West Seattle development: Ex-Petco after demolition’s 1st week

| Development | West Seattle news

Since we first told you back on Tuesday that demolition was beginning at the ex-Petco site in The Junction, where the 90-unit mixed-use project now has an official name – 4730 California (a slight tweak from its working title 4724 California) – crews have been working off the alley. We went by early today to photograph it in full morning sunlight (above). We checked in during the week with the development team, which shared this new rendering of how the building will look along California SW at night:

The project concluded the Design Review process last November (WSB coverage here). Demolition work, by the way, continued today – compare our top photo with this one taken at mid-afternoon by WSB contributor Jason Grotelueschen, showing a truck and crew on site:

The project team plans to have a website soon at 4730california.com (just a “parking page” now) and project information on the fence out front by West Seattle Summer Fest (for which the project is a co-sponsor).

10:20 PM: Additional image from Dwight – who noticed, early this morning, that the backlit windows had a stained-glass look:

LordOfWestsideManor June 15, 2013 (9:17 pm)

There goes the Junction. What a monstrosity.

Phoebe June 15, 2013 (9:20 pm)

Wow! I remember when that was Tradewell. (it was a full-sized grocery store, which @ one time, was a decent size “chain”). The lanscape of The Alaska Junction is forever changed!

Steve June 15, 2013 (9:24 pm)

Ugly! Wrecking West Seattle!

WSB June 15, 2013 (9:41 pm)

For context’s sake, on behalf of anyone who hasn’t been following the past few years of development coverage: The heart of The Junction was rezoned more than a decade ago. It is almost entirely zoned for 65-foot to 85-foot buildings (six to eight stories). This whole block, both sides – California between Alaska and Edmunds – is zoned for up to 85 feet:
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http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Research/gis/webplots/k61e.pdf
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Aside from this one and the delayed two-building development at California/Alaska/42nd (where the stores were forced out almost a year ago), otherwise, the current wave of development is taking place largely on the streets to the east of The Junction, and on down Avalon. – TR

Fire Ball June 15, 2013 (9:30 pm)

I sure hope they have a parking plan or people will stop coming to the W/S junction. Just look at Ballard, high density apartments and no place to park your car.

Joe June 15, 2013 (9:35 pm)

This is just terrible. Going to destroy The Junction. These people obviously don’t know the culture here.

The C-town Clown June 15, 2013 (9:45 pm)

You beat me to it TR. ;) It’s sad but true.

WSB June 15, 2013 (9:52 pm)

C-town, the other thing, which I was starting to add to my previous comment but seem to have lost so I’ll start anew … Developers are not just parachuting in and stealing the land. Much of it, in The Junction, is owned by longtime families; when a development proposal pops up, it means they have chosen to sell. Certainly their prerogative, and we have heard about the pressures caused by the fact that property taxes are charged on the land’s potential – we heard the West Seattle Eagles discuss this at a Design Review Board hearing for an adjacent property months ago – rather than on its current status. But anyway, you can see the ownership/sales history in the King County Parcel Viewer, for any site that interests you (whether it be a 5,000-square-foot home lot or far beyond). For this site, for example:
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http://info.kingcounty.gov/Assessor/eRealProperty/Detail.aspx?ParcelNbr=7579200050
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And if you don’t recognize an ownership company name, if they are an LLC or an INC, you can look up Washington Corporations Search.
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TR

lala2mom June 15, 2013 (10:55 pm)

I hate when I find out about these things a couple years too late! I’d like to think that we could have pushed for some sort of preservation status to protect at least the junction proper!

L. June 15, 2013 (11:14 pm)

It’s so sad. The West Seattle I once loved is now gone..

Ajax June 15, 2013 (11:36 pm)

Ha ha! Based on the rendering of the finished project, it seems that this building is going to somehow increase the width of California Ave. by about 100 feet. I’m amazed by the architectural magical thinking that is involved in getting these projects through design review.

hatmaker June 15, 2013 (11:40 pm)

The cold generic design and cheap materials does not look all cozy with warm light. How transparently manipulative.

I am a little nauseated to note the apologist tone for local real estate investor greed and that this horrifically mediocre “project” is a co-sponsor with WSB of Summerfest. Not small business and not local.

Who has been zooming whom?

Our house will discuss an out-of-town trip that weekend, I believe. Very disappointed in the alliances…it is all just business. Right, newbies?

