The City of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development held the last public design review meeting of the Seven Hills Apartments development project last night at the Queen Anne Community Center.
Emerald Bay Equity’s design was approved, although the board offered various recommendations regarding certain details of the façade’s appearance. This concluded the review and recommendation process of the long stalled project.
As mentioned is yesterday’s post about the design review meeting, the developer had originally planned for the project to house medical offices above the ground-level retail, but opted to change out the office space for residential apartments due to the economic downturn. The property was temporarily put up for sale by Emerald Bay Equity in April of last year.
Construction at 1919 Queen Anne Ave. N. is slated to begin as early as March, according to Emerald Bay Equity principal Joe Geivett, who has seen this project through six screenings by the City of Seattle and the Queen Anne Community Council. He said the building will take approximately a year to complete.
The four-story building will be primarily dedicated to one-bedroom apartments, with a total of 57 units on three floors. The first floor will be dedicated to retail stores and restaurants, and two levels of parking will be provided below ground.
Artist rendering courtesy of Emerald Bay Equity.
“It’s a little more modern, but I wouldn’t call it a modern building,” Geivett said. “I think the building fits in real nicely with that block.”
Much of the interaction between the board and the members of Emerald Bay Equity revolved around aesthetic details, such as the mosaic of the ground floor and the contrast of color tones.
“The great thing about these developers is they take recommendations really seriously,” said Design Review Board Member Jill Kurfirst. “You can tell they have thought about what you said and are really trying to follow through.”
Public turnout was low – only one person attended who was not associated with the board or Emerald Bay Equity. The meeting was improvised in the game room of the community center after a room mix up prevented the use of originally scheduled room 3.
The design review proposal can be viewed here.