West Seattle, Washington
11 Wednesday
Another quick update from the 34th District Democrats‘ meeting under way now in Fauntleroy: Port of Seattle Commissioners Lloyd Hara and John Creighton spoke to the 34th DDs tonight; among the many topics they’ve touched on, the port’s goal of chipping in $300 million for the Alaskan Way Viaduct-replacing tunnel. “How can we do that when port traffic is down and air traffic is down?”
(Creighton at left, foreground; Hara at right, background)
Creighton answered his own question by saying they’re looking at options such as $30 million a year for 10 years, maybe selling off assets such as the Bell Harbor Conference Center on the downtown waterfront — “why does the Port need a conference center?” he asked, again rhetorically — but said they’re doing all they can to figure out how to make the contribution without raising taxes (though Hara had noted earlier that the port does NOT currently use all of its taxing authority).
(photo added Thursday courtesy of Georgie Bright Kunkel, shown with husband Norman Kunkel at right, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott at left)
From the 34th District Democrats‘ meeting, which we’re covering right now at The Hall at Fauntleroy: Condolences to West Seattle writer Georgie Bright Kunkel (of Rosie the Riveters fame, among other things) and family on the death of her husband, 90-year-old Norman C. Kunkel. His obituary is on the 34th DDs’ website; he was a longtime Democratic PCO in the district. He and Georgie were married for more than 60 years, and they wrote a book together about his World War II experience as an Ambulance Corps driver and concentration-camp liberator. His memorial service is set for 3 pm April 18 at Saltwater UU Church in Des Moines. More later from the 34th DDs’ meeting, where County Councilmember Larry Phillips has just pitched his County Executive candidacy (though the group endorsed County Council Chair Dow Constantine in the race at its last meeting), and City Council President Richard Conlin is among those who will be speaking shortly.
Till 8 pm tonight, Kiwanis Division 26 volunteers are at the White Center Food Bank (which serves part of West Seattle, too), collecting donations. As mentioned before, food-bank donations count for extra through the end of this month because of a special nationwide partial-match program – so if you take food/money to them now, it’s worth even more than face value. Here’s a map to WCFB. We’re off to get a photo.
ADDED 6:16 PM: Photo added atop the post — that’s Barbara Connor from the Rainier Valley Kiwanis, taking first watch at the donation station in the WCFB parking lot. Just drive right in off 8th SW – it’s a drive-up food drive to boot! Again, they’re there till 8 pm.
Click that image for a full-size, printable version of the map/venue list for tomorrow night’s West Seattle Art Walk (6-9 pm, every second Thursday of the month). 40 venues are participating this time, from Alki to Delridge to Fauntleroy and many points inbetween, including Admiral, where Click! Design That Fits (WSB sponsor) – will offer art, real estate, and shopping deals:
With a common appreciation for modern architecture and design, it’s a perfect match. During the West Seattle Art Walk, the real estate professionals of 360 Modern will have a festive meet and greet hosted by Click! Design That Fits in the Admiral District of West Seattle.
Guests can talk shop with fellow modern design fans, perhaps laying the groundwork for a future move with help from the local modern authorized agents of 360. Also during the event, all Click! purchases are 15% off! and the beautiful encaustic and oil paintings of Kate Fluckinger
adorn the walls. (Sorry, discount does not apply to the artwork.)
Meantime, “food can be art” is part of the message behind a photography display at C and P Coffee that you’ll see as part of the Art Walk; “What Feeds Us” photographers Sally Shintaffer and Poppy Barach are also known for writing the website Mixed Greens (featured on the WSB Blogs page, too). One more preview:
That’s art by Karl Addison from partybots.org, and you’ll see it at Twilight Artist Collective in The Junction during the Art Walk. Wine and cupcakes are promised too; here’s the official description of what he’s showing:
Karl Addison has been exploring the idea of over-population, saturation, and the dynamics between individual identity versus the selfhood gained and lost when one becomes part of a union. For this show, Karl will impregnate the back gallery of twilight with a superplethora of mustachio boxes. The mustachio boxes, each having individual personalities, that when viewed together in this overpopulation become something all together different.
An ardent naturalist, Karl Addison uses earth-friendly products in all his endeavors.
