December 8, 2022

City cancels plans for EV charging station and parking lot in Belltown

Seattle City Light photo [enlarge]

A view of the parcel facing northwest on Blanchard Street.

The future of an approximately 15,000-square-foot parcel in Belltown, with a long and interesting history, is once again in question after Seattle City Light announced it is scrapping plans to create a new surface parking lot with EV charging on the site.

The parcel is located at the intersection of Blanchard Street and Western Avenue at the former west entry point to the Battery Street Tunnel. The land, which is owned by the Seattle Department of Transportation, was only made buildable following the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. The parcel abuts the soon to be completed Elliott Way roadway that will connect Belltown with the waterfront as part of the redevelopment of the latter.

Image by JCFO [enlarge]

In 2018 Saratoga Capital was proposing to develop an apartment building at the site (shown here on the lower left).

The parking lot plan was announced earlier this year. City Light was proposing to install four EV fast chargers and two Level 2 EV chargers in a new surface lot with six to eight parking stalls. That plan was the latest of many visions for the site. Almost a decade ago it was touted as an “opportunity area” for development by the Office of the Waterfront and Civic Projects as part of the redevelopment of the waterfront. In 2014, lead architect for the waterfront project, James Corner Field Operations, released conceptual renderings for the site that showed a lush greenspace with seating and a small children's play area.

Following a decision not to develop the parcel as part of the waterfront project, in 2018, private developer Saratoga Capital, which owns the adjacent Elliott Pointe Apartments, was proposing to buy the land from the city and build a new super-skinny apartment building there. That land sale never happened and the project did not proceed.

As first reported by The Urbanist, City Light said it made the decision to not move ahead with the parking lot plan due to unforeseen delays and funding constraints. As to the future of the parcel, a City Light spokesperson told the publication that for now SDOT will retain ownership, with a future use to be determined in coordination with the Office of the Waterfront.