Tuesday, June 27, 2017

The "Overlake Neighborhood" Is Booming

Esterra Master Park
It appears "flat top" buildings are envisioned for the Overlake Urban Village















Woah!  Downtown construction of the 6-story rental buildings and the couplet road conversion are totally distracting us (at least me) from what's going on in the Overlake Urban Center. To catch up, I'll be posting a series of reports on this "neighborhood" over the next several weeks.

Right now, Education Hill is the most populous neighborhood in the City.  Soon the Downtown will be the most populated; finally in the end, Overlake will be number one.  Five thousand new homes and 95,000 new jobs are are expected between 2010 - 2030.  Overlake is the third largest jobs center in Puget Sound!  Light rail will arrive in six years further stimulating growth.

Yes, the 9-story twin towers proposed for the old post office site are tall but be prepared for Overlake! Commercial buildings are zoned 8-10 stories and residential buildings, 8-12 stories. According the city's old Overlake Urban Center web page seven projects have already been completed.

A few months ago Steve Fischer, City Development Manager, gave Council a status update on projects currently underway:

1)  Capstone Lofts Hotel, 274 rooms, completed by this summer.

2) Avalon Block 4, 230 apartments, partially occupied, near 152nd.

3)  Red 148, old Asteca site, 244 units, 24 "affordable," [Impact fees:  fire $46,872, park $686,984, transportation $360,000]

4) Block 7, partially occupied, 260 apartments and about 13,000 square feet of retail

5 ) Lincoln Park:  Blocks 5, 6A, 9 -- 156th Ave. NE & NE Turing St.  3 multi-family housing buildings:  6-story w/ 215 homes, 8-story w/ 212 homes, 6-story, w/ 231 homes, just starting, 150,000 cubic yards removed.

6) Avalon Block 8 on NE 24th & 152nd, 330 units, just starting, 25,000 cubic yards removed.

More to come...

Bob Yoder

3 comments:

  1. Very interesting article on Overlake neighborhood. The lofts would be ideal for H1B visa workers, who might walk down the street to the main campus. On the main campus the workers could eat breakfast and lunch at the company café. I wonder what the rent will be for a one room loft?

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  2. Hmmm, 5000 new homes for 95,000 new jobs and people wonder where traffic comes from. We need to radically increase residential density in these job centers so more people have the option to get to work without a car.

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  3. The City is unclear Brian and yes, it sounds weird. I think they consider Homes=Condos, Rooms=Hotels, Units=Apts. Many apartment buildings are a coming. I'll be posting more reports on Overlake development this month. It's crazy up there but you'd never know it from Ed. Hill.
    and other city neighborhoods.

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