Real Change News | Yesler Terrace concepts debuted

April 15, 2009
Vol: 16 No: 18

Just Heard

Yesler Terrace concepts debuted

by: Cydney Gillis , Staff Reporter

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Architects working for the Seattle Housing Authority have now settled on 4,000 as the number of condos and apartments to put at Yesler Terrace, along with 1 million square feet of office space, or roughly four office buildings, according to three “concept plans” debuted April 8 at a meeting of the Yesler Terrace Citizen Review Committee.

The schematics vary in how the office buildings would be grouped (near Harborview Medical Center to the north or dispersed throughout the site, for instance), where retail would be placed (in the heart of Yesler Terrace or along 12th Avenue), how traffic would flow through the site, and where five to eight acres of small parks would be located. The committee is expected to evaluate the plans and make recommendations to SHA’s board by August.

The housing authority says it needs to sell land for offices and private condos at the 28-acre First Hill site, which is currently occupied by 581 units of old public housing, to help pay for the mixed-income redevelopment, which could cost up to $400 million. The project will be similar to SHA’s rebuilds at NewHolly, High Point and Rainier Vista, with the agency promising Yesler Terrace residents that they can return after construction, which won’t start before 2012.

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