Site Report 4
Today, between 12th Ave. NE and Brooklyn Ave. NE, and NE 47th St. and 45thSt. resides block 47. Block 47 consists of a commercial building, which towers over the rest of the block named Hotel Deca. Older multifamily buildings such as the Cross Church, and 76 gas station building outline the rest of the block. Some of the recommendations that the “UD Green Streets Concept Plan 2015” suggest are including mainly fixes towards traffic issues such as including a new bike lane. The “UD Green Streets Concept Plan 2015” includes the U District Design Framework which “identified the need for quality open space areas for social”(pg. 2) events. So the purposes of these designs are not to build more or higher but to have a more open space for people. Block 47 doesn’t require many changes on this front and can be a prime usage for festivals due to the massive parking lots.
Now, looking at the “UD residential Market Analysis 2013” development material we can make inferences about the future of Block 47. According to the picture included (Potential High-Rise Development Sites), Hotel Deca and its parking lot are very unlikely to be redeveloped where as the Cross Church has 0-25 percent potential development sites as well as Washington Mutual and Qdoba have a 0-25 percent potential development sites. According to this material The U-District trend towards high-rise development spiked between the 1990s and the 2000s. The other image attached shows the typing of housing in the U-District. Block 47’s only type of housing is the apartment building located next to the 76 gas station. This particular article suggests that U-District will be heading towards more high-rise buildings, such as apartment buildings. This is can be inferred due to the fact that this article also includes information on the housing in the U-District and who owns as well as who is renting. Apartments are 77% of the total housing units and they are 100% rented out. Another reason is that even all of the condos, townhomes and single family homes are mostly rented out since the main population immediately surrounding the University of Washington are students.
Using the information given as well as the history of the block, one can infer the Block 47 does not have much more building to do. The block already contains an apartment building so renovating that an option but building more apartments does not seem likely since Hotel Deca is still standing right there and needs its giant parking lot to fit their customers. This block is also a prime example of private and public-sectors shaping this block. Hotel Deca, is a privately owned businesses along with the Evelyn Apartments, Qdoba and Washington Mutual. These are privately owned business or corporations that expanded in this area to help build the city. I believe that Block 47 will plan on building a new tree land strip on the sidewalk but other than that I do not expect to see much more development on that area. The U-District as I said before will most likely go towards building more high-rise apartments to house all of the people living in the area. Since the area is mainly filled with students that means most of the age in the area will be in the 20’s or 30’s. In my opinion, this means that new and modern fabs or trends will have a large impact on the future buildings and or landscapes. Other influences such as technological advances will also push the U District, keeping the U District up to date with the latest technology. Political as well as economic change can also influence changes in this city. Lastly, a student-centered U-District would ideally have more apartment buildings, maybe another gym that is closer towards University Way. Basically, a student-centered U-District would most likely be just a giant campus with more dorms, libraries and facilities.
Work Cited
Casey McNerthney on November 4, 2011 at 8:30 PM. "The University District now and then." Seattle's Big Blog. N.p., 04 Nov. 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
Dorpat, Paul. "HistoryLink.org." Seattle Neighborhoods: University District -- Thumbnail History - HistoryLink.org. The SCHOONER Project: The Hon. Jan Drago Seattle City Council Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, 18 June 2001. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.
"HISTORIC PROPERTY SURVEY REPORT: SEATTLE’S NEIGHBORHOOD ..." N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=F89CE832013B4375AC688908EC74C33E&CID=267C6477403C646907746E30410D651A&rd=1&h=v6kB35-pteGOqlnN6CkPWlGpzPLN8yhM8NfS42P0Xqc&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fwww.seattle.gov%2fDocuments%2fDepartments%2fNeighborhoods%2fHistoricPreservation%2fHistoricResourcesSurvey%2fcontext-neighborhood-commercial-properties.pdf&p=DevEx,5082.1>.
"U District Urban Design." U District Urban Design - Project Documents - Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cityplanning/completeprojectslist/universitydistrict/documents/default.htm>.
"U District Urban Design." U District Urban Design - What & Why - Seattle Office of Planning and Community Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cityplanning/completeprojectslist/universitydistrict/whatwhy/>.
"University District Historic Survey Report - Seattle." N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=7149D412EA63468C910772E4A94B5AA0&CID=1A2F221B362160671864285C37106112&rd=1&h=OzxaIpkmuby_FoROhhfGkbO44WoVr2XCHXqbM9CAvtU&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fwww.seattle.gov%2fDocuments%2fDepartments%2fNeighborhoods%2fHistoricPreservation%2fHistoricResourcesSurvey%2fcontext-university-district.pdf&p=DevEx,5050.1>.
"University District, Seattle WA - Neighborhood Guide - findwell." Findwell Seattle. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.