Sydney's Botney Bay seawall

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The scholarship is funded by contributions by Seattle-area Fellows of the American Institute of Architects and AIA members.

But I had a chance to visit just such a parallel world this week in California called Oakland.

Oakland has long been San Francisco’s ugly sister derided for its crime and Gertrude Stein determined that there was no there, there.

It is a small city and it has had its share of issues with crime. But there is a great deal of natural beauty, cultural and compelling architecture not to mention some fantastic historic landmarks.

What makes a trip to Oakland revealing is what its urgent desire to create more multifamily housing in the downtown area. There don’t seem to be the debates we have in Seattle about whether we have growth and whether Seattle should accommodate it. Instead former Mayor Jerry Brown developed the 10K Initiative which set as a goal to create 10,000 new units of housing.

Shocking! Imagine a housing agenda with an actual numerical and geographic target. And add to that the fact that the projects that are listed range from subsidized low income housing to large mixed used projects like the one on 23^rd and Valdez Street. The amazing and historic Cathedral Building is also being converted to condominiums.

My walking tour of these projects took the better part of a day and some of the projects were completely ugly, others run of the mill and some appeared to really be reaching for new ground in design and function.

The sad thing is the effort may not be working. The flailing economy and the uphill climb to reverse the doughnut effect is creating a high vacancy rate—at least anecdotally. Some locals say they are the ones that should be living in the new units, but Oakland just doesn’t work for them.

So while some in Seattle want to shut the door behind them and keep out new growth, or nickel and dime developers with disconnected housing goals (How many? Where? Why?) Oakland is actually going out of its way to identify under utilized parcels and recruit efforts to build housing on them. I am

sure Oakland wishes it had our problems. And the Lesser Seattle folks, I’m sure, wish we had theirs.

]]> http://www.djc.com/blogs/SeattleScape/2008/11/10/oakland-a-parallel-universe/feed/ 1 http://www.djc.com/blogs/SeattleScape/2008/06/12/not-a-landmark-but-developer-wont-demolish-it-anyway/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=not-a-landmark-but-developer-wont-demolish-it-anyway http://www.djc.com/blogs/SeattleScape/2008/06/12/not-a-landmark-but-developer-wont-demolish-it-anyway/#comments Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:42:49 +0000 Shawna Gamache http://www.djc.com/blogs/SeattleScape/2008/06/12/not-a-landmark-but-developer-wont-demolish-it-anyway/ The Southwest Design Review Board will check in tonight on a strangely familiar West Seattle development.

As built in 1927

The project is at 3811 California Ave. W. The developer initially proposed tearing down the Charleston Court building to build an entirely new project. Then, partway through design review, Charleston Court was nominated for landmark status. The project went on hold for a year.

The landmark board voted in April against landmarking the 1927 building, designed by William Whiteley, clearing the way for demolition. (Original building shown above.)

But the developer is back with new plans that will give the neighbors deja vu.

What the developer wants

The rear portion of the old building would be torn down, but the developer wants to use that brick to create a new building front between the wings.

Steven Butler and Paul Cesmat bought the building in 2007. Project architect is Nicholson Kovalchick.

She remembers taking the ferry from Madison Park to Kirkland for her first reporting job, and said the streetcars that criss-crossed the city cost a nickel each. Bellevue was a meadow, she said, while Kirkland was a vibrant little town.

Gray worked for Architecture West for about 20 years and led Relta Gray Associates for nearly 30 years. She also founded Environmental Design West and edited Northwest Architect.

I spoke to Relta about how today’s Seattle compares with that town of old and about her memories of earlier Seattle architects. Here’s a selection from our conversation.

Relta Gray

Q. How has downtown changed?
A. To me, it seems like when I go downtown I begin to feel like I’m in New York or Chicago. I do like the energy of going downtown and feeling people around, but if feels like we’re taking away the whole character of the Northwest with the way they’re putting all these high-rises up and crowding it all together and taking down some of the little stores and things you always enjoyed.

Q. What did “Western architecture” mean when you first wrote about it?
A. When I was doing that, we were just getting to know some of the Western architects. I remember Frank Gehry, when he first got started we did this little feature on him and I was astounded at his vision at the time. It was just sort of an out-there thing.

Q. What about Northwest architecture?
A. Here in the Northwest, we’re blessed with so much open space and we have a lot of water, and we had trees and I think that really played into whatever design we had. We had a very good group here who also were very concerned about the community and sort of keeping the Northwest aura. They worked on keeping the open space and allowing for gray days, and adapting and utilizing what we had for heat and power and letting a lot of light in. What really makes it Northwest is where we live and the views we have.

Q. Who were some memorable local architects?
A. (Fred) Bassetti was really a forward-seeing architect. Locally, I thought Victor Steinbrueck was great because he was concerned about the outdoors. Al Bumgardner, when he first came to Seattle, he was into residential architecture, but then he built churches and schools and bigger buildings. He was very open to where buildings were going to be located and how it would affect other areas.

Q. Do you like the new streetcar?
A. I use public transportation a lot. I remember when we had streetcars all around Seattle and you rode on them for a nickel. There’s so many people now and I think we need public transit but I think the streetcars are a little cumbersome. Buses can go into a lot of places streetcars can’t. I’m all for things like Sound Transit. I’d like to see it developed so we could get to the Eastside more easily.

Q. How has the Eastside changed?
A. Bellevue was a big meadow pasture. A friend’s dad owned 20 acres of farmland that became Bellevue Square. Kirkland was kind of a bustling little town even then. Kirkland had more of an advantage until they put I-405 through there. At the time you could walk anyplace and get anything you needed over in Kirkland.

Gray recently retired from design and construction editing, turning her attention to The Independent Elderly, a 62-page guide on how friends and family can help the elderly maintain their independence as they age. Read more of our conversation here (subscription only).

The Artic's signature Walruses

(Quick, before you click the link above, name the architect. Hint: He also designed the old King County Courthouse.)

The Arctic Club Hotel will celebrate its grand opening in May, according to the Web site for Summit Hotels & Resorts. Summit bought the walrus-adorned historic building from the city in 2005 for $5.1 million. Check out a slide show of rooms and more here.

The city purchased the Arctic and the Alaska Building in 1988 for more than twice their 2005 selling price.

Summit has been busy converting the 1916 social club turned office building into an upscale hotel. The landmark building at Third and Cherry needed a full seismic upgrade in addition to repairs and refurbishments.

It’s been fun to see the building getting spruced up for its new purpose. Check out the room design here, and get a glimpse on the left of the refurbished ceiling and chandelier.

The building is no longer limited to those who made it big in the Alaskan Gold Rush, but rooms start at about $250 a night.

(Fun fact, from Jeffrey Ochsner‘s “Shaping Seattle Architecture:” The Arctic Building’s Architect, Augustus Warren Gould, had no academic training and transferred from the contracting business to architecture in the late 1890s.)

The Square is renovating the tug’s old home on the first floor and the tug has been removed, but according to the Square’s Web site, the tugboat will be getting a new play area on the third floor this fall.

The new play area will have a seating area, and the tugboat and smaller ferry boat will both be moved there. The Square’s site says the new play area will also have “added structures and nautical-themed elements for playing and climbing.” And room for a little pushing, I expect.