VIA Architecture: Planned Design Option
note: does not show final materials
The City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) released a conditional approval of the planned Aegis development at 223 W Galer Street (corner of Galer and 3rd W). You may recall that the last Design Review was held in October.
The Director’s Report is available online, and is quite exhaustive. Here are the key points if you don’t feel up to reading 39 pages:
Proposal: Council Land Use Action to Contract Rezone 12,800 sq. ft. of land from NC2-30′ to NC2-40′ [this means increasing the height from 30’ to 40’ – or four stories]. Project includes a 4-story structure containing 60 assisted living units above 509 sq. ft. of street level retail. Parking for 21 vehicles to be provided below grade. Existing structure to be demolished.
Conditional Approval: The Director recommends that the proposed contract rezone to NC2-40’ (increasing the structure to four stories) be “conditionally approved” and has accepted the findings of the final Design Review recommendation meeting. Conditional approval requires that the design meet the following conditions:
Rezone: Approval of this contract rezone is conditioned subject to a Property Use and Development Agreement (PUDA) that limits the structure to be built to the design approved by the Design Review
State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA): For the duration of the removal of the existing building, excavation of materials, and delivery of construction materials; the owner(s) and/or responsible party(ies) shall cause truck trips to and from the project site to cease during the hours between 4pm and 6pm on weekdays.
Design Review: Any proposed changes to the exterior of the building or the site must be submitted to DPD for review and approval by the Land Use Planner assigned to the project.
Prior to Issuance of a Permanent Certificate of Occupancy: The applicant shall arrange for an inspection with the Land Use Planner to verify that the construction of the buildings with, sitting, materials, and architectural details is substantially the same as those documented in the approved/issued plans. A public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, January 30 at 9am at the Office of Hearing Examiner (address below).
Written comments will be accepted until the close of the hearing scheduled for January 30, 2013 – send comments to:
City of Seattle
Hearing Examiner
700 5th Avenue, Suite 4000
P.O. Box 94729
Seattle, WA 98124-4729
If you want to appeal the environmental determination or design review, appeals must be received by the Hearing Examiner at the address shown above no later than 5pm on January 22, 2013. Appeals must be accompanied by $50.00 filing fee in a check payable to the City of Seattle. Appeals of the decision will be heard at the public hearing on January 30, 2013 at 9am.
Edited to add some content about the final look and feel of the building. At this point, VIA Architecture only has the above drawings available. However, in the Conditional Approval document, the firm provided the following statement on the “character” of the building:
They also provided the following information on the materials for the building:
- A significant amount of reddish/brown brick is used to accentuate and feature the primary corner of the building. This also includes a rustication recess effect at the ground level, a second lighter brick color at the base of the columns, header courses and masonry sills at windows openings.
- Bay windows, storefront columns and the commercial “frieze” will be painted wood trim with board and batten style multi-level paneling.
- Windows will be pre-finished storefront aluminum at the ground floor and white or beige vinyl windows on the residential floors.
- Windows will be surrounded with painted trim wood or cementitious trim.
- Lap siding is painted cementitious siding with a 6” exposure.
- Painted concrete block at the east property line.
- Cast in place concrete plinths along W Galer St.
- Painted steel trellis, steel and glass canopies and steel brick channel headers.
We still don’t know what the final building will look like, but at least it won’t be a solid concrete building. Check out what VIA Architecture designed for Aegis Madison for an example of what comes after the design proposals.