PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Queen Anne Safeway Design Preview is tonight at 5:00pm. Stay tuned for full coverage.

This is a preview for community members organized by the developer, BarrientosRYAN, in advance of their Design Review Board meeting on December 2nd.

I’ve been covering this project for three and a half years. Currently, it is expected to open sometime in the summer of 2023. It takes more than six years to build a Safeway on Queen Anne. https://twitter.com/QAGreenways/status/849863275990761472

I originally planned to use this cover art for my Safeway livetweet thread but decided to go with a Zoom screen design instead.

I won't re-hash the history of this project but you can find references to my other livetweets in this livetweet. https://twitter.com/QAGreenways/status/1169778698716762112?s=20

The project has been re-branded 21 Boston as that is the address for the residential portion.

Someone was watching Chris Hayes on MSNBC unmuted, loudly, so we're all muted now.

Denny Bird is making introductions. He replaced Marty Kaplan as the head of LURC. Questions will be at the end of the presentation. Denny requests no "dog park" questions. Sorry, Sharon.

Brian Runberg and Chris Snyder will be presenting. They are the architect and landscape architect, respectively. Here's Chris. https://twitter.com/QAGreenways/status/1169795025439322112?s=20

*Kris

As before, the housing will be in three buildings above a plinth where the store is located.

New rendering looking north from the south.

A big sticking point has been the Queen Anne Ave. streetscape. The concern has been the singularity of the use compared to the typical 50 foot storefronts elsewhere on QA Ave. Here is the current proposal.

Here are three of the four corners. Different feel from each building.

Closer view of the residential lobby entry. They will be commissioning art for that screen in the lower right.

The back (east) side of the project will have stoops.

Trees in this rendering are a little faded for visibility but there will be a double row, creating a relatively lush landscape. Voluntary setbacks account for loss of 30% of allowed zoning.

More unmuted MSNBC blasting into the Zoom call now. We're all liberals here.

PARKING SIGNAGE.

Marty has entered the chat.

Someone interjecting out of turn, asking "if we are losing some of our parking" due to all of that lush landscaping. Architect requesting people to hold their questions until the end.

Some of the trees are actually "tree sculptures" that will be lit at night. More MSNBC now from another participant.

Instead of individual storefronts, Safeway will be sticking the deli, the florist and the coffee shop out along the streetfront to give more of an appearance of individual businesses.

Woman yelling WOULD YOU PLEASE TALK LOUDER?

Closer look at the plaza. Seating and a kids area. Heat lamps for winter dining. This is the spot opposite of the Queen Anne Farmers Market.

Guy named Doug interjecting out of turn, asking why fake trees and not real ones. Developer says it's art.

Looking into the chat and there's a lot going on. @MHerschensohn asking about deep fat fryers.

Nice little deck for Starbucks. The gray pads around the trees are Flexipave. Developer apologizes about bike racks, says they are required by SDOT.

Architects moving through the presentation quickly. Not giving me time to check replies.

Bus stop on east side of QA Avenue is shifting north, closer to where the curb cuts are now. Current shelter is going away and will be integrated into the building exterior.

Commenter raising the conspiracy theory about why this one block is zoned denser than any other in the area. Developer says neither she nor Safeway were involved in that decision.

Developer says she has a legal agreement from the City allowing them to not have small neighborhood retail as is otherwise required by code. She says sorry but the retail is going to be all Safeway.

There will be 324 housing units. Probably 450 people moving in. Currently, no one lives on this block, which is mostly parking lot, so this is a big improvement.

Construction anticipated to start in June 2021. It will take 25 months to build after groundbreaking. There will be a lot of work to bring beefier utilities to the site.

How long is this meeting? Does anyone know? My liquor cabinet is downstairs (too far).

I think the architect plays electric guitar.

There will be 151 commercial and 171 residential car parking stalls. Seattle code requires residential stalls to be rented separately and cannot be bundled with apartment rent. Residential garage and truck loading bay shown here.

Doug again asking about parking. Developer says no parking is required and parking demand is dropping, so that's why there are only spaces for about 50% of the residents.

Maria says the average age of renters will be about 32 and they don't have a lot of cars. Gary not buying it. Very concerned about "overflow." Gary: "I know we want climate change but people need to get to soccer practice."

Gary, voice trembling, says single family home dwellers will move out if they can't find places to park.

Margaret says bike racks need to be bike bollards and Queen Anne doesn't want staples.

Uh...

Sharon asking about trucks. The number, the times of day when they arrive, beeping noises, etc. Developer says deliveries will be after hours, except for artisanal bread trucks.

Developer says they are considering triple glazed windows near the loading bay so the beeping is quieter.

Sharon continuing to express concern about beeping. Now Sharon is moving on to trash. Where does it go? When does it get picked up?

Doug, becoming agitated, is asking about parking again. He wants to know where curbside parking will be located. Developer says SDOT is in charge of parking on city streets.

Sharon wants to know about the refrigeration equipment on the roof. Architect says it will be normal HVAC stuff. Sharon wants that equipment to be muffled. Architect says it doesn't make noise.

Marty Kaplan complimenting the developer and architect for doing a nice job. Wants to know about signage. Says the Safeway sign is too dominant. Wants it to be more understated.

Denny Bird asking about dog parking. Says there are a lot of dogs on Queen Anne. Developer says they'll add some hooks.

LURC and Picture Perfect Queen Anne reps on the call say they are happy with the plan. Big improvement from a year ago. Sharon, a buzzkill, jumps in to complain about trees being too small.

Developer refers to the quality of landscaping as "drive up appeal."

Landscape architect says no tree will be less than "three inches caliper." Me: googles "tree caliper." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_caliper

Breck asks about parking. Wants to talk more about parking but the meeting is almost over. Asks maybe if Crockett Street could be made one-way to preserve parking.

WE'RE DONE!