To hear Vulcan real estate marketing manager Alison Jeffries tell it, Paul Allen's ambitious plan to transform South Lake Union is the best thing to happen to Seattle since, well... just about anything.
Speaking at a larger-than-normal Greater Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce luncheon held at the project's so-called South Lake Union Discovery Center last week, she noted that Vulcan's primary focus is making money.
"Then we look at what is the positive impact we can create for this community," Jeffries said of an area that has seen better days.
But there was a spill-over of positive impact when a Vulcan representative handed Uptown Alliance president John Coney a $5,000 check to be used for construction of Lower Queen Anne's newest park at the corner of Roy Street and Queen Anne Avenue.
A third focus for Vulcan's South Lake Union development is avoiding any negative impact to the environment, she said. "Many of our buildings are environmentally friendly," Jeffries added.
That includes the Discovery Center at the corner of Denny Way and Westlake Avenue North, a four-piece building she described as "the ultimate mobile home."
Roughly two-thirds of the high-tech center is devoted to telling the story of South Lake Union, Jeffries said of the presentation materials at hand, which included displays, a short film and an enormous model of the area.
Among other features, the model shows the route of the proposed trolley car that will travel to South Lake Union as well as to a retooled Mercer and Valley streets. While there is some debate about the proposed change making much of a difference to the age-old "Mercer Mess," Eric Tweit from the Seattle Department of Transportation told chamber members that the proposal is "overall making it easier to get around the (South Lake Union) neighborhood."
The other third of the center is devoted to a condominium-sales office for the 2200 building, a joint project under development by Vulcan and Milliken Development Group across the street from the center at Denny and Ninth Avenue.
The sales office includes a towering model of the complex, which will be home to a Pan Pacific Hotel, a Whole Foods Market and 261 condominiums that range in price from $250,000 to $2 million.
Sales have been brisk since the center opened at the end of April, and only 20 of the condos are still for sale, Jeffries said.
But she also made a point of saying that Vulcan's housing projects in South Lake Union are not reserved just for the well-to-do. The Alcyon, a Vulcan venture, is targeted at residents making $35,000 to $60,000 a year, according to a Vulcan Web site.
And Jeffries said Alley 24, another Vulcan building, will reserve a fifth of its units for people making 60 percent of median income, which is currently slightly more than $72,000 a year for a family of four in King County.
Vulcan plans also call for turning South Lake Union into a biotech center, which will require some zoning changes to allow for taller building heights, she said.
In addition, Jeffries touted the Discovery Center as a meeting place for community groups. It's open Thursday to Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]
