Dramatic new vision for Pioneer Square

An ambitious concept unveiled this week would dramatically increase the amount of housing in and around Pioneer Square, transforming the historic Seattle neighborhood into a thriving residential community.

A CLOSER LOOK

For a more detailed look at the proposal, view a large-scale illustration, with notes, as viewed from the west (Acrobat PDF, 467K).

After working quietly for the past year, a group of prominent Seattle property owners has begun meeting with public officials and community members to present a vision for adding more than 10,000 new housing units to the area south of the downtown business district. That's 10 times as many units as exist in Pioneer Square today.

Drawings commissioned by the group show gleaming towers on the Port of Seattle's Terminal 46 and the former Washington Oregon Shippers Cooperative Association site. Residential buildings replace parking lots inside Pioneer Square and east of the neighborhood. Pier 48 becomes a hotel, a new terminal is created for auto ferries, and a new park is constructed near the waterfront.

And in a departure from existing plans for housing on the Seahawks Stadium's north parking lot, the group envisions a two-story structure with retail space, parking and a Stadium Exhibition Center staging area. Sports fields and open space would top the structure, to be used by the community's much larger residential population.

"We've come up with some things that are a little bit out of the box," said William Justen, a member of the property owners group and managing director of real estate with Samis Land Co., during a presentation this week to a Pioneer Square community group.

For the time being, however, it's merely a grand idea -- one the property owners acknowledge would take at least 15 years to complete.

The group is careful to call its sketches a starting point for discussion rather than a concrete plan of action. Although members of the group own more than 50 properties in the Pioneer Square area, they wouldn't be able to implement their vision alone, even if they were so inclined.

In addition to Samis, which owns such properties as the landmark Smith Tower, the group includes Nitze-Stagen & Co., developer of Starbucks Center and the Union Station complex; Pioneer Square Properties; and Greg Smith, a Seattle developer who leads partnerships that own key sites in and around Pioneer Square, including the former WOSCA site.

The group hopes to significantly increase the residential population close to the downtown core and transportation hubs, revitalizing the urban area and supporting retail businesses while helping the region by keeping people off the highways.

In fashioning their vision, the property owners used as their guide the Pioneer Square neighborhood plan, which called for increasing the number of housing units in the community from 920 in 1998 to about 3,000 by 2014. The new housing would be expected to accommodate a range of income levels.


		W.G. Hook Illustrations
	The concept envisions adding 10 times as many housing units as exist in Pioneer Square today.

The fate of the group's concepts will hinge on complex transportation and zoning issues, as well as the decisions of city and county officials, transportation agencies, businesses and property owners not involved in creating the concept, such as the Port of Seattle and the Washington State Public Stadium Authority.

"What we did, without your permission, was say, 'If we owned that property, what would we do with it?' " Justen told the Port of Seattle Commission as he showed them the concept for the first time yesterday.

Port officials have previously acknowledged the possibility of someday redeveloping the 88-acre site commonly known as Terminal 46. But the port is also quick to point out that Hanjin Shipping Co., one of its largest customers, has eight years remaining on its lease for the terminal, with an option for five more.

"We do have an important customer still there with a lease for a considerable period of time, and we fully expect to honor the lease," said Paige Miller, a port commissioner, during the meeting yesterday. She told Justen, however, that the property owners' vision and the port's preliminary thinking "share a lot in common" in the long run.

The housing concept was well-received during its first public viewing, a community forum Tuesday evening in Pioneer Square. The event was held by the Pioneer Square Community Association, which advised the property owners as they came up with their vision.

People from the neighborhood applauded at times and generally made positive comments about various aspects of the proposal. Some even asked how they could help move the concept forward.

"We were very excited about the way that the public embraced the vision," said Craig Montgomery, executive director for business development at the Pioneer Square Community Association. "Knowing that this is just a vision, we're looking forward to working with the major property owners' group in developing strategies to move forward."

The early support from the community can be credited in part to the fact that the concept does not call for any changes in building height or scale inside the Pioneer Square historic district. The neighborhood has long been sensitive to the idea of new additions diminishing its historical character.

The property owners would like to see each parking lot inside the neighborhood replaced with a new residential building, generally with ground-floor retail. However, they said, those buildings would be constructed in a manner complementary to existing buildings, which are protected by Pioneer Square's historic designation.

The reaction to the concept from public officials and city planners has been both positive and cautious.

"In general, the approach is a good one," said John Rahaim, executive director of CityDesign, the city of Seattle's urban design office, who attended the forum Tuesday.

Rahaim spoke favorably yesterday about the idea of increasing residential density in the urban area, but he said he would need to look more closely at some of the concept's "big moves," such as the change in plans for the football stadium's north lot.

The long-standing plan for the parking lot calls for a mixed-use development, to include housing. The plan was set in motion with a 1998 agreement among the city of Seattle; the Washington State Department of Transportation; Seahawk owner Paul Allen's First & Goal Inc, which operates the stadium; and the owners of the parking lot, King County and the Public Stadium Authority.

Allen's Vulcan Inc., with headquarters nearby, made a financial contribution to the property owners group but did not take part in its meetings. Justen acknowledged yesterday that Vulcan "may not agree with everything that we're showing."

Vulcan does have "some concerns" about the group's vision for the north lot, company spokesman Michael Nank said. "For us, it's really tough to have a definitive plan at this time around the north lot, given the amount of infrastructure that's in play," such as the proposed monorail line and other projects.

Public officials briefed by the property owners group include King County Executive Ron Sims. He has backed plans to put housing on the north lot but was open to the property owners' ideas for the Pioneer Square area.

"He thought the concept as a whole was really intriguing," said Elaine Kraft, spokeswoman for Sims.

Another potential source of debate is the property owners' suggestion for a change in the route of the proposed monorail line. The plan now calls for the monorail to run along the east side of Safeco Field. The property owners think it would make more sense to cross the line over to First Avenue, on the west side of the sport stadiums, where more people will be living and working.

Seattle Monorail Project spokesman Paul Bergman said the plan approved by the voters specifically called for the monorail to pass Safeco Field on the Third Avenue side. Bergman said the agency's attorneys don't believe they can change the route now, without sending the entire plan back to the voters.

But Justen said he isn't convinced a new vote would be needed.

The next step for the property owners group will be creating a list of changes that would need to take place for its vision to become a reality.

To accommodate large towers, for example, existing height limitations would need to be relaxed on the potential development sites east of Pioneer Square and the former WOSCA site near the waterfront.

The Seattle Mariners have objected to the prospect of new buildings on the WOSCA site obstructing views from Safeco Field, and that remains an issue for the team.

"We're not opposed to development in this area," Mariner spokeswoman Rebecca Hale said, "but we do have concerns that we would like to make sure are addressed in any of the developments," including the protection of views from the stadium.

On that issue and others, the property owners hope their concept sparks discussion and debate.

"What they have done is put a concept out on the table that will hopefully start the public debate," said Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis, one of the public officials briefed by the property owners. "They have some really exciting concepts."

P-I reporter Todd Bishop can be reached at 206-448-8221 or toddbishop@seattlepi.com P-I reporter Kery Murakami contributed to this report.

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