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| Beijing based public company financed this $31 million project. The yellow building is under construction and part of the project. The remaining orange vapor barrier film is being covered with more drab materials. See the small cranes at work? |
The mixed use "Grand" building will house 1,2,3,4 bedroom apartment units and first floor retail. It's right in the center of town at the Redmond Way / 166th Avenue and replaces Redmond Square retail mall. Trees were once visible here.
Last month, the planning department distributed a questionnaire with pictures of different building designs. Believe it or not, there are still many large projects in the pipeline. Please take the survey!
Who was our mayor in 2008? Mayor Ives / Mayor Marchione? Building design surveys, open houses, and workshops should have been done ~ fifteen years ago. As is, we will have to live with this and other high profile ugly buildings with no art for over ~ 50 years. 😮
-- Bob Yoder, opinion, 8/30/2023
It’s very disappointing that the city of Redmond has not put more restrictions about these large buildings. We all agree we need affordable housing, but they can both be achievable. The sides on these buildings are cheap, and we don’t know how they’re going to age and who is Going to be responsible for enforcing the appearance in the long run? We could end up looking like a tenement city.
ReplyDeleteThere are ways around this. Not that I’m a huge fan of Kirkland, but they have acquired more from their filters in these large developments. They require setbacks in exchange for height, so that sunlight still hits the street. They expect better building for sides that will be long-lasting, and blend in with the rest of the city, and they involve the community more than just a few blocks, in the discussion around these large developments that are changing the appearance of their downtown. I find Redmond barely sends out, notices to people more than two blocks away, you have to go buy it and pick out a flyer or take a picture and contact the city. There is not enough community Engagement. And maybe our community is just apathetic about it.
We need to demand more from our design review, board, our planning commission, and our city Council. We need to push back on giving developers all of the benefits with none of the costs. We need to think about how these buildings are going to age in the long run, what kind of a visual appearance for creating in downtown. We all have to take her density, I get that, but we don’t have to do it at the expense of the parents and approachability of our downtown or any neighborhood.
My suggestion is that we create an active community group is going to start attending these meetings, Reporting back in getting more involved, and getting other people more involved about what’s happening. We need to start to speak up about what we don’t like and what we want. In general, Redmond’s really good about serving everybody and asking her opinions, but when it comes to development, they do it behind closed doors. It’s time for that to stop!
My suggestion is that we create an active community group is going to start attending these meetings, reporting back and getting more involved, and getting other people more involved about what’s happening. We need to start to speak up about what we don’t like and what we want. In general, Redmond’s really good about serving everybody and asking her opinions, but when it comes to development, they do it behind closed doors. It’s time for that to stop!
I would help in a committee like this, but I can’t do it by myself. And it needs leaders from multiple communities. Let’s go people, let’s make our voices heard before it’s too late.
I hear you anonymous. The architectural standards were set years ago during the Marchione Administration. It's not the present mayor's fault. The first few cheap bland, cubed 6-story buildings set the standard for the next developers, then the next...and on. The city lost control of them years ago. Now, it is was it is, but there's some salvation with the Director of Planning write new code requiring a certain amount of building art. They are doing this in Marymoor Village, even with out new code. (See the sidebar of my blog.)
DeleteIf you could gather a group of your friends and neighbors to speak at the City Council meetings on Tuesday night 7p.m. that would be a start.
Please explain how "affordable" these apartments are.
ReplyDelete