The developers of the new residential/retail complex called 100 Republican unveiled a list of public benefits today in exchange for the city vacating part of an alley. The project is going up at the site of the old QFC on Lower Queen Anne next to Seattle Center.
“It’s an important redevelopment on what is now a substantially dead block of Republican,” John Coney, co-chair of the Uptown Alliance, told the City Council’s Transportation Committee. “It is going to bring housing onto Warren Avenue North. We believe that is important because that is another dead block in an urban center.”
The project will require a partial alley vacation (image below) adjacent to Republican Street. A new alley is being proposed to provide access from Warren and connect in the middle of the block to the existing alley. SDOT says two property owners on the block support the project, and they are working with a third who has some concerns about how the alley will function.
In exchange for the alley vacation, the developers have proposed a 2000 square foot public plaza on Republican Street and a rain garden on Warren Avenue (both pictured below). They also propose voluntary building setbacks, bike racks, lighting standards, and street banners. Members of the Transportation Committee voted unanimously to move to project on to the full Council for a final vote.
Plaza on Republican Street
Rain garden on Warren Avenue
The six-story building will house 275 units–studios, 1-2 bedrooms, 10 town homes, and 17,725 square feet of street level retail space. It is expected to be finished in 2012. To read more about the proposed improvements, click here.