(Other photos of his installation are on this Flickr page.) More information about tomorrow night’s artists can be found on the official Art Walk site — along with detail on some of the places you’ll find treats (like champagne and chocolates at Clementine!).
As reported last week (quick version here, in-depth version here), the Conner Homes project at California/Alaska/42nd is going back to Design Review for the fifth time – with one last issue on the table: The overall “massing” (shape, etc.) of the building that’s right at the Walk-All-Ways corner. The city planner on the project, Michael Dorcy, just confirmed that the meeting will happen April 23 (6:30 pm, location TENTATIVELY set for the same place as last time, West Seattle Christian Church in The Junction).
Hat tip to the Daily Journal of Commerce for reporting new information today about the Whole Foods/Hancock Fabrics site’s prospective buyers, following our report yesterday that Seattle Capital confirmed a deal IS still pending. Following up today, we reached Matt Segrest, who was quoted in the DCJ story (only available by subscription) – and here’s the statement he provided WSB (note that the name “Fauntleroy Place” is not mentioned):
The West Seattle Whole Foods site is currently under contract to be purchased by Alamo Manhattan, LLC. The firm will lead an investment team to purchase the property. Alamo Manhattan will also serve as the developer for the project. The project will feature a 45,000 square-foot Whole Foods Market, a 15,000 square-foot Hancock Fabrics and 184 apartment homes. Construction of the project began in Summer 2008 and all shoring and excavation work has been completed. The project is temporarily on hold as Alamo Manhattan is evaluating the transaction. No significant design changes from the Design Review Board approvals are anticipated.
“We are conducting due diligence regarding the purchase of the property and continue to be excited about the opportunity,” said Matt Segrest, Principal of Alamo Manhattan. “Negotiations are currently underway with multiple investors on the project. We expect to select an equity partner soon and be positioned to restart construction in the third quarter of this year.”
A resident of West Seattle, Mr. Segrest views the project in both professional and personal terms. “Of course I’m interested in the investment side of the opportunity, as I think it is going to be the crown jewel of the Alaska Junction for at least a generation. Additionally, having a large hole in the ground at the most visible location in my neighborhood is undesirable for me as well as my friends and neighbors. The opportunity to invest in my own community and to make a meaningful contribution to its urban landscape is particularly compelling to me.”
Matt Segrest is the Principal of Alamo Manhattan, LLC, and has been responsible for over half a billion dollars in new development throughout the West Coast, including over 1,750 luxury apartment and condominium units and approximately 76,500 square feet of mixed-use commercial space.
We have a request out to the site’s original developers, BlueStar, for comment, as they had told us they hoped to continue developing the project post-sale, as well as saying their other proposed projects in West Seattle (the Spring Hill mixed-use building south of The Junction (which concluded Design Review last September) and Gateway Center at the old Huling Buick showroom site) were hanging in the balance depending on what happened with the Whole Foods site. Also, as for more information on Alamo Manhattan itself, no website yet but the parked domain alamomanhattan.com is registered to Segrest.
3:43 PM UPDATE: Just talked to Easton Craft from BlueStar. He says they cannot comment on the Whole Foods site purchase situation (as we’ve reported previously, they are suing the site’s current ownership), but, regarding the other two West Seattle projects: “We are certainly working on the other projects we have in West Seattle – clearly the economy has caused a delay but we hope to move forward as quickly as possible. We hope that as we move into the next few quarters we’ll see enough (economic) recovery to move forward.”
And in fact, that’s the URL – thehistoricadmiraltheater.com – lots of info about upcoming special events as well as a link to the page where you’ll find their regular movie offerings.
From the WSB Forums, and now on TV – a KING 5 story this morning features West Seattleite Pamela Brumell‘s quest to reduce cat overpopulation by trapping feral cats so they can be spayed/neutered. See the story here – and note that she’s looking for translator help.
From the city’s daily “permit issuance” list, a permit’s been granted for Chase signage to go up at the West Seattle Thriftway WaMu branch; we just went down the hill to check – the illuminated “runner” is already up inside the branch; the sign over the door is in transition; the WaMu sign on the outdoor storefront (photo above) is all that remains. WaMu/Chase has five West Seattle branches in all (counting the Junction drive-through).
