Zone Change Recommended for Mixed Use Project

SEATTLE-A hearing is scheduled for early February regarding a would-be four-story mixed-use development near Gasworks Park.

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.

Part of that appeal is the nearby construction of the Wallingford Steps project, which provides a visual and pedestrian link from the upland residential area of Wallingford to the Burke Gilman Trail and Gasworks Park. It’s an appropriate project considering that, if this latest project is approved, buildings containing residential uses would be present along the west side of Wallingford Ave. N. from just south of the commercial node at 40th Ave. N. all the way to the Burke Gilman Trail and Gasworks Park.

In consideration for the rezone and to limit the impacts, the owner of the subject property proposes: 1) to build the building design and materials reflected in the MUP approved through Design Review; 2) to contribute $10,000 to Wallingford Steps project, either in reimbursement to Parks for moneys already expended and beyond budgeted Pro Parks amount or towards further improvements; 3) to spend at least $10,000 on art and other surface improvements to “gateway area” at N. 34th and Wallingford Ave. N.; and 4) to recognize and respond to the Wallingford Steps in the design and function of the building, including building a vent chase path from the commercial space facing Wallingford Ave. N. through each level to the roof to Seattle Building Code standards.