Six-story building being considered next to Veterans Park and MLT Transit Center
Posted: December 6, 2020 868
A pre-application has been submitted for a project on four parcels abutting Veterans Memorial Park and the Transit Center in Mountlake Terrace, NextMLT reports. The proposal describes the project as a six-story multi-family building.
A pre-app is intended to present a development concept to the city and obtain initial feedback. Plans almost always change, and often projects don’t even move forward.
Existing Site
The project would be located on three existing single-family properties (and a separate narrow strip parcel) on the 233rd Place Southwest culdesac off of 60th Avenue West. These properties are bordered to the east by Veterans Memorial Park, to the south by the transit center and to the west by Interstate 5. The three properties total 1.06 acres and no sales have yet been reported.
These properties are located in the northwest portion of the Town Center zone that was added during the 2019 update. The properties are in the TC-1 zone, which allows six to 12 stories.
Because these properties border both the Transit Center and Veterans Memorial Park, a development project present a unique opportunity to better connect this portion of the Town Center with transit and park facilities. There certainly are some challenges, though, with fairly steep slopes to the west, south and east, NextMLT notes.
At the entrance to the 233rd Place Southwest culdesac there is an existing pedestrian access point to Veterans Park. This is a fairly steep trail that meanders down the hillside to the main Veterans Park trail, connecting the Transit Center to 58th Avenue West and the Civic Campus.
Proposal being considered
The concept being considered is a six-story multi-family building with parking on the ground floor and surface parking north of the building. The second through sixth floors would have 115 residential homes.
According to NextMLT:
Pre-application site plans are typically very preliminary in nature. Often times the applicant hasn’t even purchased the property and is just looking at the feasibility of a project. The pre-app conference is an opportunity for the applicant to get some initial feedback and input from city staff on the concept. There is plenty to be critical of with this site plan. For example, separating the building from the street with surface parking is a pretty basic urban design faux pas and is explicitly prohibited in Mountlake Terrace Town Center code. But, to their credit, the applicant is asking the right questions and this is an unusual site in that it is essentially at the terminus of a dead-end street. Some of the specific topics they ask to discuss with the city are:
Connection to Mountlake Terrace light rail station to the south
Interface between the building and the light rail guideway to the west
a potential vacation of the 233rd Place Southwest right-of-way
Connection to the greater Town Center
Design/frontage/ground floor requirements for residential use
The pre-application review typically takes at least a few weeks, which will give city staff opportunity to provide written comments.
Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.
These properties are located in the northwest portion of the Town Center zone that was added during the 2019 update. The properties are in the TC-1 zone, which allows six to 12 stories.
Because these properties border both the Transit Center and Veterans Memorial Park, a development project present a unique opportunity to better connect this portion of the Town Center with transit and park facilities. There certainly are some challenges, though, with fairly steep slopes to the west, south and east, NextMLT notes.
According to NextMLT:
Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.
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