That’s Todd Carden of Elliott Bay Brewery and Pub, — a mainstay in The Junction for 12 years — accepting the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce‘s “Business of the Year” award this morning. WSCC members and guests gathered at Salty’s on Alki for the annual awards breakfast, at which County Council Chair Dow Constantine presented the awards; he was one of three political leaders in attendance, along with City Councilmembers Tom Rasmussen and Nick Licata. Introducing EBB owner Carden, Constantine listed the company’s distinctions, particularly in environmental stewardship — first King County brewery to go organic, first in Washington with two organic breweries (there’s an EBB in Burien too), a trailblazing composting program. Carden said he was happy to first hear of the award (reported here March 11) but it didn’t really sink in until he and his wife were visiting stops on the West Seattle Art Walk the next night and “people started congratulating me left and right.”
Also honored this morning — the Community Service Award recipient, Robinson Newspapers founder Jerry Robinson (who, it was revealed after his acceptance speech, turns 89 next Monday). With the trademark humor familiar to readers of his column, he quipped that others might have deserved the honor more — perhaps Rolf Neslund, the ship captain whose collision with the old West Seattle Bridge in 1978 broke a longrunning logjam over whether to build a new one. (Elliott Bay proprietor Carden later joked he might have to name a future beer after Neslund.) Jerry Robinson founded the White Center News in 1952 and bought the West Seattle Herald in 1974; at one point, not that many years ago, he tried to retire, but admitted he felt a bit “useless” in his temporary life of leisure, saying, “Nothing is as fulfilling” as being of service to others.
The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce’s regular monthly meetings are listed on its website at wschamber.com.
From the WSB Events calendar:
FOOD DRIVE: Tonight’s the night Kiwanis Division 26 volunteers will be at the White Center Food Bank, 5:30-8 pm, hoping to see you drop by with donations of nonperishable food ($ donations welcome too). Here’s a map.
DRINKING DIALOGUE: Last week, we brought you the story of Chris Volkmann of Olympia, who has written a book with son Toren Volkmann about his teen (and beyond) drinking days. She is funny and practical, not preachy, and told us she hopes families will “just come have a dialogue” as she and Toren, now 26, speak at Madison Middle School tonight at 7 pm.
34TH DISTRICT DEMOCRATS: Last meeting, they endorsed County Council Chair Dow Constantine in his run for County Executive; tonight, they hear from one of his opponents, County Councilmember Larry Phillips. A resolution about “clean campaigns” is on the agenda too. 7 pm, The Hall at Fauntleroy.
6:30 pm May 14 is the date tentatively set for The Kenney‘s $150 million redevelopment project to return to Design Review, location TBA – this according to an addition late Tuesday to the “upcoming reviews” page. This fits right in with what The Kenney’s CEO Kevin McFeely told us recently (as reported a week ago). This will be its fourth Design Review meeting; the third one, three months ago (WSB coverage here), ended with the project moving out of the “early design guidance” stage.
During our four fun hours at the Gathering of Neighbors on Saturday, we published a bit of news resulting from a chat with Pete Spalding, who (among other things) is on the new Parks Levy Oversight Committee: Pete told us a series of public meetings was about to be announced, giving you the chance to speak out about how you would like to see some of that money (particularly its $15 million “Opportunity Fund” for community-generated projects) spent. Tonight, we get word from Pete that the dates/times/locations of four open houses are now set, including, as he said, one meeting in West Seattle: 7-8:30 pm May 6, West Seattle Golf Course. (The other 3 open houses: 7 pm 5/4, Rainier Community Center; 7 pm 5/12, Green Lake Community Center; 7 pm 5/13, Parks HQ downtown.)
The WSB Twitter page is a snapshot at any given time of the most recent Twitter messages – “tweets” – from anyone anywhere mentioning West Seattle. We check it often because it offers WS tips and trivia beyond the people we get to interact with via the @westseattleblog Twitter stream. Interesting group of tweets at the moment – singer Lily Allen is still in Seattle after her Showbox show last night and put out a question a few hours ago to her 125,000+ Twitter “followers” – “Where’s good for steak in Seattle?” Among the replies, our WS-specific Twitter sampling shows, four people quickly recommended JaK‘s in The Junction (and this search shows a few more). Lily then tweeted an hour later “Bout to get my meat on” – no word yet (even via Twitter) whether she did that here.
