Posted Jan 21, 2016, 7:55 PM
|
Never Dell
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 19,999
|
|
Love this. First Hill is an oddly-quiet mix of dense housing, hospitals, a museum (this is their parking lot), a cathedral and related high school, and way too many parking lots especially in this immediate area. This is potentially iconic project for the neighborhood. At 450 units it's also a jolt along with a 1.2-block 412-unit woodframe project planned a block away.
More broadly, First Hill will soon have a streetcar easing the trip from the south end of Downtown which is currently buses or a big hill to walk up. That's helping drive some growth. Also the Yesler Terrace public housing complex is being redeveloped with probably a couple thousand units plus a lot of commercial space vs. the 590 townhouse units it had a couple years ago, which will take many years but buildings have started to open. A handful of other highrise housing projects are being planned, one that appears poised to start maybe this spring including a Whole Foods. A 24-story condo is topping out. Swedish Hospital plans $800m of additions and someone else plans an MOB (medical office building).
In some ways this wing of greater Downtown is set off by the hill, the freeway (some streets don't connect), and the medical/housing/institutional vibe vs. offices. And the south half has historically been pretty low-rent aided by the region's top trauma center and public hospital at Harborview. But that dynamic is changing.
The north half of the hill is one of Seattle's densest housing districts along with a third hospital, Virginia Mason. It's a rare part of Seattle where there are highrises but it's also pretty quiet and residential on some streets.
|