WSB June 16, 2013 (12:19 am)

Information is not apologism. It might be unpopular information, but it’s true, and we offer the zoning and ownership information in case anyone is interested in the big picture. Otherwise, it’s easy to think any new development just suddenly turns up out of nowhere. It doesn’t.
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Regarding Summer Fest, we have been a co-sponsor for six years, and our disclosure commitment is to always mention in a story when either something/one we mention is a WSB sponsor or when we are a sponsor of something, so that’s why we mentioned it. It’s no “alliance.” We’ve sponsored as many local events and causes as we can afford (whether the sponsorship price is cash, in-kind advertising, or a combination) over these six years. WSJA has what I believe to be the full current list of this year’s sponsors in the sidebar on all pages of the festival website: http://wsjunction.org/summerfest
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Developments have been on the list most years we can recall, of the years we’ve been involved – that first year, 2008, BlueStar, the original developer of “The Hole,” when it was called “Fauntleroy Place,” was a major sponsor; Harbor Properties, which built Mural, Link, and Nova, a couple other years. Just a data point. But the primary beneficiary of Summer Fest is the local business community, and boycotting it hurts nobody but them. Independent small local businesses comprise much of the heart of West Seattle and their plight IS something you can do something about – by patronizing them, whether they’re in The Junction or elsewhere. Look for another story on that tomorrow – er, today.
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TR

let them swim June 16, 2013 (4:46 am)

Petco was once a “A and P Grocery Store”. Dating to the 1950’s. Sad W.S. is changing but, time marches on. And not necessarily in a good way.

Helena Rogers June 16, 2013 (7:07 am)

West Seattle, California Ave, in particular has been suffering canyon-creep for many years now, as the previous comment mention, the narrowness of this street does not really support this all that well…and now the Junction will not only never be the same, but will become any street, any town, anywhere. This has nothing to do with improvement, it is flat-out greed. Boycott.

Marcus M June 16, 2013 (7:33 am)

I think we can all agree that the Petco building was pretty ugly and I’m glad to see a chain store moved to somewhere more fitting like beneath a megachain grocery store. We’re not losing a view, nor a beloved record store, and we’re gaining a lot of new faces … doesn’t sound so bad to me.
Losing the chance to ever find a seat on the C-line, that’s another matter..

kate June 16, 2013 (7:33 am)

Guess I’m the only one happy to see the Petco go. In my opinion, it had a dirty junky looking facade that did not add to the charm of the area. I’m just grateful the Junction is thriving and is not filled with empty storefronts. I’ve driven through so many sad abandoned towns over the last few years, mostly in the Midwest. Seattle is filled with vibrant and exciting neighborhoods. Yes, some have big shiny buildings in them, but we live in a city.

Al June 16, 2013 (7:49 am)

If we were talking about the Easy Street building or the Cupcake Royale building I would wholeheartedly agree with the previously posted sentiments but since we are taking about the featureless box that once housed a rapidly deteriorating Petco I find it more difficult to muster any outrage about this development… I don’t love this new design but its certainly more interesting than the former structure.

Elizh June 16, 2013 (8:50 am)

Not only does the rendering increase the width of California Ave, it has increased the width of the Mural bldg behind it to make it appear the buildings are attractively offset, when in fact they will not be.

T Rex June 16, 2013 (8:52 am)

Can’t help but think that the recent announcements of the major AMAZON build on Lake Union is also contributing to the increased building in West Seattle. We are a good place to live if you work downtown. AMAZON has been working on that deal for years, you can imagine that land owners here started receiving offers to buy years ago.

Can’t really blame the land owners, they are surely at retirement age and their kids or lack of do not want anything to do with the properties.

Sad is hardly the word though, large buildings and overpriced apartments will not increase the reason people love West Seattle. It will simply cause us old timers to move on.

old timer June 16, 2013 (9:57 am)

Thats what old timers do – move on.
It’s called life.
And so many people spend their lives trying to fight the only thing life guarantees – change.

West Seattle Since 1979 June 16, 2013 (10:31 am)

If there are more apartments, eventually rental prices will come down. If there aren’t very many apartments, landlords will be able to charge the highest prices and only highly-paid people will be able to rent them.

Even if the new apartments are overpriced, if people who can afford them flock to them, eventually owners of older buildings will have to bring down their prices if they want to get people to rent.

Why would that make older people want to move out?