It’s been almost a full month now since that pickup truck’s driver hit more than a dozen other vehicles in The Junction, and a few WSB’ers have inquired: What happened in this case? The night of the crash, investigators were looking into the possibility the driver might have been affected by a medical condition, but they also looked into possible “impairment.” We checked with the Seattle Police Traffic Collision Investigation Squad, 
which has eight detectives charged with investigating crashes citywide, and here’s what Detective Michael Korner tells WSB: The investigation of what actually happened is complete – there’s no question that one vehicle hit the other vehicles, and that police “contacted” the driver at the scene. So now it comes down to state lab test results on the blood drawn from the driver that night. Since the possibility of a medical condition was raised, Korner says, the lab will do a full analysis, and the results might not be back for two months, depending on the lab’s backlog. (If they analyze for alcohol only, he says, it takes up to one month.) Once the results are in, he then completes the case report, and it goes into the city prosecutor/court system for review and a decision on whether charges are merited. The driver was taken to the hospital the night of the crash, as was the driver of the first vehicle he hit, and some of the vehicles were severely damaged – this comment on our original report told one such story. (Photo credits: upper left, Mark Ammann; above right, Christopher Boffoli)
Five months after the demolition of that century-old house at 4532 42nd SW (map), the development that’s replacing it has what could be its final Southwest Design Review Board meeting this Thursday night — and the presentation is now available online, with images including this one:
The six-floor Golden Crest development is at left (at right, Capco Plaza/Altamira Apartments at Alaska/42nd). According to the presentation that’s now available (see it in its entirety here), its 35 residential units would range from studio to 3 bedrooms; they would be built over 3,000 square feet of commercial space and 54 “basement” parking slots. This project has already been through the “early design guidance” phase, so if board members give it the thumbs-up on Thursday, it’s done with design review.
Golden Crest is to be reviewed at 8 pm Thursday at Madison Middle School, following the board’s 6:30 pm “early design guidance” look at Transitional Resources‘ 4-story proposal for 2922 SW Avalon (no presentation online yet but here’s the city permit page).
Fourth day of registration for the 5th annual West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day — one day, many sales big and small all over West Seattle, mapped and marketed by WSB — and three dozen are on the list already, including group and block sales. We extended this year’s registration period to 3 weeks instead of 2 so you’ve got more time to think about it, and hear about it. Today’s other updates: If you haven’t already seen this on the official Community Garage Sale Day site at westseattlegaragesale.com, we have two locations so far offering space to those who can’t or don’t want to have their own standalone sales — Hotwire Coffee (WSB sponsor) and C & P Coffee. Space is limited at both so if you’re interested contact Hotwire proprietor Lora or C & P proprietor Cameron ASAP. Also – in addition to offering online signup/payment (go here) and the link to download a form you can mail in (here), preprinted forms are available for pickup at locations around West Seattle (let us know if your business 
is interested in having some forms on hand and we’ll drop ’em by): four WSB sponsors — Hotwire, Illusions Hair Design, Stor-More Self-Storage, and Brunette Mix — and two Seattle Public Library branches, West Seattle (Admiral) and Southwest (35th/Henderson). We’ll have contests again this year – including “Best Sign,” for which Val (photo right) was one of last year’s winners. By the way, West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day is the ONLY major communitywide sale day this spring — the “granddaddy of ’em all” in Greenwood moved to fall this year (at least one person told us they signed up for WSCGSD because of that – they’re looking forward to spring cleaning!) — and we’ll again be getting the word out regionally. Maps will be available earlier this year too – we’re planning to have them ready in time to start handing them out at the Sustainable West Seattle Festival on May 3 (the Sunday before WSCGSD).
