The dead zone at the north end of Capitol Hill's Broadwayâcurrently anchored by two vacant grocery stores, a Taco Bell, a vacant Bartell Drugs, and a parking lotâwill, by 2009, become a little less dead, thanks to developer Bob Burkheimer's (long-delayed) plans to put up six-story, mixed-use buildings on the southeast corner of the block. Burkheimer's development will face a blocky green-glass condo to be built by Schnitzer Northwest on the site of a former Safeway grocery store across the street. A preliminary design hearing for Burkheimer's proposal is scheduled for Wednesday, June 21.
The proposal, which would put six stories of apartments (335 in all) above 25,000 square feet of retail space and three stories of underground parking, has been at least three years in the making. In 2003, Burkheimer lambasted the city council for failing to act fast enough to raise building heights on Broadway, where new construction was then limited to four stories (45 feet) or less. (Taller buildings, like the six-story apartments at Broadway East and East John Street, were grandfathered in.) In a letter to thenâCouncil President Peter Steinbrueck, Burkheimer said he would "need to lease the existing building for a period of 15 years... which will preclude any development opportunities on this block." Fearing the prospect of an Office Depot or other big-box retailer at the north end of the struggling business district, the council jumped, adopting the Broadway upzone in 2005. By the end of that year, however, the QFC remained vacant, and rumors circulated that Burkheimer didn't plan to build anything at all. Later, Burkheimer sharply criticized Schnitzer's plans for the property across the street, calling them out for not "keeping with the character of the neighborhood."
Last week, however, Burkheimer changed his tune, saying he and Schnitzer were "working together" for the "good" of the block. Three years after Burkheimer first announced his big plans for Broadway, let's hope he means it this time.
barnett@thestranger.com
