Another rubber-stamped tower is designed to fail

Today’s blog post is the third in a series where we look at Seattle’s land use history and decades of missed opportunities for comprehensive infrastructure planning for transportation and housing.

Most people planning a double garage off their alley wouldn’t make it hard for vehicles to get in and out, or store garbage and trash compactors in the same space needed for off-loading.  Especially in a tower designed for 1,600 people generating a daily stream of service, moving and delivery trucks.

But that’s the plan for First Light, a 500’ residential/retail/office tower proposed at Third and Virginia and just approved by the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI).

We were encouraged last year when practical comments we submitted on the project’s loading and waste design were echoed in SDCI correction notices. But after 8 cycles of correction letters, the project was recently approved leaving key questions unanswered.

How will it guarantee moving trucks serving 459 residential units will work only off-peak hours? How will it turn away trucks too long for its loading berths?  Where will trucks park when garbage is waiting for collection and limits access to loading berths?

Functional design is just that—practical infrastructure to make a building work. It keeps loading and garbage operations inside and not spilling into alleys, causing queues and congestion on surrounding streets.

First Light is not alone. A few blocks away, the mixed-use Chromer towers have one loading berth for 523 luxury condos and ground floor retail food service. They estimate 25-75 residential moves a month, about 300 daily package deliveries and approximately 10-15 delivery and maintenance trucks arriving daily between 7 am and 9 pm. Still under review, Chromer’s latest Transportation Impact Analysis (TIA) relies on a proposed loading zone on Second Ave. and one proposed in the project alley because drivers in a hurry will find it “a more convenient location than pulling into the loading bay.”  Chromer shows its garbage staging across the alley from the project marked as a 3’ wide x 130’ long area in front of its neighbors’ buildings.

Both First Light and Chromer cover a quarter city block yet can’t contain their loading and waste demands. They’re among many towers planned without adequate functional design.

We know the problems these buildings will create because we see them now in alleys with newly completed developments. The Helios Apt/Charter Hotel and Thompson Hotel/Viktoria Apt alleys have single loading berths unable to fit trucks. Instead, trucks and vans line these alleys blocking garage access and creating daily bottlenecks.

Giving lip service to density and sustainability isn’t enough.  Seattle’s building boom may be paused due to COVID-19, but it’s not over. There may be economic pressure to pass substandard designs and hope for the best.  But each unsustainable tower approved, ensures Seattle’s quest for density is designed to fail.

Stay tuned for future posts in this series, exploring how current Seattle development and land use policy is impacting Seattle transportation and sustainable housing.

Be sure to read additional posts in series:

Will Seattle’s 19th century transportation grid continue to survive business as usual?

We need action, not more talk

Demands of e-commerce won’t be met by paper band aids

Surface parking lots: A hot button issue

Tower trash in alleys doesn’t pass the smell test

Sky-high living requires smart down to earth designs