Hunting for Goodwill on Dearborn Street
All that stuff shown above is a proposed $300 million development with 550 housing units, 650,000 square feet of retail space, and 2300 parking stalls, on a 10-acre site at Dearborn and Rainier, currently occupied by Goodwill. It’s a big one, guaranteed to be controversial, and interestingly, the two most vocal citizens groups have come down on opposite sides of the debate.
The Dearborn Street Coalition for a Livable Neighborhood opposed the project from early on, primarily due to concerns that the development — with its big-box focus — is not appropriate for the neighborhood, and that it would likely have a negative impact on nearby small businesses, particularly “Little Saigon” around 12th and Jackson. DSCLN deserve credit for helping to get 200 affordable units added to the project, as well as subsidies for small businesses, but apparently are still not satisfied. Some see DSCLN as a perfect example of the specious mentality that “Seattle is too easy on developers.”
Go Dearborn Street supports the development, in short, because they believe it will revitalize the neighborhood. They have been accused of being shills, but on their web site they deny any connection to the developer.
When I first heard about this project I was sympathetic the the concerns raised by DSCLN, the 2300 parking stalls in particular (when, exactly, are we going to begin reigning in car-oriented development?). And I generally prefer prefer small independent businesses over big-box. On the other hand, I appreciate all the arguments supporting urban infill on this site, and sure, it might be convenient from time to time to have a Target nearby. I’m totally waffling.
If you’re a design wonk, take a look at these preliminary plan drawings by Fuller Sears Architects (big pdf – right click and save target or open in new window). It’s remarkable the amount of building they’ve got stacked into the site. On the west half they’ve got big-box topped with three parking decks topped with more big-box topped with three floors of housing. Dang.