I am a landscape architect and West Seattle resident. I recently saw a presentation of the sound legacy partners' vision for the CEM property.

I am writing to share my excitement for a sustainable mixed-use project for that location in West Seattle. The site is currently an environmental liability and it really creates a dead spot along Harbor Avenue in terms of pedestrian interest and amenities. The vision is bold, but I was impressed with their willingness to invite community input for deciding the right mixes of uses that will animate our waterfront.

I know there will be concerns about losing a possible site for family-wage water-dependent jobs, but every time I go by there all I see is it being used for storage. If a job-intensive industrial tenant can really make a go of that site, that is one thing, but if it is just going to be treated as a peripheral parking lot, I would be extremely disappointed to see West Seattle miss an opportunity to enliven our waterfront.

The Sound Legacy Partners' vision looks like a win-win for the environment and West Seattle and its proponents seem creative and open to ideas that can make it a good neighbor to industrial uses. I look forward to watching this exciting vision take shape.

Nate Cormier

Fairmont Park