The 2nd Design Review Board meeting for the proposal to construct a 102 unit apartment building at 3078 Avalon Way S.W. will take place at the West Seattle Senior Center 4217 S.W. Oregon Street on Jan. 16 at 8pm. The last meeting on the project was Nov. 21.

This proposal may be viewed at our Design Review Program website at www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/Design_Review_Program/Overview/.

The Land Use Information Bulletin (which you can sign up for here) detailing the opportunity for comment and the process can be found here.

This proposal too will have limited parking with only 77 stalls allotted for the 100 plus units in the building.

As the Herald reported in October, a number of apartment projects are underway in West Seattle that, under the current city code and Urban Village zoning allow developers to build with a reduced number of parking stalls or in some cases no parking stalls as long as the project meetings the guidelines.

You can learn more about what DPD is doing with regard to Micro-housing here.
http://seattle.gov/dpd/codesrules/changestocode/micros/getinvolved/defa…

Caron Architecture, LLC is the designer for the project and in the materials filed with the city they describe the building this way:

"This area of West Seattle is a mixture of residential uses, with single and multi-family structures and no commercial uses along SW Avalon Way. Multi-family buildings abut the north and south property lines, and are also located up and down SW Avalon Way.

Most of the older apartment buildings are mid-century modern and contemporary design. The two apartment buildings to the south were built in the 2000’s and both take garage access from the street, not the alley. Many have flat roofs with little or no overhang and blocky, modulated massing. The more vintage multi-family structures incorporate strong horizontal lines. The single-family homes are a mixture of post war and craftsman bungalows with a smattering of other styles mixed throughout.

The alley abutting the west property line is the barrier between the single-family and multi-family zones. The newer projects appear to be built up to the rear setback against the alley.

SW Avalon Way is an arterial and frequent transit corridor, as is the West Seattle Bridge and Fauntleroy Way SW to the west. Vehicular traffic is heavy on SW Avalon Way and pedestrian traffic is low to moderate. The area is relatively dense but the side streets are mostly quiet and service local traffic. The neighborhood is walkable, with the West Seattle Junction Hub Urban Village Center only a few blocks away.

The urban tree canopy in the area is limited mainly to the older vintage multi-family sites and single-family zones, although SW Avalon Way is lined with small, young street trees. An arborist has been consulted and has determined that no exceptional trees are located on the site.(...)

Parking will be located within the structure and vehicular access will be provided both from Avalon Way SW and from the alley to accommodate site grades.

The ground level of the preferred scheme consists of a residential lobby, underground parking garage, bicycle storage, and townhome units facing the street with direct, individual street access.

The second level consists of a partially buried parking garage accessed off of the alley.

The third level contains approximately 14 residential units, a common amenity area with access to the elevated courtyard, refuse and service rooms.

The fourth thru seventh floors each contain approximately 18 units per floor, and the top floor houses approximately 18 units. All floors contain a mix of unit sizes and bedroom counts.

The elevated courtyard, which sits atop the second level parking level’s roof, contains spaces for gathering, grilling and relaxation, as well as a grassy area to soften the space. There are also private amenity areas for the three units which have direct access to the courtyard.

Parking is not required for this site, although approximately 77 stalls will be provided in the structure.