August 19, 2004
New building proposed for U district
Unico Properties, the private, Seattle-based firm that manages the UW’s downtown holdings, wants to erect a six-story building with office, retail and residential space and parking where a parking lot now stands, at the corner of NE 42nd Street and 15th Avenue NE.
Several area residents and businesses near the site, however, particularly those at the Allegro coffee shop across an alley from the lot, worry the building could harm the pleasant, accessible atmosphere of that corner.
The land is owned by the Wesley Foundation, a nonprofit, nationwide religious organization that would keep local offices in the building and use money from rentals to further its campus and community ministries. The foundation operates in cooperation with the University Temple United Methodist Church, the site’s neighbor to the north. A residence for women UW students called Wesley House stood for years at that spot but was demolished in the late 1960s, when the 58-stall parking lot was created.
Unico’s plan, briefly put, is to construct a six-story building to be called University Square on the 16,480-square-foot site with about 48 apartments above three floors of office and retail space and about 85 stalls of publicly available parking. The company hopes to begin building next summer and finish in the summer of 2006. The UW is interested in renting a floor of office space in the building.
“At this point we’re interested in mediating between the community and the project, and we want people to be pleased with what’s going to happen there,” said Wayne McCleskey, local director of the Wesley Foundation. “But we are also clear that you can’t please everyone.”
Opposition to the University Square project has centered on the building’s potential to shutter the open feel of the alley, which holds the University Temple United Methodist Church’s Rising Out of the Shadows (ROOTS) young adult homeless shelter as well as the coffee shop. Some worry that the building will reduce available public parking, others that its design will change the architectural flow of the area or that the population served by the ROOTS program could be marginalized by the development.
The Wesley Foundation had planned an office building on that site several years back but ultimately dropped the idea when the UW, its sole prospective tenant, found office accommodations elsewhere.
That was almost lucky, McCleskey said, because the economic bubble burst shortly after that, and the need for office space plummeted. “Apparently the rental market has increased to a point now where it can show a profit.”
Emotions flared at a public meeting on the matter last month. Patrick McCabe, Unico vice president for development, said based on the feedback received that day, “I felt it was time to put our preliminary design on the back burner and go out and talk to and listen to the community.” The company has been doing just that, he said, and intends to schedule another public meeting, “to share back to the community what it is we think we have heard, and give them an opportunity to clarify or add to that.”
Theresa Doherty, UW assistant vice president for regional affairs, who has monitored the project on behalf of the UW, said the community’s plan for growth calls for more mixed-use projects close to The Ave, including housing. “The way to revitalize the Ave is to get more people living closer to the Ave, so they will shop and spend money on the Ave.” She added, “This project does everything the community wants, and it is being developed on a parking lot, which is quite honestly not sacred. I don’t think replacing a parking lot with a mixed-use building is a bad thing, it’s a good thing.”
Nathaniel Jackson, co-owner of the Allegro, said, “As far as I’m concerned I have come to resignation — I’ve gone through the grieving process.” He said it’s not certain his business would suffer permanently from the development, but business might suffer during construction. “If we survive the construction and if they build it in a way that takes us into account, I think we could benefit.” He likened the location to that of Post Alley in the Pioneer Square area, where businesses are thriving along an alley.
Jackson added, however, that he’ll miss “the breath of fresh air that’s going to be taken away.”
Philip Thiel, a UW professor emeritus of architecture and urban planning, opposed the first building and opposes these plans, too, at least in their current form. He has suggested an alternate design that would allow for a building but also would provide an open plaza area just to the south of the church, which could be used for concerts or other public gatherings.
Given the church theme of the project, he phrased his concern as, “What would Jesus do in this case?” He said, “It comes down to whether to get the maximum possible income from the property for whatever purpose … as opposed to taking a little less money in terms of income over the 90-year lease but instead doing something that would enhance community life.”
Jack Olive, senior pastor at University Temple United Methodist Church and as such also a member of the Wesley Foundation’s governing board, said he was hired after plans were already in place, but that he has some concerns, too.
“The place for homeless young adults to hang out is the University District,” Olive said. “If we push these folks out of that alley, where are they going to go? I’m pretty sure there are going to be a lot bigger problems somewhere else.” He also cited concerns about parking, the architectural context of the area and the idea that the project’s planned “market-rate” apartments might create a feeling of “incompatible uses” in the area. But he sounded a hopeful note, too. McCabe of Unico said plans have already been altered so that the residential areas are 20 to 30 percent “affordable housing” as defined by the city, and the balance set by market rates.
Olive said, “I hear good things about Unico. They act like they want to be good neighbors and I still really, firmly believe there’s a great opportunity to develop a piece of property that won’t be a great money-maker but will provide for the needs of the community.”
Some have suggested that the lot be made into a park, but McCabe of Unico said that’s one idea that won’t be realized. “What we are hearing more of is not necessarily a park but a pedestrian-friendly open space, and doing a project that doesn’t choke off the Allegro.
McCabe added, “We understand our design needs to be aware of and respect the Allegro, likewise the church and the Magus Book Store,” the site’s neighbor to the east.
