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November 3, 2008

Opinion: Interbay's time has come

By ROGER VALDEZ
Special to the Journal

Valdez
Seattle could learn a lot from Portland's much-loved Pearl District and the way it was transformed from a low-density warehouse district into a busy mix of housing, retail and cultural uses.

We don't have Tax Increment Financing, a powerful tool that uses public debt to create infrastructure to support development in blighted areas. New development that was created in the Pearl through TIF increased the value of the property, producing more tax revenue to pay the debt. We may not have TIF in Seattle, but we do have Interbay. 

The Interbay rezone passed out of the Seattle City Council's Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee, but stalled last week before getting to a full council vote.

The mayor and some council members made it clear that zoning changes at Interbay will come at the price of affordable housing created through the incentive zoning plan being considered by council. Additionally, the Seattle Department of Transportation has raised concerns about sidewalk and road improvements missing from the rezone proposal.

But Interbay's time has come.

Council may vote today
The full Seattle City Council could vote as early as today on the upzone proposed for the Interbay neighborhood.

A council committee last month approved raising base heights to 65 feet with bonus height for residential buildings up to 85 feet when 20 percent of the units are either subsidized or provided at lower rents.

The proposal would re-zone the area to Seattle Mixed, encouraging residential and retail mixed-use on 7.5 acres of commercially zoned land bounded by the BN Railroad tracks on the west, Emerson Street overpass on the north, 15th Avenue West on the east, and the Interbay playfields and golf course on the south. Height limits there now are 40 feet.

Interbay, like the area that became the Pearl District, is now a mix of low-intensity uses with no housing to speak of. Because of its location, proposed density here hasn't sparked dissent from neighboring single-family neighborhoods, and the industrial community has supported the changes.

The council should avoid wringing its hands over the many “what ifs” that could hold this up. Non-traditional sidewalks that don't require full drainage could address the Department of Transportation's concerns, and a reasonable target can be set for affordable units, outside of the incentive zoning proposal.

The Pearl has also been a laboratory for sustainable reuse of buildings like the Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center created and operated by Ecotrust. The Ecotrust Building, as it is known, is a remarkable intersection of provocative design, sustainability, historic preservation and meeting place. These kinds of innovative uses should be encouraged in Interbay, in addition to housing and pedestrian-focused transportation infrastructure.

Innovative ideas like these, however, can only get started by approving the rezone.

Incentive zoning is a good idea, but the mayor and council's affordability objectives can be reached without holding up Interbay and risking other benefits to the goals of livability, sustainability and creating Seattle's next great neighborhood.

Roger Valdez is a former city council and legislative staffer. He is now a consultant with an interest in using zoning to support neighborhood arts and cultural organizations.


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