Council Limits Pioneer Square Height Increases

whew. for a moment there I thought we would have another lack of full consensus.

Yes indeed. Because, as you know, for a single council member to object to the consensus would actually be interpreted as being “ineffective”, and one might as well just cave.

The new towers on the Qwest Field parking lot will still be quite tall, and there is still an excellent chance the ground they sit on will be inundundated by sea level rise by the end of the century. Future city councils will undoubtedly pass ordinances promoting the formation of new Venetian style communities in the Pioneer Square, SODO, Duwamish corridor, so it’s all good. LMAO.

Part news report, part speculative bullshit.

I don’t know why they did it so I’ll make some shit up.

Maybe they could lop off the 88 vacant floors of the Columbia tower and put them in Pioneer Square.

“Business groups supported the…higher height limits.” “Jean Godden and Bruce Harrell…need political cover to defy voting against the powerful downtown business community.”

The Square’s new community association, The Alliance for Pioneer Square, and many residents of the Square, myself included, worked with councilmembers Clark, Bagshaw, and Burgess, to try to achieve the higher heights. Ultimately it was too much for the preservationists who objected to the process–last minute changes by the Clark committee to grant greater heights–as much as to the heights themselves. Not everything in this town is explained by characterizing any issue as a war with the “downtown business community”.

Clark, Bagshaw, and Burgess met with us a lot and tried to work something out that would satisfy the preservationists, none of whom live in the Square, and still get us the development incentives we need to fill up the empty parking lots with workforce housing for the new economy workers who are beginning to fill up the empty office space, to stimulate small retail, to put more eyes on the street, and to preserve this wonderful recovering neighborhood as well as its old buildings.

The Council was put in a tough spot, but Clark and Burgess, especially, worked with us and did their homework. And now we will go back to work with the city government and our neighbors who live and work here, to try to lift up our community. Preservation is about preserving community as much as it is about preserving our old buildings.

Right now we are not doing well on either front. The old buildings, if they are to be preserved, have to go back to work, be active in a healthy neighborhood context, and full of the new energy and excitement brought here by the geeks and the artists and the unique small retailers, restaurants and bars that define the place.

There is a lot of work to do. We don’t have the time or the appetite to worry about “the powerful downtown business community”, which frankly has been pretty helpful to this neighborhood.

Let’s see how the new zoning works for a couple of years or so, get through our current road construction nightmare, take down the viaduct to open us up to our historic waterfront, make the many infrastructure and policy improvements that have to happen, and then revisit, if necessary, the whole question of development.

Maybe your next story will be about how the council, worried about the “powerful Pioneer Square Resident’s Council and small business coalition” voted unanimously to develop yet another park for Seattle’s first neighborhood.

Charles Royer

“Business groups supported the…higher height limits.” “Jean Godden and Bruce Harrell…need political cover to defy voting against the powerful downtown business community.”

The Square’s new community association, The Alliance for Pioneer Square, and many residents of the Square, myself included, worked with councilmembers Clark, Bagshaw, and Burgess, to try to achieve the higher heights. Ultimately it was too much for the preservationists who objected to the process–last minute changes by the Clark committee to grant greater heights–as much as to the heights themselves. Not everything in this town is explained by characterizing any issue as a war with the “downtown business community”.

Clark, Bagshaw, and Burgess met with us a lot and tried to work something out that would satisfy the preservationists, none of whom live in the Square, and still get us the development incentives we need to fill up the empty parking lots with workforce housing for the new economy workers who are beginning to fill up the empty office space, to stimulate small retail, to put more eyes on the street, and to preserve this wonderful recovering neighborhood as well as its old buildings.

The Council was put in a tough spot, but Clark and Burgess, especially, worked with us and did their homework. And now we will go back to work with the city government and our neighbors who live and work here, to try to lift up our community. Preservation is about preserving community as much as it is about preserving our old buildings.

