being prepared and there is a scoping comment period and public meeting planned for Spring 2008. Background documents are available on the Department of Planning and Development website.
Coordinated Transportion Investment Plan (CTIP): The CTIP final report was released on September 29, 2007.This planning document prioritizes a wishlist of transportation improvements in the Northgate area according to a weighted formula of various criteria. Public comments were sought in Fall 2005 for the scoping phase of its Environmental Impact Statement to assess impacts on the area's quality of life. Funding is not a part of this project. Projects include, but are not limited to, signal improvements, sidewalks, traffic circles, lane realignments. The planning document may be useful when large developers are asked to mitigate for the traffic impacts of their projects. For info., contact Tony Mazzella, SDOT Project Manager, @ (206) 684-0811 or tony.mazzella@seattle.gov.
Pedestrian Issue on College Way N. at North Seattle Community College: The intersections of both NE 97th Street and NE 100th Street with College Way N. are both "blind" due to the hill on College Way. This makes it very scary and dangerous for pedestrians crossing College Way, especially those with physical impairments or parents and their young children going to the college's daycare. A faculty member at the College has taken up the cause of trying to get the Seattle Department of Transportation to improve these intersections for pedestrian safety. He has conveyed his concerns to the CTIP program, above. For further information, please contact J.C. Clapp at (206) 528-4531 or via email.
Wallace Properties Proposed Mixed Use Project for 507 NE Northgate Way (DPD Project #3002984): A Master Use Permit has been issued for this large project consisting of 161 apartments above two floors (54,000 square feet) of retail abutting 5th Avenue NE. This project is currently under construction. A second phase could be impacted by the Northgate Area Proposed Rezone, above. View Wallace's website.
Mixed Use Project at 7500 Roosevelt Way NE (DPD Project #2407656): A four story building, with retail on the ground level, administrative offices on the second floor, and 30 units of apartments above, has been proposed for this very visible property across from Safeway. Seventy units of parking are proposed within the structure. The project will need to undergo Design Review.
Lorig Associates Plan to Develop the South Lot - 301 NE 103rd Street (DPD Project #2401519): Lorig Associates has been working with the community and the city to creatively put a mixed use development on the South Lot, while carving out a parcel that the city could use to create a Thornton Creek Channel project. This project is currently under construction. Note: a separate Master Use Project number has been assigned to the contract rezone for the land itself; the number is #2503971. View Lorig's website.
History of the South Lot: In the Fall of 2000, Simon Property Group put the South lot on the market for $25 million. Security Properties Inc., a local developer, had worked with the community and government officials regarding their initial interest in buying and developing the property. They had expressed a willingness to consider siting the new Northgate library and a portion of a daylighted Thornton Creek on the South lot, along with approximately 1,000 units of housing, a hotel, and street-level retail. However, negotiations with creek activists stalled while Security Properties' option to buy the lot expired. Then, King County bought the westernmost 3.9 acres of the lot for transit parking and future transit center expansion. That deal closed in March 2002, with 500 new parking stalls opened in the summer of 2002. The Mayor then proposed building a drainage pond on the easternmost section of the lot, which was not well received by the community. A stalemate was broken by the introduction of legislation that created a framework for looking at projects in the Northgate core. It was within this framework that the Lorig project has been able to gain community acceptance and to move forward.
Northgate Civic Center: The new library, community center and park at 5th Avenue NE and NE 105th Street (the site of the old Bon Tire store) opened to the public on July 15, 2006. When first conceived, each project was being separately planned, financed and managed; and, co-locating these amenities was not even considered. An enormous push from the neighborhood resulted in the City Council and Executive Branch responding to neighborhood desires to see all three projects located together. The Civic Center is already a huge asset to the community.
The Library: The 10,000 square foot branch was financed by a Libraries For All bond issue approved by voters in 1998. The budget is $6.7 million. The library has room for 40,000+ volumes, a meeting room and public computers in a single story building with two entrances. The Seattle Public Libary is managing this project: Project Manager, David Kunselman, (206) 286-4096, or david.kunselman@spl.org.
The Community Center: Financed by a voter-approved 1999 Community Centers Levy, this 15,000 square foot center contains a gym, a meeting space, a popular outdoor play area and two classrooms for after-school programs. The budget is $8.85 million. The Seattle Parks Department is managing this project: Senior Capital Proejcts Coordinator, Tim Motzer, (206) 684-7060, or tim.motzer@seattle.gov.
The Park: A 1.67 acre park has added some much-needed green space in the Northgate urban core. Financed by the 2000 Pro Parks Levy, the $4.8 million park will front 5th Avenue NE. The Seattle Parks Department is managing this project: Senior Capital Proejcts Coordinator, Tim Motzer, (206) 684-7060, or tim.motzer@seattle.gov.
