Broadstone West Seattle, a 135 unit, eight story mixed use building planned for 4745 40th Ave. S.W. got the go ahead from Seattle's Department of Planning and Development pending a design review. The project, designed by Encore Architects will also contain 16 live work units, 115 below grade parking spaces and have 1000 square feet of commercial space.

Here's an excerpt from the DPD page on the Broadstone.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The applicant proposes to design and construct a residential building with 135 dwelling units, 16 live/work units, 1,000 square feet of commercial space and 115 below grade parking spaces. The existing building will be demolished.

Within the proposed building program, the applicant submitted three concept massing schemes. The organization of the program offers variations on a theme. In each case, the parking garage, accessed from the alley on the west, sits tucked into the hillside. In scheme A, the lobby and commercial retail front onto 40th Ave SW. Schemes B and C allow residential units to front onto the proposed park to the north and introduce commercial live/work units and the building lobby to face 40th Ave.

In Scheme A, the rectangular volume housing the dwelling units sits on a one-story plinth facing 40th Ave. The building steps up in height to the north from six to eight floors as it gains its additional levels due to the change in zoning allowance. Similar to Scheme A, Scheme B sits on a plinth, although slightly recessed at the central entrance, and steps up in height. The northern portion of the building forms an “L” shape in plan to create a court, enclosed on three sides above the plinth. Scheme C reduces the presence of the one-story plinth, although it remains as a central feature of the project. The volumes surrounding the second story court rise six floors on the south and west and seven floors on the north. Slight recessions in the volumes occur at the south and north facades and along 40th Ave at the base. The concept drawings suggest an arcade.

At the second EDG meeting, the applicant presented an exploration of varying massing schemes relating to the residential buildings across the alley, a concept landscape plans along 40th Ave SW and varying options for uses at the street front.

By the Recommendation meeting, the applicant refined the preferred concept and continued developing the landscape plan presented at the 2nd EDG meeting.

SITE & VICINITY
The 28,875 square foot site, located within the West Seattle Junction Hub Urban Village, lies at the northwest corner of 40th Ave SW and SW Edmunds St. Four parcels comprise the site. A two-story office building and associated parking occupies the site.

SW Edmunds St. climbs approximately 20 feet from east to west. The alley’s declination, an estimated 16 feet, occurs from the south to north. 40th Ave SW right of way is not parallel to the property lines on either side of the street. This off-center arrangement creates a broad zone between the property line and the roadway.

As the topography ascends toward California Ave SW, two blocks of five to six-story multi- family and mixed use buildings sit west of the site. To the south is a low-rise multifamily complex and beyond that, a single family neighborhood.

To the east, the Masonic Temple and its parking lot lie across 40th Ave SW. Surrounding the Masonic Temple, the Huling Brothers Auto Center occupies a majority of the block. A team of developers plans a large mixed-use development housing a grocery store, smaller retail shops, approximately 400 residential units in two separate structures with a shared below grade garage. City of Seattle Parks and Recreation has purchased property directly north of the subject site for an 11,000 square foot park. Design development for the park has not commenced. Further to the north on the same block, a Bank of America branch fronts the Alaska St and 40th Ave corner.

The West Seattle Triangle planning area possesses a number of residential and commercial uses. Other developments in the immediate vicinity include Trader Joe’s and a large excavated area to the north; parking lots, a Safeway, and Highline Medical Plaza to the west; a childhood learning center, the Thunderbird apartment complex and a parking lot to the south; and the West Seattle Produce Market to the east. The West Seattle Golf Course and Recreation Center sits five blocks further to the east.

New developments in the area include the Mural Apartments and a mixed use structure with a QFC grocery store on SW Alaska. A sizeable, mixed use project at the southeast corner of SW Oregon St and 42nd Ave SW is currently under construction.