Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) recently released its plan for the section of the city known as “South Downtown.” The South Downtown area includes Pioneer Square, the northern tip of SODO just south of the stadiums, Chinatown/International District and the western swath of my neighborhood, Jackson Place.
The new South Downtown plan seeks to add 6,000 new housing units and office space to support 16,000 new jobs by 2030. The plan calls for greater density (think “taller buildings” and “mixed-use” developments) throughout most of the area. The Jackson Place neighborhood is already seeing higher density even though the South Downtown plan has not yet been approved by the City Council.
The most common signs of the times in Seattle are land-use bulletins on vacant lots and old buildings and the ubiquitous orange-and-yellow cranes. Jackson Place — which is bounded by Rainier Avenue, South Jackson Street, Judkins Park and I-90 — has its share of both as more mixed-use projects are being proposed and built.
In addition to several new townhouses, which continue to pop up amid the single-family homes on the neighborhood’s residential streets, the Hiawatha Artists Lofts opened this past winter with 61 live/work studios available for artists and retail on the ground floor, including an art gallery, coffee shop, dance studio and bike shop. Construction has begun on a 102-unit condominium project with 20 long-term affordable units developed by HomeSight. This project will include eight live/work units suitable for retail or artists lofts. And two market-rate, mixed-use developments are under construction on South Jackson Street at 18th Avenue South.
But perhaps the biggest harbinger of things to come for both Jackson Place and South Downtown is the proposed redevelopment of the Goodwill site at Rainier and Dearborn by Dearborn Street Developers, LLC. The Goodwill site lies directly adjacent to the Jackson Place neighborhood. This massive project, if approved by the city, will consist of 650,000 square feet of retail, primarily big box and chain stores, including Target; 400 to 600 residential units, with some 200 units slated to be low-income housing; a new store and job-training facility for Goodwill; and parking for 2,300 vehicles.
Needless to say, there are strong opinions about the project on both sides. The most visible supporter is the Go Dearborn Street! group, which is comprised of citizens, parents, homeowners and community activists who look forward to walking to the planned grocery store, meeting friends for dinner in the mall, “popping into locally-owned specialty stores,” and “stopping by Target to pick up paper towels, toothpaste and other life essentials.”
Opponents of the project — most notably the Dearborn Street Coalition for Livable Neighborhoods (DSCLN) — object to the project’s size and character, highly doubt that any locally owned specialty stores will be able to afford to move into the mall, foresee the pedestrian experience in and around the mall to be overshadowed by the projected 17,000 additional automobile trips that the mall will generate (not to mention the traffic impacts on the surrounding neighborhoods) and fear the death of Little Saigon as property values rise as a result.
DSCLN, which represents 40 organizations, including neighborhood groups and business, housing, transit, labor, and social justice and sustainability interest groups, has been involved in ongoing negotiations with the developer to try to change the project in some ways and mitigate the project’s impacts in other ways. The Coalition also filed a land-use appeal, challenging the adequacy of the environmental impact statement and the design review process. DSCLN does not oppose redevelopment of the Goodwill site, but wants it done in a manner that is “respectful of the nearby small business districts and surrounding residential neighborhoods.”
The politics surrounding the project have the potential to be ground-breaking, if not earth-shaking. The goal of DSCLN’s negotiations with the developer is to come to an agreement in the form of a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). Commonly used in California, a CBA is a binding and enforceable contract between the developer and coalitions of community organizations that addresses a broad range of community needs, such as traffic mitigation, affordable housing, open space and living wages. If the Coalition and the Dearborn Street developer sign a CBA, it will be the first in Washington and will set a precedent for community/developer relations for future projects.
In addition, the developer needs a contract rezone and vacation of portions of three streets within the project. The contract rezone would change the zoning designation of the site from IC-65 (Industrial Commercial) to NC3-85 (Neighborhood Commercial), which would allow the developer to build up to six stories. In December 2006, the City Council paved the way for the rezone by amending the city’s Comprehensive Plan’s Future Land Use Map to change the designation of the site from Industrial to Mixed-Use Commercial. This change falls in line with the South Downtown planning effort, which aims to increase the height limit on the site in the future.
The street vacation, if approved, will be the largest in Seattle’s history. The developer is asking the city to acquire portions of three public rights-of-way for private use. For the vacations to be approved, the developer will have to convince the City Council that vacating the streets is in the public interest. Some opponents of the project consider this to be the developer’s biggest hurdle.
Many of us in the Jackson Place neighborhood are following the events surrounding this proposed development very closely — as well as plans for South Downtown. Both are certain to change the face of South Downtown.
To learn more about the Dearborn Street project, go to www.godearbornstreet.com (the supporters) and www.dearbornstreetcoalition.org (the opponents).
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A public hearing on the Goodwill site’s contract rezone, as well as the land use appeal hearing, will begin on September 22 at the City of Seattle’s Hearing Examiner’s Office, 700 Fifth Ave., Suite 4000. DPD’s recommendation is available online at www.seattle.gov/dpd/Notices/Land. Questions should be directed to Scott Kemp at DPD: scott.kemp@seattle.gov or 206-233-3866.
Maura Kelley Deering is a solo practitioner in Seattle focusing on environmental law, land use and real estate law. She can be reached at 206-679-8486 or through her website, http://www.raining.us/attorney.htm.
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