Kathy June 16, 2013 (10:54 am)

I am 62 and have lived in West Seattle since the early 1970’s. I would like to say to all the posters complaining about the ruin of West Seattle: You may have had the luxury of living in the golden age when many could afford to own a single family home close to a big city, and hop in their private car for every little trip without worrying about poisoning the air and acidifying Puget Sound with carbon monoxide emissions. You are one single generation, a flash in the pan. The growing population of future generations (e.g. your children and their children) need somewhere with breathable air and clean water to live and transportation to get to and from work, school and retail. Fortunately, people are doing constructive work to accommodate the future, providing places to live and work and mass transportation options. I don’t think that kind of planning for the future is going to cause my short visit on earth any undue hardship.

Vic B June 16, 2013 (11:02 am)

The building was ugly. But so is a shiny glass box. No character. Lifeless. Progress must mean every neighborhood will look like a strip mall topped with “units”? Is there no other design out there? Little by little Seattle neighborhoods are losing the very characteristics that made them neighborhoods: variety, personality, creativity, diversity, individuality. More and more every storefront and apt/condo looks the same. Shiny, smooth, featureless, lifeless. Soon it won’t matter where you live because you will live exactly where everyone else lives.

Coyote June 16, 2013 (11:03 am)

But will there be a Starbucks in the storefront below? Frozen yogurt perhaps? Maybe a wine bar with organic locally sourced food from Washington farmers. Fingers crossed :)

Twobottles June 16, 2013 (11:17 am)

Buildings don’t make neighborhoods, people do.

Last53BusRider June 16, 2013 (11:22 am)

I’m only 50 but already sliding into old-timer mode. Yesterday, I was lamenting that Pioneer Square and SODO just ain’t the same without the 21, 22 and 56 buses running on First Ave – and the spot at First and Marion, where I used to wait after work for the 56, looks sad and forlorn now without the bus stop.

Hearing that Barnecuts is closing bums me out because when I sit on the patio of Met Market’s coffee shop, I enjoy watching people pump gas – but I guess I can still watch people wheel groceries to the car.

I enjoy watching the light change at the Junction. I just hope by the time I really am an old timer, that I will still be able to afford to live here – and that there will be plenty of nice benches to sit on and watch the world – plus coffee and donuts;)

wetone June 16, 2013 (11:29 am)

WSB says: Developers are not just parachuting in and stealing the land. Much of it, in The Junction, is owned by longtime families; when a development proposal pops up, it means they have chosen to sell.

True statement funny thing is most those longtime families spend little if any time here in WS now. Who owned or owns the property really has nothing to do with what’s happening anyway. It is the city government that is allowing all the build up of this area and it will be the families still living here that have to get to work, doctors, school and much more paying the price. The city has done a great job at increasing the population of this area, but not a thing for the infrastructure to support it. Just remember you have 2 bridges for access (1 that opens alot) unless you drive through White Center or Burien. This area will soon be a non family community as it will get to costly to live here when the tolls start and commute times increase. Petco and the Hole projects going now, rocksport corner starting this fall, both sides of 4700 block 40th huling’s old properties starting late fall. Many projects starting soon along California ave, oh the Bridge property starting this fall, the micro’s (dorm rooms) there are many more in the works but I will stop here. Soon West Seattle will have more cranes than downtown and south lake union combined. West Seattle used to be known as a laid back blue collar community, that is changing very quickly. Should be interesting to watch.

Steve f June 16, 2013 (11:35 am)

Sorry y’all, I disagree. Been in seattle since I got out if the army in 1978. Lived in most neighborhoods. Not one has not been improved immensely by new developments. From the tenements on the back of QA to the hellhole that was Belltown to WS, nothing but changes for the better. Didn’t like the commute when the bridge was hit but that worked out well.

cjboffoli June 16, 2013 (11:46 am)

I like the look of this rendering and welcome the replacement of a horrid, decrepit cinder block building with a long frontage that did nothing to activate the street. This new property will bring new people to the Junction, meaning more customers for local businesses and a higher citizen to low-life ratio.

G June 16, 2013 (12:45 pm)

Sometimes West Seattle feels like the ficticious city in the movie “The Truman Show” and it’s residents are Jim Carreys’.

Kim June 16, 2013 (4:10 pm)

Change is tough. Population growth is inevitable. Density is needed. If you want to really freak out, check out the acres of construction happening in suburbs like Bothell and Bonney Lake. Hundreds of new homeowners are not within walking distance of a grocery store or a bus. While density is changing our beloved neighborhood, the alternative is pushing even more people to live in non-walkable neighborhoods.

