This post was written by the 35th Ave Committee and originally occurred on the Future 35th Ave NE website.
There’s no mistaking it, change is occurring along 35th Ave NE. Two “tear downs,” including the Green House, are currently ongoing along 35th Ave NE to make way for new town homes. The Theodora is going to be remodeled soon. And the Bryant Heights development on the former Children’s Home Society of Washington property will begin construction soon. Technically, all of these projects are occurring in the Ravenna-Bryant neighborhood, since they occur south of NE 75th Street which is the border of Wedgwood and Ravenna-Bryant.
One might look at these recent developments along 35th Ave NE and think it’s the result of the community-led planning that occurred in 2014 and which resulted in the Future 35th Ave NE Plan. However, those who share this perspective are mistaken. In fact, the changes we’re seeing unfold now were anticipated and these changes were what triggered the the Future 35th Ave NE planning to begin with. It’s why this community-led planning was proactive and not reactive. All of the new development projects that are going on now began their design and permitting process a few years back (or many years ago in the case of the Green House), before the Future 35th Ave NE planning began. In fact, we wrote about all of these projects as reasons justifying the proactive, community-led neighborhood planning process, despite how difficult we knew the conversation might be: