Part of the process of application to do a new commercial development is to submit plans to the City of Seattle’s Design Review Board. On Monday, November 21st, the latest update was given on a project to build a cluster of townhouses on the present site of University Trailer Park, 2101 NE 88th Street. Located at the western edge of Wedgwood at Lake City Way NE, there is a single entrance to the trailer park from NE 88th Street.
Tentative site plan of the townhouse development for 2101 NE 88th Street. NE 88th Street is at the top of the map. The top left corner is Lake City Way NE.
In Spring 2016 a commercial developer, Intracorp, began the process to acquire the trailer park site from the long-time owner, Mr. Franklin Evans. A relocation specialist was hired to work with the present occupants of the trailer park (about 63 households consisting of either individuals or families) to search for other places to live. The trailer park occupants have until June 2017 to move out. State law RCW 59.18.440 specifies relocation assistance and recently Seattle City Councilmember Rob Johnson placed funding in the 2017 City of Seattle budget for additional assistance with moving costs.
Intracorp hired Nicholson Kovalchick Architects to design the townhouses and the initial presentation was made at the Design Review Board meeting on April 11, 2016. At that time the tentative site plan showed the layout of the buildings (photo at right) with the driveways in and through the complex.
The tentative site plan shows 89 townhouses clustered in 21 buildings, indicating that some of the buildings will have two townhouses and some have four. There are 127 total parking spaces including townhouse garages plus guest parking spaces at the southern edge of the complex.
At the November 21st meeting, NK Architects made a presentation on what the townhouses will look like.
The November 21, 2016 Design Review Board meeting featured the second update on the townhouses design, presented by architects and a landscape designer from NK Architects. The townhouses are designed with a gabled roof form, white siding on the second level and cedar siding on the ground level. Sidewalks and green spaces connect the complex in a walkable corridor.
At the November 21st meeting the Design Review Board directed the NK Architects to come back for another presentation to consider more options for the green spaces, pedestrian corridor, and exterior design features of the townhouses. The next presentation will likely be scheduled in Spring 2017.
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