Wells Development, on behalf of Tomlinson Inc., wants to build a four-story structure with 6,804 sf of ground-floor retail below 54 apartment units on a 27,343-sf lot at 3333 N. Wallingford. The project includes demolition of the existing building on the site.

To do so, however, its needs the height limit raised by about 20 feet to 65 feet. The City of Seattle's is recommending approval of a rezone that would make it happen, but the city hearing examiner is conducting a public hearing on the recommendation of the Director of the Department of Design, Construction and Land Use. The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 4.

The property at 3333 Wallingford was once tucked between a rail line, an oil tank farm and the former coal gasification plant at the north end of Lake Union. The plant is now Gasworks Park. The rail line is now the Burke-Gilman Trail and the tank farm is now owned and being remediated by Metro King County. "While Metro King County finds the site useful as a corporation yard for many of its daily service operations, the site's location is of such value as to cause ongoing speculation about its redevelopment," states a city report.