Michael Taylor-Judd June 16, 2013 (4:17 pm)

Maybe next time someone comes to your door to talk to you about political issues, or to invite you to a neighborhood meeting, think twice before shutting the door… TR is right. These zoning decisions were made years ago, and there was little protest. When the monorail was proposed, we tried to warn people about the upzoning and eventual development that would come to Fauntleory and California. No one listened then….

w.s. maverick June 16, 2013 (4:36 pm)

truly sickening with all these garbage apt/condos

wsn00b June 16, 2013 (5:42 pm)

Awesome. Nice to see that old dump of a building get replaced by something new and modern. Hopefully we get some interesting bars/restaurants/stores at the street level.

WS parent June 16, 2013 (8:43 pm)

I just wonder if there is really a demand for the number of apt/condos that are going up in WSeattle? Where will all these people be working? The bridge will be Hell in the mornings/evening commute!!

L. June 16, 2013 (10:07 pm)

The bridge already is hell. Get out now before your property values plummet with the new tunnel.

NotMe June 17, 2013 (12:18 am)

Those of you calling the new buildings “garbage” clearly had not been in the Petco for some time. That place was pretty dirty and falling apart. The outside of the building was what can be described as “garbage.” I can’t believe how some people have it in their heads that the city is somehow at fault for new buildings going up. The fact is, the demand is there and those so-called West Seattlelites that sold it found a price to simply let it go. So there.
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However, I will not ever, ever disagree with statements about the WS Bridge, though I don’t see a connection of my property value going down when the tunnel opens. That bridge has gotten so bad over the last 15 years, I am finally thinking of moving out. I hate being in my car 40 – 60 minutes just to get to I-5 in the mornings. It has gotten to the point that I don’t want to live here that bad anymore, mostly due to the lane cheaters.

redblack June 17, 2013 (6:10 am)

will this new property connect california ave to the alley – or to 42nd street – at the crosswalk? kind of looks like it in the rendering.

mehud June 17, 2013 (6:54 am)

Glad Elliot Talarico Yee, the cat, was rescued from the alley before his former haunts were torn down.

datamuse June 17, 2013 (8:27 am)

Is there demand? Based on what the renters among my friends tell me, yes there is. Rental housing is really tight and really expensive; friends who’ve lived in Seattle 10, 20 years are talking about moving out of the city because they can’t afford it. Not everyone can swing a single family house with yard, and not everyone wants to.

Jordan June 17, 2013 (10:34 am)

I think the building design is very nice and a beautiful building. Unfortunately, it is not really a “good neighbor” in Junction and will fully destroy what was a great place to stop by. I have almost entirely quite going to the Alaska Junction and have completely stopped going to the Admiral Junction over the years. Far easier to just drive to Southcenter or Bellevue to do any shopping.
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It is criminal what the City Council and Mayors have done to West Seattle over the last 20 years with their poor zoning rules.

JustWow June 17, 2013 (12:56 pm)

@NotMe – My thoughts exactly! That old Petco was nasty, old and well past its prime. But I suppose it just added so much “character” because it was some general store back in the 1890s where people bought feed for their transportation in what people wanted to preserve as a one horse town. Then again, what does a city full of people who wear pajama pants, socks and sandals on a rainy day, and are about as dead-eyed as can be know about character in the first place?

Dale June 17, 2013 (3:03 pm)

The property only had so many commercially viable options left. The former owners looked at renovating it to move into the location. It was not economically feasible. The interest alone on this type of move would have killed the return. The denisty is increasing in West Seattle. Get used to it.

33Pete June 17, 2013 (3:16 pm)

I think the new building looks pretty nice – particularly as compared to former, run down Petco.

I echo some of the other thoughts I have seen regarding this being a positive as well – it puts people in a place where they can walk or take mass transit to just about anywhere they need to go. I, for one, will welcome our new neighbors. I am sure the Junction businesses will do likewise.

Cheers.

Tracy White June 17, 2013 (4:08 pm)

If you want the freedom to have as many kids as you want, then this is one of the costs, pure & simple.

Leaving WS June 17, 2013 (4:21 pm)

I hope they set up the street parking in the area of these new micro-dorms as being all no-overnight parking, if the buildings themselves have no parking with them. It has gotten so that my husband will not drive at all, due to the messed up traffic, RR bus bulbs, and lack of parking in WS. It can only get worse, but I guess that is better in some people’s minds. I’m not anti-bus (we do take the 21 to SODO for events), but when new buildings come in without providing adequate parking for customers and/or residents ~ that is just a reason to not shop in WS any more. Sad.