I share some of the concerns about the bulk and huge quantity of parking in the late Dearborn project, but my largest concern was the traffic impact on the adjacent intersection, Dearborn & Rainier. My family uses this intersection all the time, and it’s already overloaded too many hours of the day.

All the additional auto traffic coming to and from this mall would’ve been just too much.

I always had mixed feelings about Dearborn, but aside from the overparking actually felt like it was fairly innovative. Having worked in real estate, I know that putting together that level of a project with so many tenants, uses, and neighborhood players is *very* difficult. From the outside, it appeared the developer was willing to work with the community.

That being said, I think it’s very possible that had this started a year ago, we’d probably have a hole in the ground that wasn’t going anywhere for a couple of years. Having the time to start anew and respond to a forward market is going to be a good thing.

An observation: If Seattle had TIF (Tax Increment Financing), this project would be an ideal recipient of funds that would make more neighborhood-oriented development financially feasible. It’s really a shame that we can’t get this passed through the legislature. As is usual with progressive taxation policies, Chopp seems to be the roadblock on this. Sigh.