New in Queen Anne!

Attention Queen Anne residents and soon to be (?) residents: Development of the newest apartment complex located in Lower Queen Anne commenced on Monday. The building site resides on the former Mountaineers’ Headquarters at 300 Third Ave. W. The 10,000 member clubhouse which was once called the Norway Center, was built in 1950 by Norwegian fraternal and cultural organizations and sold 14 months ago. The real estate investment trust (REIT) Avalon Bay Communities (which owns or has an interest in 14 other complexes in Washington) behind the whole operation applied to build the 6-story, 204-unit building back in ’08 and construction is finally underway. Avalon Bay plans to erect a 295,738 sf building, dedicating 196,011 sf to residential use and 14,585 sf to commercial space. Aptly named the Avalon Queen Anne, the complex is one of the first in Queen Anne to follow the City of Seattle Green Factor, which applies to the landscaping in multi-family residential zones based on a scoring system. The Score Sheet measures factors like green roofs, vegetated walls and preservation of existing trees. Essentially, it is used to maintain and improve the livability in neighborhoods by making “green” requirements. Avalon Queen Anne, whose design concept is shown above, hopes to start leasing in the fall of 2011.

Expect Inspection

If you are a renter and find yourself questioning how safe your unit is, or whether or not your landlord even cares, you’ll be happy to hear about the latest vote concerning this issue. Last week, the Seattle City Council voted “yes” to set up a city-conducted inspection system to ensure substandard rental unit safety and it’s adherence to building codes. Building codes, some may be wondering, are specialized codes that set standards for construction methods and the materials used. These can include fire codes, electrical codes and plumbing codes. Many, not to say all, renters aren’t aware of their building’s codes or have the means to find another residence if their building is not up to par. This is part of the reason why the city is implementing the program. There are over 100,000 units in Seattle, 50% of which are actually rented. Currently, unit inspection is allowable only if a tenant or owner gives permission. This new rule, which most likely won’t begin until 2012, orders mandatory inspections under which every unit in the city could be inspected, if decided. Of course, Seattle will work to improve its current system before requiring inspections, specifically for the fact that the new program will require landlords to pay a license fee. Owners will be required to have a license which they receive after passing inspection. Many landlords oppose the new legislation because most buildings do follow code. Violations in rental housing are rare and landlords do not want to be penalized for the mistakes of others. The city also adopted two new resolutions-the first which hashes out the details including how often inspections should occur, which buildings should be inspected, and what warrants an inspection failure. The second resolution requires the City Department of Planning and Development (DPD) to report on the success or failure of using warrants to gain access to units which need inspection. There is hope that the new ordinance will make inspectors more pro-active to ensure the public’s health and safety. The current system to address unfit housing is complaint-based which hasn’t always been 100% effective. Maybe the future ordinance will be. There are both positives and negatives to the bill and both support and opposition. If you have a burning question or comment, or simply want to see what others have to say, you can check out replies or post your own at www.seattle.gov.