Around 50 people were on hand at a public meeting last Tuesday evening at the Queen Anne Community Center on the future of the Garfield Exchange Building at 1529 4th Ave. W., and plans to add a fourth floor to the historic building.

The Proposal

The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) hosted the meeting, on the proposal from the developer that the Garfield Exchange Building be converted from its current use as a warehouse for the Seattle Public Library into 27 new multi-family apartment units. Parking will be available for 14 vehicles beneath the building. The project will also involve energy code upgrades and earthquake-proofing.

The project is led by developer Chris Faul, who is most famous for his work on Capitol Hill’s Bullitt Center.

The History of the Garfield Exchange Building

From the late 1800s through the 1950s, every phone line ran through an exchange building, where incoming and outgoing calls were manually connected. The Garfield Exchange Building was originally constructed in 1921 for this purpose, and in 1967 it was donated to the Seattle Public Library for storage use.

The Garfield Exchange Building is located on the southwest corner of the intersection of 4th Avenue West and West Garfield Street, across the street from the Queen Anne Public Library.

Other neighboring buildings include the Masonic Hall, Bethany Presbyterian Church and John Hay Elementary School.

Project Requirements

The project will require several approvals before moving forward, including: Administrative Conditional Use, which allows for the conversion of a nonconforming historic landmark building into multi-family use in a single-family zone; Special Exception, which allows for there to be less off-street parking than initially required in a single-family zone; and the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), which states that the environmental impacts of certain development proposals must first be assessed by the City of Seattle.

Public Comment

The majority of speakers at the meeting expressed disapproval for the SDCI project, with concerns that adding a fourth floor might make the building too tall, and that parking will not be adequate for the number of people expected to move to the neighborhood in the near future.

“Parking won’t come close to being able to accommodate all of the cars coming,” said one commenter, referring to the notion that there would be 14 parking spots available for 27 units.

“It would be nice if everyone could walk to the library, but that isn’t possible. This project will have a detrimental impact on the neighborhood.”

Several other commenters expressed concern that the usage of surrounding places like the Masonic Hall or Bethany Presbyterian Church will be largely dependent upon the parking situation that results from the project.

“We should not allow this project to go through,” said Charles Paxton, who has lived in Queen Anne for four decades. He pointed out that there are already too many cars in the neighborhood as it stands.

Several other long-time Queen Anne residents are concerned that the added height on the Garfield Exchange Building will lead to a loss of privacy for existing residents who live in the immediate vicinity.

Sheila Callahan, a resident who lives right next to the Garfield Exchange Building, expressed her concern that the project would demolish the courtyard, which constitutes the historic part of the building.

Martin Kaplan, an architect and chair of the Queen Anne Community Council (QACC), pointed out that developers generally have an ongoing dialogue with the QACC about upcoming projects. With this project, however, the developers didn’t inform the council of anything for months.

“[The project] is a great use for the building but it’s got a lot of impacts,” said Kaplan, who also feels that the developers have been dishonest about how many cars will realistically be able to fit into the building. “That’s not the way our community works.”

On the contrary, Dennis Reddinger, who has been in charge of the sale of the Garfield Exchange Building, expressed his opinion that converting the building into apartment units will be the best use of the space. He also pointed out that the surrounding area is specifically designed for walking.

One commenter echoed a similar sentiment, mentioning that millennials, who have been flocking to the city for the vast economic opportunities, aren’t driving as much as past generations, and that perhaps others should follow suit.

Another commenter, who identified as having lived in Seattle for the majority of his life, said, “Look at [Chris Faul’s] resume and ask yourself, ‘is he not the best person for the job?’”

Michael Sofie, a Queen Anne developer himself with no financial interest in the project, expressed that the project would be “a spectacular use of the building.”

SDCI is currently reviewing the proposed development, along with all public comments, and will publish a decision once all reviews are complete. A two-week period for appeals will follow the decision.

A public hearing hosted by the Seattle City Council to discuss a proposed rezone to the Uptown neighborhood drew hundreds to SIFF Cinema Uptown last Monday night. Councilmembers Sally Bagshaw (who represents District 7), Mike O’Brien, Tim Burgess and Rob Johnson were on hand, with Johnson facilitating public comment.

City Council’s Proposal

The City Council is proposing a rezone in order to facilitate the expected growth of the Uptown neighborhood by developing 600 new affordable homes for low-income people over the course of 20 years. Currently, 45,000 households in Seattle are spending more than half of their income on rent alone. Approximately 2,800 are experiencing homelessness.

