Developer Follow-up (Beacon Ventures, Sabey)

1. The Beacon Ventures folks still have not responded to my Saturday e-mail about when they plan to paint out the graffiti I originally alerted them to in mid-February.

2. Jim Harmon did write me back about my Friday e-mail about which "historical preservation principles" made saving the freestanding Brew House wall undesirable.

It's the piece of wall sticking out here in this photo I took in January:



From his Friday e-mail to the neighborhood:

Regarding where we are, the demolition of the Stock House will be
completed in the next few weeks. We have not reached a conclusion as to what to do about the remaining façade wall attached to the Brew House. While that wall does not pose an impending danger like the Stock House did, it does pose the matter of design and cost, as it looked to be several million dollars to retain it. In our discussions with the Landmarks Preservation Board, certain members expressed their desire to keep this façade. Additionally, certain neighborhood members expressed their concern and very much wanted to keep it. However, landmarks regulations recognize that the preservation of certain landmarked elements may be uneconomical and can grant an exception to the preservation rule. Our assertion is that it is not only uneconomic, but that it is undesirable from a design and historic standpoint (and there are certain historic preservation principles that this is based upon).

And from his response to me:

In response to your questions, the principle in question is termed façadism. Below are excerpts from submittals we previously made to the Landmarks Board and posted on our website:

* “We do not believe that retaining this wall is true to historic preservation and constitutes façadism since there is no structure behind it, historic or otherwise. We understand there to be divergent opinions, but façadism is not supported by many and is contrary to federal and local tax incentives, further indication of its standing.”

* “...we do not believe that retaining the North Wall is within the spirit of historic preservation as it constitutes façadism[1], and we see the removal of that wall as an opportunity to open the remaining historic structures to sight from Airport Way as well as reasonable vehicular access into the historic areas.”

* "[1] This point is emphasized by the fact that significant tax incentives are provided to retain historic structures by both federal income tax and local real estate tax credits; however, no such economic incentives are provided for retaining a building façade."

It’s also referred to as facadomy. See Wikipedia reference and citings here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facadism.

Hmm. I'm no expert, but that Wikipedia link about facadism seems to suggest that preservationists believe that maintaining an entire building is preferable to maintaining just a facade. However, it does NOT seem to suggest that preservationists believe that destroying an existing freestanding facade is preferable to maintaining it. Maybe someone more knowledgeable about historical preservation would like to weigh in?

[Update/sidenote: Here's a 3/25/08 Crosscut article about Seattle's historical landmark designation process.]

Beacon Hill: Now Serving Queen Anne

A few weeks ago I think I mentioned that I regularly search the P-I and Times sites for mentions of "Beacon," in the hopes of catching a reference to the hill or avenue.

On an average day, the search returns no news stories. But today I happened to find a Beacon Hill reference in a story titled "Residential parking zone divides neighbors on Queen Anne."

The Beacon Hill mention comes from a quote from the coordinator of the Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce. It turns out that some Hilltop residents are sick of competing for street parking with the customers and employees of local businesses. Here's the business-side quote:

"We believe a single mom working at one of the restaurants has as much of a right to park as anybody else. Taking a bus from Beacon Hill isn't really an option for them," said Margaret Irvine, coordinator of the chamber.

I wonder if she's thinking of someone she actually knows who's a single mom who lives on Beacon Hill and would have to take the 36 (and a transfer) if she couldn't find free parking for more than two hours.

Or I wonder if she just made that up to make it sound like she's protecting the relatively disadvantaged here in the South End, as opposed to the relatively wealthy who like to spend more than two hours at trendy bars, fancy breakfast spots, and posh boutiques.

And I wonder if she named Beacon Hill to gain some extra sympathy for her cause because any woman who takes the 36 and walks home may have to fend off that increasingly bold assailant/groper/asshole.

Anyway, it's just funny to me that the Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce representative called out Beacon Hill in that ridiculous quote in which she pretends to represent the interests of restaurant workers instead of their employers. It's been a pleasure to serve you, Hilltop merchants! Just let us know if you need anything else from us today.

3rd Annual Georgetown Super 8 Film Festival on 4/19

Mark your calendars:

The 3rd Annual Georgetown Super 8 Film Festival

This year 75 filmmakers are busy creating short films of epic proportions to
share with you. Over half of these people are your neighbors and the rest
come here to work and play. Come share in their artistic creations.

When: Saturday, April 19th
Where: Rainier Cold Storage Building, 5790 Airport Way South
Time: Doors open at 6pm, Films begin 6:30pm
Suggested Donation: $5, no one turned away for lack of funds

Daffodils in Comet Lodge Cemetery

I went to go investigate that fairy ring down in Comet Lodge Cemetery.

It's not really a ring. More like a U.



And fairies probably didn't put it there.





I'm not particularly superstitious about this supposedly haunted place, which I've written about before, but this 1-year-old's epitaph does creep me out a little.



