The Port of Seattle bought the 3.4-acre South Tsubota Steel site off 15th Avenue West just north of the Magnolia Bridge for $6.1 million on Jan. 27, said Port spokesman Mick Shultz. The price includes $600,000 for due diligence, assignment and closing costs.
But the Port doesn't plan on doing anything with the Tsubota property until plans are firmed up for future development of the 57-acre, Port-owned North Bay land north of terminals 90 and 91, he said.
The National Guard Armory just to the northwest of the Tsubota property also could become part of the North Bay plans if a suitable location elsewhere for the Armory to relocate is found, according to the Port.
A Jan. 19 briefing memo written for Port CEO Mic Dinsmore about the Tsubota deal indicates the Port's aspiration to transform the underused North Bay property into a "thriving center" that would build on existing maritime-industrial activity and add employment through "emerging industrial sectors."
The Port has also talked about adding residential and some retail development to the mix in North Bay. Not everyone thinks the Port's plans for North Bay and the purchase of the Tsubota property are a good idea (see Port Commissioner candidate story, in this issue).
But the memo to Dinsmore indicates that improving visibility and access to and from the area will be critical. "Essentially, we're thinking it may help provide access to the North Bay site," Shultz said of the Tsubota property.
The property also could become the future location of a multi-modal transportation hub for Metro buses, possibly an extended waterfront streetcar line and perhaps a future monorail station, he added.
The Seattle Monorail Project had identified the area as a location for a possible station while planning for the line was still in progress, and a group of private developers had proposed building an upscale grocery and retail outlet on the site based on a monorail station being there.
The developers dropped the plan after the Seattle Monorail Project staff decided to include a possible station at that location only in the future. Whatever happens in the area, the Port has assumed liability for environmental cleanup of the Tsubota property, according to the memo to Dinsmore.
The location was formerly used for steel fabrication, pipe storage, vehicle sales and repair, an auto and metal salvage yard, a rope manufacturer and a service station, according to the Port. The memo indicates a sampling analysis identified soils with "relatively minor but elevated concentrations of metals and oil."
The cost for environmental cleanup and demolition of existing buildings will be between $300,000 and $800,000, according to the Port. The existing business on the site include a scooter store, a billboard company and a neon-sign business operated in his residence by Buddy Foley, who also sells math books and lady bugs. The Port would assume the leases, which generate $24,000 a year in rent, according to the memo.
Shultz said developing the North Bay area will require an amendment to the city's Comprehensive Plan, which calls for only industrial and manufacturing uses along the Inter-bay corridor.
The proposed Comp Plan amendment was submitted to the Seattle City Council on Jan. 20, he said, add-ing that the Port expects the council will take action on the amendment in September.
On a separate track, a Draft Environmental Impact Statement about the North Bay development plans is expected to be completed by April or May, according to Shultz. "In June or July, the Port Commission will consider the different development alternatives in the environmental impact statement," he said.[[In-content Ad]]