Right now we are not doing well on either front. The old buildings, if they are to be preserved, have to go back to work, be active in a healthy neighborhood context, and full of the new energy and excitement brought here by the geeks and the artists and the unique small retailers, restaurants and bars that define the place.

There is a lot of work to do. We don’t have the time or the appetite to worry about “the powerful downtown business community”, which frankly has been pretty helpful to this neighborhood.

Let’s see how the new zoning works for a couple of years or so, get through our current road construction nightmare, take down the viaduct to open us up to our historic waterfront, make the many infrastructure and policy improvements that have to happen, and then revisit, if necessary, the whole question of development.

Maybe your next story will be about how the council, worried about the “powerful Pioneer Square Resident’s Council and small business coalition” voted unanimously to develop yet another park for Seattle’s first neighborhood.

Charles Royer

“Business groups supported the…higher height limits.” “Jean Godden and Bruce Harrell…need political cover to defy voting against the powerful downtown business community.”

The Square’s new community association, The Alliance for Pioneer Square, and many residents of the Square, myself included, worked with councilmembers Clark, Bagshaw, and Burgess, to try to achieve the higher heights. Ultimately it was too much for the preservationists who objected to the process–last minute changes by the Clark committee to grant greater heights–as much as to the heights themselves. Not everything in this town is explained by characterizing any issue as a war with the “downtown business community”.

Clark, Bagshaw, and Burgess met with us a lot and tried to work something out that would satisfy the preservationists, none of whom live in the Square, and still get us the development incentives we need to fill up the empty parking lots with workforce housing for the new economy workers who are beginning to fill up the empty office space, to stimulate small retail, to put more eyes on the street, and to preserve this wonderful recovering neighborhood as well as its old buildings.

The Council was put in a tough spot, but Clark and Burgess, especially, worked with us and did their homework. And now we will go back to work with the city government and our neighbors who live and work here, to try to lift up our community. Preservation is about preserving community as much as it is about preserving our old buildings.

Right now we are not doing well on either front. The old buildings, if they are to be preserved, have to go back to work, be active in a healthy neighborhood context, and full of the new energy and excitement brought here by the geeks and the artists and the unique small retailers, restaurants and bars that define the place.

There is a lot of work to do. We don’t have the time or the appetite to worry about “the powerful downtown business community”, which frankly has been pretty helpful to this neighborhood.

Let’s see how the new zoning works for a couple of years or so, get through our current road construction nightmare, take down the viaduct to open us up to our historic waterfront, make the many infrastructure and policy improvements that have to happen, and then revisit, if necessary, the whole question of development.

Maybe your next story will be about how the council, worried about the “powerful Pioneer Square Resident’s Council and small business coalition” voted unanimously to develop yet another park for Seattle’s first neighborhood.

Charles Royer

An giant rezone happens in a very large area of the city and you all focus on one component of it that you don’t like? Seattle can never pat itself on the back for anything.

This legislation was very well crafted taking into account how we maximize the great transit, the diversity of the neighborhoods and places (which includes 2 historic districts, critical industrial zoned areas) and knits it all together taking care to limit gentrification in important places like Chinatown-International District, maintain industrial jobs and important access to the Port and all the family wage jobs it brings while also creating better connections to downtown, Colman Dock, King Street Station, Union Station, First Hill Steet Car and Central ink Light Rail.

Here is a giant pat on the back Seattle for a job well done!

I believe we should focus on getting the North Lot development going! Nothing will catalyze these neighborhoods more that development being realized! The First Hill streetcar will also be a great addition and will help us get some positive, revitalizing development going. And, why did Greg Smith not build the trolley barn? Didn’t the City do a back bend to make that opportunity happen for that project. Last I noticed it’s still a surface parking lot.

They are being used for the new SHARE/WHEEL shelter

Could not agree more with North Lot’s comment. When that first building goes up–hopefully this year–it will be a game changer in terms of the perception of Pioneer Square as a place to live and to do business.

Charles Royer