Other stated goals of the proposed rezone include better integrating the Uptown neighborhood with Seattle Center, diversifying household type and affordability of homes, job creation, cultivating more arts and culture, and encouraging working and living without the use of a car.

The proposal maintains that buildings in the heart of Uptown must abide by a height limit of 65 feet, while buildings in the Mercer and Roy corridors will have a limit of 85 feet. The tallest buildings in the neighborhood will be adjacent to South Lake Union and Downtown.

Mandatory Housing Affordability

The Uptown rezoning proposal is part of the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) policy meant to address the rising cost of living in Seattle in the midst of a housing crisis.

Under MHA, new developments will be required to either include affordable homes or to contribute to a city fund for affordable housing.

MHA is a strategy specifically under the Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA), which was commissioned by now-former Mayor Ed Murray and the City Council last fall. The 28-member HALA committee includes advocates of affordable housing, developers, land-use experts, tenants, businesses, and non-profits.

Throughout the entire city, HALA aims to build 50,000 new housing units over the next 10 years, with 20,000 of those being designated as affordable.

Amendments

Councilmember Johnson has also proposed several amendments with the goal of creating even more capacity in Uptown.

Amendment 1A proposes increasing the height limit in the area surrounding Queen Anne Avenue North, between Harrison and Roy streets, from 65 to 85 feet.

Amendment 1B would increase the Mercer and Roy corridors from an 85-foot height limit to a 125-foot limit.

Amendment 2A would increase the floor-area ratio (FAR) incentive for art space and landmark preservation, which would purportedly draw more housing applicants to the neighborhood.

Amendment 2B would offer a FAR incentive for the co-development of sites with Seattle Public Schools.

Amendment 2C maintains that it would provide either height or FAR incentives for family-friendly housing designs, similar to what has already been done in the University District and Downtown. The goal of this amendment is to encourage more families to move to Seattle Center and surrounding areas.

Amendment 3A would allow builders the flexibility to develop even more units per building along Roy Street, Queen Anne Avenue, First Avenue and Fifth Avenue by reducing average upper level setback requirements.

And finally, Amendment 4B would create parking maximums in Uptown for non-residential use, with the goal of curbing the amount of traffic in the neighborhood.

Public Comment

The majority of speakers at the hearing Monday expressed general support for the rezone of Uptown, with an emphasis on capping building heights at 85 feet. Furthermore, many uttered disapproval for Amendment 1B, which proposes that the Mercer and Roy corridors be increased to a 125-foot height limit.

In attendance at the hearing were several representatives from organizations including Seattle for Everyone and the Uptown Alliance, both of which support the development of more affordable housing in Uptown.

“Opportunity-rich areas need to be accessible for all people,” one commenter said.

Many others stated their support for MHA in general, saying that it will bring with it more housing and increase the number of family-sized units.

One representative of the Uptown Alliance highlighted the importance of developing Uptown as an urban center in Seattle. In order to make this happen, we need to add more height to buildings, she said.

Juanita Unger, a social worker who works with homeless clients, believes that the rezone will ultimately help her clients.

Several commenters expressed concern that Amendment 1B had not been made public enough, and that they had not even been aware of such a proposal prior to the hearing.

“Bring zoning to a reasonable 85 feet,” said Erin House, coalition and outreach manager for Seattle for Everyone.

Commenters representing Bayview, a non-profit, low-income retirement community, came to the hearing to argue that such a drastic height increase could eliminate direct sunlight for the residents under the slogan “Save Our Sun.”

John Rosen, a member of Ward Street Alliance, pointed out that even an urban, bustling neighborhood like Capitol Hill has height limits for its buildings and that increasing the height limit to 125 feet in Uptown could end up discouraging affordable housing in the end.

Many commenters also expressed their disapproval of the rezone proposal, arguing that 600 units in Uptown will not be enough to satisfy a growing neighborhood, and that 20 years is too far in the future to impact those who are struggling currently.

One commenter pointed out that the word “‘affordability’ is so vague.” That commenter, who has been living in the same apartment in Capitol Hill for nearly 40 years, says she’s witnessed the buildings all around her get torn down.

“The benefit goes to the developers who are chomping at the bit,” she said.

Another commenter named Andrew, who has been living in Queen Anne for a decade, echoed a similar sentiment, saying that “there’s no incentive for developers to build affordable housing.” He also believes that the upzone will cause the neighborhood to lose its character.

At the end of the day, more and more people will continue flocking to Seattle for its myriad of economic opportunities - it’s how the city handles the transplants that will determine how livable future Seattle will be.