I think it says: "Weep not, father and mother, for me, for I wait in glory for thee."

New Photos of the Christian Restoration Center

Bummed around the neighborhood this morning, snapping some pictures. Noticed that the Beacon Ventures folks have not yet painted out the graffiti at the Christian Restoration Center.





I just sent them a quick e-mail asking what's up with that. I'll give them a chance to respond before following up with the mayor's office. I submitted the original complaint about the graffiti to SPU on February 13 or 14, well over a month ago.

Broken Walk Signals?

A local jogger recently wrote to the P-I about a broken walk signal at Beacon and Spokane. From the 3/16 P-I:

Question: Eric Meltzer says his usual jog takes him to the intersection of Beacon Avenue South and South Spokane Street, where his run comes to a halt.

"I always press the walk button, but I have never seen the walk sign illuminate and end up crossing against the 'don't walk' symbol," he says.

He wonders if the button even works.

Answer: Marx of the Transportation Department says the button wasn't working -- but it works now. Marx said a Department of Transportation crew went out last week and fixed it.

Wow, that was fast. Has anyone else noticed any other broken signals around the neighborhood that we can report and get fixed?

Stock House Replacement Plans to Be Unveiled 3/27 and 3/38

Sabey has decided not to hold another public meeting but to meet with individuals privately about the new designs. The claim is that this will allow more people to stop by when they like and give their input, but I feel that something will be lost with this approach. Community meetings allow people to hear what other people have to say, and they also give people the opportunity to observe quietly if they prefer. (It also provides people with a good excuse to get together with their neighbors for a beer before or after the meeting.) Showing up at a developer's office and personally asking to see designs take a little more guts, I think.

In any case, this will all go through the public design review process, so there will definitely be public meetings in the future.

I'll plan to take a look at the designs on Thursday and post pictures, if they'll let me, that evening.

Anyway, here's the Sabey mail about all this. It sounds like the wall attached to the Brew House might be saved after all, which is cool:

Hi All:

Well, it has been awhile, but we are finally ready to present our
plans for the building to replace the Stock House. We attempted to
reflect comments from the neighborhood and to improve the building
design both from a utilitarian and aesthetic standpoint. Hopefully,
you'll agree. Rather than having a big meeting, we'll simply have
open hours for people to stop by. This will allow for more leeway in
people's schedules as well as a greater opportunity to respond to
questions. Therefore, we will be available on Mar 27 & 28 from 4 to
6:30pm at our office on the backside of the General Office right
across the street from the 9 lb Hammer and Smarty Pants (6004 Airport
Way). We'll have various perspectives to help you understand the
design along with several people to explain it.

These plans will continue to flex as we move forward because of
design adjustments and changes required by the City and others. The
City will need to issue a Master Use Permit (MUP) and a Construction
Permit. The MUP relates to the use of the building (in this case,
office and retail). It focuses on the parking, traffic, site, etc.
requirements of the use proposed. These requirements aren't
generally difficult for a fairly self-contained development of this
size. Therefore, so we don't have to re-file every time there's a
small change, we try to show maximum use and impacts at the outset.
Our MUP application will be submitted shortly and will take about 6
months or more to be issued. A separate Construction Permit will
require what are called 75% drawings for the plan reviewers to go
through them in detail. These plans will go through design review
from the Landmarks Preservation Board. All of this will involve
public notice and input should you care to formally participate.
There will be notices posted on site regarding this. From an
informal standpoint, please feel free to share your feedback with us
for ongoing design consideration.

Regarding where we are, the demolition of the Stock House will be
completed in the next few weeks. We have not reached a conclusion as
to what to do about the remaining façade wall attached to the Brew
House. While that wall does not pose an impending danger like the
Stock House did, it does pose the matter of design and cost, as it
looked to be several million dollars to retain it. In our
discussions with the Landmarks Preservation Board, certain members
expressed their desire to keep this façade. Additionally, certain
neighborhood members expressed their concern and very much wanted to
keep it. However, landmarks regulations recognize that the
preservation of certain landmarked elements may be uneconomical and
can grant an exception to the preservation rule. Our assertion is
that it is not only uneconomic, but that it is undesirable from a
design and historic standpoint (and there are certain historic
preservation principles that this is based upon). However, in light
of the response and additional time, we are reviewing our plan for
both the wall and the Brew House to see if they can be economically
redeveloped together. The key here is the structural engineering.
We are midway on this process as we have been very much focused on
the Stock House's replacement. We will report back on this at a
later time.

So, there you go. We'll look forward to seeing you on the 27th or
28th. If those dates don't work, please contact me and we'll find
some alternative times after that. Also, the plans et al will be
posted on our website once we've had an opportunity to present them
to the community.

Thank you all,

Jim Harmon | SABEY CORPORATION
ph 206 281 8700 | email jimh@sabey.com | website www.sabey.com