Fostered by rezoning efforts, the City of Seattle has laid out big plans for South Lake Union, which would see about 40 towers built along the urban center over 40 years.
The latest South Lake Union rezoning legislation recommends a new set of development regulations that would increase building limits on height and floor areas in exchange for a developer’s participation in an incentive program that would provide neighborhood amenities, such as more affordable housing.
A key component of the zoning change includes rezoning Industrial Commercial (IC)-zoned properties to Seattle Mixed (SM). The new towers that would be allowed under this change would be mostly 12-story office and 24-story residential buildings.
The Greater Queen Anne Chamber of Commerce (GQACC) met on Thursday, Sept. 13, to hear from Vulcon real estate investment-strategy director Lori Mason Curran about how the new plans will benefit Queen Anne businesses.
Curran said the zoning changes will allow for 12,000 new housing units and 22,000 jobs by 2031, while continuing to support the area’s livability and sustainability. She also said there would be no significant change in the Cascade area on the east and northwest portions of South Lake Union.
The Lake Union Opportunity Alliance (LUOA), a community organization comprised of Lake Union residents, has been critical of the city’s plan. LUOA has stated that the Department of Planning and Development (DPD) are using targets for 2031 in its current Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that have not been approved.
LUOA would like to see alternative design concepts for the area surrounding Lake Union that preserve historical landmarks and visual access to the lake.
“Like anything, there are always positives and negatives and people that won’t be as supportive as others,” Curran said. “One of the things that I think is important is for everyone to be really educated and learn as much as they can about the rezone. And that’s why we’re trying to let people know what it means.”
Incentive zoning
The latest plans for South Lake Union were set in motion by the city eight years ago.
In 2004, South Lake Union was designated as an urban center for concentrated growth, where it would absorb significant growth and expansion. The designation allowed for community stakeholders to create a new vision of South Lake Union as “a dense, livable, vibrant, urban neighborhood.”
To move forward with that vision, the DPD began to explore new zoning concepts in 2008. The corresponding EIS process was completed in 2011. In response to the EIS, the city released its own preferred alternative in the form of legislation that will be heard this week.
Under the city’s rezoning plan, existing SM zoning will still apply to developers if they choose to follow those historic guidelines. However, developers would have the option to build bigger and higher under the new zoning if they participate in the city’s incentives plan.
“In this proposal, if you want to do additional height or if you want that additional density, it can only be developed and gained by contributing to the incentive-zoning program,” Curran said.
As an example of incentive zoning, Curran pointed to the development of the Amazon.com headquarters, which was able to gain additional height and density on two blocks in exchange for a $6.4 million contribution to affordable housing and a day-care fund.
“Under the rezone for South Lake Union, some of the public benefits you might see in exchange for additional height and density would be a contribution toward a community center, green streets and things like that,” Curran said.
Over 25 years, incentive zoning would result in $45 million in affordable-housing benefits, $28 million in transportation investments and open space, the preservation of more than 25,000 acres of forest and farmland, and contributions to day care, according to the DPD.
LUOA criticized incentive zoning, saying it encourages fewer building owners per blocks, which discourages variety. LUOA suggested that developers could, instead, be allowed to partner while sharing parking structures, elevators and mechanical systems.
A new street scene
The city’s legislation accounts for several factors affecting South Lake Union stakeholders.
The rezoning plan limits development according to Kenmore Air specifications, preserving the flight path for its seaplanes.
There will be limited podium heights (the base of the buildings): most at about 45 feet; others, at 65 or 85 feet in some areas. Towers will also be set back from the streets with a maximum of two towers per block — one tower on each half-block on opposite sides.
“We’re not going to have a wall of towers on a block,” Curran said.
There is also a maximum lot coverage at 75 percent, which ensures open space, light and air at the street level to preserve the pedestrian experience, Curran explained.
Curran also pointed to the recommendations of the South Lake Union mobility plan, which would reopen portions of John, Thomas and Harrison streets, connecting Queen Anne to South Lake Union.
“It will be a new street grid,” Curran said. “Right now, as you know, you can’t get from South Lake Union to Queen Anne on those streets. So when those are reconnected, people will be able to drive, walk and cycle between those two neighborhoods more easily. It’ll also take some of those cars off of Mercer [Street] and Denny [Way], which are the only real way to connect the two neighborhoods now.”
The Seattle City Council is expected to take action on the rezoning plan in early 2013.