Green Lake's changing face causes some jitters

For Dominique Walmsley, the Vitamilk Dairy sprawling across three blocks in the heart of Green Lake was a quirky anachronism that added character to the neighborhood.

For Glenda Wilson -- who lived next to the industrial operation for 40 years -- the noise, traffic and diesel fumes from idling milk trucks were a constant source of frustration.


		Gilbert W. Arias / P-I
	Two women stroll with their babies by the old Vitamilk Dairy near Green Lake recently. The plant closed this summer after 60 years in the area.

The two residents are both excited and apprehensive about a six-story retail and housing project that could replace the Vitamilk Dairy, which stopped processing milk there more than a year ago.

In what could become the neighborhood's largest redevelopment project ever, the dairy's owners are asking the city to rezone and raise height limits across portions of a 3-acre area from 40 to 65 feet.

They've hired the developer of high-profile projects such as Uwajimaya Village and Wallingford Center, who envisions an anchoring grocery store, underground parking and ground-floor shops. Upward of 250 housing units, likely to be apartments, could be built above.

"This absolutely has the potential to change the community in a very significant way," said Ref Lindmark, vice president of the Green Lake Community Council. "I think there's a hope we can try to figure what will fit and what's compatible."

Like other Seattle neighborhoods, Green Lake is hoping redevelopment will energize the area without sacrificing its distinctive character.

Many in Green Lake welcome the opportunity to revitalize a business district that's been an odd mishmash of industrial businesses, spas, restaurants, martial-arts studios and stores catering to the lake's fitness-crazed visitors.

But questions remain about parking, how the buildings will look and what happens to traffic as Green Lake's "urban village" starts to shoot skyward with upscale condos and apartment buildings. That district east of the lake has been designated to handle much of the neighborhood's future population growth.

Walmsley, a mom and graduate school student, said she'd welcome additions such as a hardware store, a place to buy odds and ends or a flower shop.

"What we really want in Green Lake is to have a place of our own, not for the people who visit the lake," she said. "But I'm concerned about roads -- once all that's in and all those people live there, there's nothing we can do anymore."

Wilson, who owns a small apartment building on Northeast 70th Street that's surrounded by the Vitamilk property, said she was thrilled when the processing plant shut its operations.

She's on a community committee that's giving input to the developer and the city as it considers the rezoning request, expected to take six to eight months. The City Council will ultimately vote on the changes.


	Gilbert W. Arias / P-I
A man makes his way up Northeast 71st Street in Green Lake, a neighborhood that is an odd mishmash of businesses, spas and eateries.

Neighbors are interested in pedestrian corridors or plazas to break up the big blocks and design schemes that would keep the tall buildings from overpowering the narrow streets and sidewalks.

Wilson, for instance, likes the looks of The Greenlake condominium project next door, which was designed with community input. Those buildings are the same height as the requested rezone, but there are only 100 units.

"I hope they can keep it quaint and desirable and something that we can be proud of," Wilson said.

Daryl Vander Pol, whose father-in-law started delivering milk from area farmers to local residents during the Depression, bought Green Lake property for a production plant in 1940. At that time, the area was depressed and the city was eager for any commercial activity.

He said the family is committed to creating a development that's going to be an asset to the community.


		Gilbert W. Arias / P-I
	Glass blower Levi Belber uses a tool to mold hot glass into a Glassybaby, a brightly colored candleholder. The store where he works is housed in the old Vitamilk building, but a massive, new project is proposed for the area.

"We want a quality project that's going to have its own distinctiveness," he said. "We don't want it to be cookie cutter."

Tom Bartholomew, project manager for the developer, Lorig Associates, said many of the project's details -- such as how many housing units and parking spaces will be built -- aren't known yet.

But they're interested in creating a pedestrian-friendly environment, preserving the quiet feel of Northeast 72nd Street and improving the main arterial, Northeast 71st, with greenery and better urban design.

It's "extremely rare" to have such a large intact site in the middle of a highly desirable neighborhood to work with, Bartholomew said.

"We'd be disingenuous if we said we weren't going to change the fabric of this neighborhood. We are," he said. "But I think this gives us a chance to create character and the sense of place. We're not just infilling this one lot."


	Gilbert W. Arias / P-I
A construction worker prepares a site where townhouses are to be built across the street from the old Vitamilk Dairy.

At the Little Red Hen, Green Lake's improbable restaurant and country music bar with painted buffaloes on the walls, high-rise construction worker Paul Jones said he hates to see unique places disappear. He also wondered how affordable the apartments would be.

"It's just new stuff. It doesn't add character. Do we really need a bunch of Nike shops for a lake you can't hardly run around with so many people?" he asked.

But bartender Anthony "2e" Rose -- who got to know the Vitamilk executives and workers who lunched at the Red Hen -- said there's little point in being against change. He grew up fishing in Green Lake. Now, he hardly ever sees children doing that anymore.

"The lake has changed," he said. "A lot of families made a living from that dairy for a lot of years but I'm for the condos. It's the wave of the future. You can't stop it."

More headlines and info from Green Lake.