Planning 2012-09-27 COMPLETE AGENDA PACKET

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Attachment A: Project Discussion McMicken Court 4228 South 164th Street, Tukwila Project Discussion The proposed project consists of a building containing 9 market rent 2 Bedroom, 1 Bathroom apartments, and 3 commercial spaces. 4 of the apartments will be situated on the second and third floor each, one unit will be on the ground floor to comply with the American Disability Act and will be considered accessible. The apartments on the upper floors are accessible through two separate staircases that are situated on opposite ends of the building; providing easy access from either the public right of way or the parking lot. Each unit is assigned two parking spaces. All tenants will have access to a common laundry room. Each of the commercial spaces will be approx. 950 sqft in size and will each have its own unisex accessible restroom. Each of the commercial units will be easily accessible from outside of the building; there are no common corridors. Since access to the units will be directly from the pedestrian walkway and from the parking lot, these units will be perfect for retail or office use. To make the commercial units attractive, and abundance of parking opportunities is be provided. Each unit will have its independent heat and cooling source. Proposed climate control are ducted gas forced air furnaces for heat and heat pumps for cooling. Site Planning The site borders on residential zoning to the East and South (LDR) and on commercial zoning (RCC and NCC) to the West and North. In order to facilitate a transition from the multi family use and the single family use of the adjoining zoning, we situated the building towards the West of the property (towards to commercial area), to allow for a visual transition from multi to single family use. To further mitigate the visual transition, we used the existing topographic feature namely the fact that the property slopes away from the street towards the North. By placing the building towards the lower part of the property it will appear smaller as viewed from the street since it will sit 5 feet below street level. This, too will help to create a more favourable visual transition towards the one story single family building on the adjoining properties. An extensive 10' wide landscape buffer along the East side of the site will not only enhance this visual transition but will also provide screen to improve privacy. To provide a physical transition between the project and the public right of way, we propose a 4' wide pedestrian walkway from the street to the building situated towards the West of the frontage, and a drive -way for vehicular traffic towards the East of the front. In order to create a visual focus point for both entries, we propose extensive landscape features. To reduce the visual impact of large paved areas, the parking lot area is broken up by five landscaped islands. Building Design The challenge of the design process is based on the proximity of the project to the LDR zoning, which is dominated by single family residences. That means that the proposed design should help to mitigate a transition from quasi commercial to residential use. To take this into account, the residential part of the proposed building contains many features that are usually attributed to residential construction like lap siding and vinyl windows. This will help with a more harmonious transition to the residential area. The commercial part of the building on the other hand uses architectural design features usually attributed to commercial building like the steel awnings, the 17