While reporting a few notes yesterday about Fauntleroy Place (future Whole Foods/Hancock Fabrics/residential site at Fauntleroy/Alaska/39th), we mentioned we still hadn’t heard back from primary site owners Seattle Capital regarding the status of the pending sale they disclosed two months ago. Once it’s sold, Seattle Capital had said back in January, that would pave the way for construction to resume. So we put in another request for comment today – and just heard back from Seattle Capital’s John Huddleston:
Yes, there is still a sale pending. (currently in the due diligence phase of the Purchase and Sale agreement.) Closing of the sale is anticipated to occur sometime prior to the end of June, 2009.
Construction would most likely begin very shortly after closing. The site itself is currently being actively maintained by the original contractor, Ledcor Construction Inc.
The permit for the Phase II construction has been issued. This covers the underground parking as well as the Commercial floor space above it. The Phase III permit for the residential towers above the commercial space has been applied for and is currently being processed.
Active work on the site stopped last fall; developers BlueStar had repeatedly said the project was simply “between phases” — then, last month, the allegations in two lawsuits (reported here and here) gave the situation a new dimension.
WEDNESDAY UPDATE: An article in today’s Daily Journal of Commerce (only available to subscribers) has some new information about the prospective buyers. We have a message out seeking an opportunity for comment; the article reiterates what Seattle Capital told us – construction is likely to resume midsummer (or later).
With one of Seattle’s community-college campuses here in West Seattle, we wanted to let you know about Governor Gregoire’s new proposal for raising education money — she’s proposing an up-to-7% tuition hike for community colleges, up to 14% for universities, and a levy-lid lift for K-12 public-school districts including Seattle – here’s the official news release:Read More
Out of the WSB inbox, from KEM … of particular interest if you think “not on OUR street”:
For the second time in as many months, our unlocked cars (shame on us, I know) have been prowled. We woke two months ago to my car doors left open, and a few items had been pilfered – a Polar heart rate monitor, and a few other inconsequential items. I assume I left my car door unlocked the night before, though I’m not totally sure. This morning we woke to my husband’s car having been rifled-through. We think his car was unlocked, too, and, as I said, shame on us for doing it twice. This time they stole a pair of iPhone earbuds, but nothing else. Risking getting caught for some iPhone ear buds? Seems sort of silly, really. Not a big deal in terms of loss of property, but we live on a quiet, dead-end street around 36th and 110th and it’s a little unsettling to think that prowlers are lurking around in the middle of the night and rifling through our stuff. Neighbors, beware! And keep your doors locked. (Duh.)
From the resource list at the bottom of our Crime Watch page, here’s the official advice on deterring car prowlers.
Looking for an egg hunt? Holy Week/Easter Sunday service? Our Easter page (see it here) can now be reached from the EASTER tab on the WSB navigation bar, beneath the sunset header. Not too late to add something – editor@westseattleblog.com – thanks!
During the City Hall revenue-forecast briefing we covered yesterday, city Finance Director Dwight Dively noted some reasons for cautious economic optimism. This morning, we’ve got more proof a long-idle site along California SW — cleared in 2006, and with townhouse permits issued one year ago (WSB coverage here) — is finally about to see construction work. First, Anne from Ventana Construction (WSB sponsor) tipped us that a telltale sign (a porta-potty) had shown up at the site. Now, there’s a brand-new permit for temporary power to the site. The permits granted for the site span four addresses from 6021 to 6031 California (map), and if our math is right, they add up to 6 live-work units and 8 townhouse units. ADDED 9:36 AM: Just went by to check, and in fact, a backhoe is at work on the site right now:
“A very sad day for all of us involved with this school” is how this news is described by the WSB’er who e-mailed to let us know: 
Holy Rosary School‘s longtime principal Kris Brown just announced she is leaving after this school year to lead St. Catherine School in Maple Leaf. In a letter on the Holy Rosary website, Brown writes, “It has been exciting to be a part of Holy Rosary School during its time of tremendous growth. However, at this time in my life, I believe I can sustain the energy required in the role of principal for many more years at a smaller school.” (St. Catherine has 200+ students; HR has 400+.) Also on the HR website is a letter from School Commission president Terry Scanlan, saying in part, “It is difficult to imagine Holy Rosary School without Kris at the helm. … Change is never easy or smooth. But change also brings with it the opportunity for genuine growth.” Scanlan writes that the principal search will start immediately.
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