A project on top of Queen Anne that was first planned as a mix of retail and medical offices will now officially become apartments instead.  The site at 1919 Queen Anne Ave across the street from Metropolitan Market has just changed its land use application.  The four story building will now include 57 apartments over 8100 square feet of retail space.  There will also be underground parking for 68 cars. 

The property owned by Emerald Bay Equity is part of a chunk of land at the top of Queen Anne that has been in limbo for several years.  In fact, we told you about Emerald Bay’s plan to sell some of the property earlier this past spring.  Joe Geivett with Emerald Bay tells us he’ll be talking with community groups in the next few weeks about the new plan for the site at 1919 Queen Anne Ave.  The public can submit comments to the city until August 29.

The lot at 100 Republican in Lower Queen Anne used to be a QFC. Now it houses a temporary auto dealership and the occasional mobile food truck. In the next two year, however, the owners of the property, Burkheimer Family LLC, plan to turn the Seattle Center-adjacent site into another residential/retail mixed-use development.

This rendering of the project design, provided by Burkheimer Family LCC in a Department of Planning and Development proposal (.pdf) back in July 2009, shows what the building would look like from the intersection of Republican St. and Warren Ave N.

The six-story building will house 275 units–studios, 1-2 bedrooms and 10 town homes–parking, and 17,725 square feet of street level retail space. The average residential unit size will be 696 square feet. The building will also have two rooftop courtyards–one 9,028 sf, the other 5,985 sf–and an over 2,000 sf outdoor plaza on Republican St. that serves as an entrance to the rest of the building.

The building, located just across the street from the KeyArena and Seattle Center campus, is expected to be completed in 2012, according to a Daily Journal of Commerce story published today. For more information on the building specs and zoning issues, see the DPD project proposal (.pdf).

(Thanks to reader Jon for the tip!)

Reader Luke Hizer wrote in about a fire on Taylor Ave N early this morning. He wrote,

There’s about 10 fire trucks, police, and ambulances up around Taylor N and Lee; they started showing up around 2am or 2:15am. The 911 log shows multiple calls for “fire in building”, and a bunch of units dispatched.

According to the Fire Department’s Public Information Office, several calls for a fire in a 4-unit (Correction: story originally read “4-story”) apartment building at 1415 Taylor Avenue N. came in at around 2:10 this morning. A message left on the PIO line said that the fire came from several rooms in one first-floor unit, and that smoke ventilated from this unit to others in the building.

The Fire Department was able to evacuate the building and put out the fire in a short time. The residents of the apartment where the fire originated were checked on the scene for smoke inhalation, but were not taken to the hospital. No one was injured. An investigation into the cause of the fire is currently underway.

(Thanks to Luke for the tip!)

When I got home tonight I was surprised to see four firefighters running around the side and behind the building I live in. As I made my way to the back entrance I saw why. One of the dumpsters behind my building was on fire. Well, not just on fire – ablaze.

I was worried that the flames, which from what I could see went as high as a few feet above the top of the dumpster, would reach the tree branches above. The good news is the firefighters were able to put the fire out almost immediately and no one was hurt. My photos of the flames didn’t turn out as it’s so dark outside, but I did snap a picture of the wreckage. The dumpster on the right was totally destroyed, and the wall to the left, where it usually rests, received some relatively minimal damage. Luckily.

As I witnessed tonight, fires can start extremely fast, and if not found immediately, can spread. No one knows exactly how the fire started, though several in the building suspect a still-lit cigarette was tossed in accidentally. Still, if a few residents hadn’t noticed the flames – one of my neighbors opened her curtains to see fire the entire length of her window – this fire could have easily spread. So, neighbors, please be cautious this winter. Here on Queen Anne we have lots of trees, and very old electrical systems (being the oldest neighborhood in the city and all). Stock up on space heaters and candles, but remember not to leave them unattended, and make sure your holiday decorations are fire safe.