Northgate Mall Expansion - 301 NE Northgate Way (DPD Project #2402787): Simon Property Group, the owner of Northgate Mall, is building up to 10 retail buildings, mainly on the freeway side of the current mall. Several of these are completed or nearing completing Only one building will be along 5th Avenue NE, on the site of the old Malmo Garden Center; construction has not begun at this location. Simon has also constructed an 800-stall parking garage to the south of the Penney's store. To view the list of permits associated with this address, go to the DPD webpage for 301 NE Northgate Way.
Northgate-specific Design Guidelines: City Council approved the Northgate Design Guidelines in November 2003, which citizens and the government officials created together starting in Spring 2001. New projects in the Northgate area that go before a design review panel need to adhere to this set of neighborhood-specific rules. The guidelines help shape the character of new developments by addressing how well they blend in with adjacent buildings and whether they promote a pedestrian-friendly urban core. The guidelines were very much a negotiated project, with efforts by the Mayor's team and King County (Metro) to dilute their effectiveness with regard to superblocks.
For this reason, activists must ensure these guidelines are backed by
strong zoning regulations and are not relied upon exclusively.
History: at the Northgate Workshops in 2000, citizens identified creating a pedestrian-friendly "Main Street" along 5th Avenue NE as a major priority. The original project, sponsored by the Seattle Planning Commission, involved property owners, residents, business owners/employees and public. The final streetscape design was presented at a 12/13/01 community meeting. Resolution #30596 to implement the plan was adopted by the City Council on 8/11/2003. It has since gotten "rolled in" to the Northgate Civic Center project, which is occuring in the same location and timeframe.
Metro Transit's South lot plans: King County's Transportation Department has bought the westernmost 3.9 acres of the South lot of Northgate Mall and turned it into a 500-stall temporary park and ride lot in June 2002.
The deal was made in September 2001, after Security Properties' option on the lot expired.
Plans for the property under their control include a vastly enlarged transit hub, with various schema of TOD included. Activists will want to keep close tabs on this one.
Maple Leaf P-Patch: The Maple Leaf Community Garden is was completed, with regular volunteer work parties still happening regularly. This project was started by The Maple Leaf Community Council, which got the City to buy a 15,977 square foot lot on the south side of NE 103rd Street (between 5th and 8th Avenues NE). For information, contact Barbara Maxwell @ (206) 524-1502 or via email.
North Link Light Rail: Sound Transit is planning to build light rail to Northgate and beyond. While currently building the intial segment from near the airport to downtown, they have been busy planning for the North extension, despite not yet having funds to build this phase. A Draft Supplemental EIS to their 2003 EIS for Northgate has just been released through a public comment period. Sound Transit put funding for this North Link on a 2007 ballot issue that failed, probably due to the ballot's inclusion of a large number of road projects. This ballot would also have included funding to study extending the line beyond Northgate, which would have been a huge boon to the neighborhood. History: Sound Transit and the City of Seattle's Strategic Planning Office undertook a three year process to help plan the stations around proposed light rail routes. The efforts of the Station Area Planning team have been summarized on their website.
The Seattle Monorail: The Monorail is dead.Pro-Parks 2000 Levy: This ballot measure was approved in November 2000. This measure provides $223 million for park acquisition, development and maintenance city-wide. Northgate will receive money to help leverage funding to buy the Metro Park and Ride lot at 112th Street. NE and 5th Ave. NE to develop it into a park. The actuality of a park on this site depends upon Metro getting assistance in relocating the parking spaces that would be lost. Metro claims they have money for expansion spaces (see the item about the South lot, above), but not replacement slots. The PRO-Parks measure also budgets money to acquire parcels identified by the Open Space program in the Thornton Creek Watershed.
Northgate 20-year Work Plan: The 1993 Northgate Comprehensive Plan predated the citywide neighborhood planning effort and the city's own Comprehensive Plan; hence, the city has brought that plan's work recommendations into the same format (a "matrix") as other neighborhoods' plans. Activists have been disappointed to see that developers have not been held to the 1993 Plan. The 20-year work plan sets out priorities that will guide city departments' efforts in our neighborhood. The work plan has been adopted by a City Council resolution. For further information, contact Ed Pottharst, Neighborhood District Coordinator at (206) 386-4323 or via email.
Lake City Multi-modal Project: This joint venture of King County, the City of Seattle, and the Washington State Department of Transportation seeks to improve traffic flow, bus zones and sidewalks on Lake City Way. The project is complete and has improved the pedestrian experience for those walking on the west side of Lake City Way in the project zone. For more information, please contact either Ron Scharf, SDOT Project Manager @ (206) 684-5192, or Peg Nielsen, SDOT Communications @ (206) 684-8114.
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