August 2010

Burien Town Square is facing foreclosure by October 29 if developer Urban Partners does not come up with $3.5 million by September 1.

Urban Partners has spent the better part of a year trying to renegotiate their $38.5 loan after Corus Bank of Chicago, the original loan lender, failed last year. Urban Partners still owes $34.8 million on that loan.

On July 26 the current loan holder filed a legal notice to foreclose on the project. The loan matures September 1, after that the only way to avoid foreclosure will be to repay the loan in full, plus interest.

The foreclosure notice covers 118 of the 124 condos in the project. Only six condos were occupied before Corus Bank failed. Paul Keller, principal with Urban Partners, said in an earlier interview with the Times/News that sales are effectively on hold until the loan is renegotiated to allow them to sell the condos for the current lower market value.

The White Center community is preparing for the groundbreaking of Strength of Place Village, a new construction project of 30 units of affordable rental housing near the business district, close to public transit, shopping and services.

During this challenging economic climate for affordable housing developers, the White Center Community Development Association, Capitol Hill Housing and Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association have combined resources through an innovative partnership to develop Strength of Place Village.

Located on the corner of SW 100th Street and 13th Avenue SW, the project will have 30 apartments ranging from one-bedrooms to three-bedrooms for low-income families making less than about $55,000 per year. Strength of Place Village will also deliver living-wage construction jobs to White Center and will be green built to the Washington State Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard.

Born and raised in West Seattle, Kenny Wise was a local institution:
From leading the West Seattle Rotary Kiddies Parade at Hi Yu to being Santa for years at the Rotary Christmas shopping day at Sears for needy children which he initiated in 1974, and most recently leading the hunt for the stolen Rotary Totem Pole, he was everywhere in West Seattle.

After graduating from West Seattle High School, he attended the University of Washington. He was a member of Chi Phi fraternity and rowed on the crew team for 3 years. He was drafted into the Army, served in the Korean War, and then returned to West Seattle to work for his father, Robert Wise, at West Fuel. He became the owner of West Fuel in 1965 and successfully ran the fuel oil business until he sold the company in 1995.

One would not think that cooking and golf are synonymous with each other.

Cooking requires lots of practice, some innovation, a dab of this and a dash of that.... golf, well it does require practice, certainly some innovation when your ball is stuck behind a tree and the touch required around the greens could easily be the considered the spice of the game.

On second thought, they are quite a bit alike.

Bart Turchin, head golf professional at Glen Acres in North Highline for the past 20 years, has combined his love of cooking with his love for golf. Certainly his Italian heritage helped him develop his culinary skills at home for family and friends.
Many advised that his particular marinade or dipping sauce was sooo...good that he should market it. Turchin knew it had been in his family forever, but only a few close friends had ever tasted it.

Turchin heard it enough to do something about it starting with a meeting a few years ago at Wolfpack Canning in Goldbar. Wolfpack is a family owned business that caters to their clients needs for producing and packaging quality products. They did the large batch work required for bottling.

The Normandy Park cell tower controversy has been settled.

The City of Normandy Park has denied Clear Wire the permit to construct a cell tower at City Hall Park. The tower would have violated the zoning laws in the area, with the tower being taller than the allowed 40 feet.

Normandy Park faced opposition from citizens over the potential construction.
Clearwire Communications submitted an application for a conditional use permit to construct a 95-foot monopole wireless tower at 801 S.W. 174th St.

In May, concerned citizens held a meeting to discuss the issues they had with the tower, which was proposed between the basketball court and the bathrooms at the park. This would be within view of many homeowners near the site.

The general consensus was that the tower would be "an eyesore."

There were several locations considered for the wireless tower. According to Clearwire, Marvista Park and the Mill Creek Treatment Facility were not appropriate locations.

It was a "never mind" moment on Aug. 10.
Newly elected SeaTac City Councilman Rick Forschler had requested July 27 that lawmakers delay for two weeks considering a motion to finalize costs for the new McMicken Heights fire station and accept the project as complete.

Final project costs were $7.8 million--approximately $2.6 million over the original projected cost.

On July 27, Forschler said his research indicated that the standard cost for fire station construction ranges from $135 to $148 per square foot with $141 as the national average.

Facilities director Pat Patterson, who had served as project general contractor, said the McMicken Heights construction cost was $249 per square foot. Patterson compared the cost favorably to the recent construction of the Lakeland Hills station in Auburn that came in at $423 per square foot.

On Aug. 10, Forschler said that further "digging into" the numbers revealed an average closer to Patterson's figures.
The completed project was accepted as part of the consent agenda.

Forschler said he was still concerned about a state auditor's report that was critical of the city serving as its own general contractor.

A contractor working for Seattle Department of Transportation started cleaning and painting the handrails on the sidewalks along the Ballard Bridge approaches, the raised roadways at each end of the bridge, this week.

The sidewalk on the east side of the bridge is closed through Aug. 30.

On Aug. 31, or shortly thereafter, the sidewalk on the west side will close for three weeks.

The sidewalks will be closed 24 hours a day Monday through Friday and will reopen for weekends.

The public stairway is partially closed. Access to the west sidewalk is open, but access to the east sidewalk is closed. This situation will reverse when the contractor moves the handrail painting to the west side of the bridge.

Detour signs direct pedestrians to the side not being painted.

Bicyclists are encouraged to use either the Ballard Locks or the Fremont Bridge.

Alternately, if using a detour route is a hardship, bicyclists may use the sidewalk not being painted. But, due to the narrowness of the sidewalks and the contra-flow bike traffic, bicyclists will be required to dismount and walk their bikes across the bridge.

Over 60 merchants are participating in the West Seattle Artwalk tonight from 6 PM to 9 PM from the Junction, to Alki Beach, the Admiral District, Morgan Junction, Fauntleroy District and Delridge, displaying art and showcasing artists.

The monthly event often offers wine tastings in select locations and some offer other refreshments.

To learn more about this month's edition including information on individual artists check the Artwalk link.

The deadline is approaching for applications to Seattle Department of Neighborhoods’ Tree Fund, a program that provides free trees for neighborhoods. The Tree Fund is a simple way for residents to beautify their neighborhood and help the environment, while connecting with their neighbors.

Applications for the Tree Fund are due on Monday, August 16 at 5 p.m.

Groups of neighbors from at least five households living on a street or block can request from 10 to 40 trees per project. In addition, every participating household can have a fruit tree for their own yard. Information on how to organize your neighborhood, the selections of trees, as well as the application form, can be found atwww.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf/treefund.htm .

For questions or additional information, contact Judy Brown, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, at 206.684.0714.

There's nothing like getting out of town, even for a day, and Magnolia resident Fiona O'Leary is trying to make it easier than ever for Seattleites to get out and explore their city's backyard.

This July, with the help of Fremont's Freelock Computing, O'Leary launched Cool Day Trips, a website dedicated to reviewing, rating and enabling the best day trips the city has to offer.

"The thing that makes Seattle truly unique is the high concentration of great day trips within the immediate area," said O'Leary, who spends many weekends taking trips.

O'Leary said she was inspired to create Cool Day Trips out of a desire to combine her passion for website development with her enthusiasm for exploring the local area.

"You come back to the city feeling rejuvenated," she said. "It's almost like taking a mini vacation."

Day trips can be a great way to relax and unwind, but it is often difficult to know where to go and if it the destination will be worth the trip, O'Leary said. said.