UW Planning to Redevelop Raniner Square

Some may not know that the University of Washington is one of Seattle’s largest land owners in the city. UW owns Rainier Square and plans to make changes soon. They have reached out to at least four developers, 2 local and 2 national, and have asked them to come up with ideas to redesign the properties. The developers have until the end of the month to submit their proposals, UW will then choose one in November. UW hopes to begin the redevelopments in a year.

Will Streetcars be Returning to Seattle?

It has been over 70 years since Seattle has had streetcars. Once people began moving out of the city and into suburbs and cars became more popular and convenient, there wasn’t as much of a need for them. The rails were removed and paved streets took their place. But now, as more and more people begin moving back into the city the idea of bringing back functioning streetcars has emerged.
One idea is to have the streetcar run down 4th and 5th which would serve mostly commuters and may not have as much use on the weekends as the more favored idea of having the streetcar run down 1st Avenue would. Although having it run on 4th and 5th would be almost $50 million cheaper, being on 1st, the streetcar would run past bars, new restaurants, shops and places that are more popular to tourists all days of the week including weekends. Tom Graff of Ewing and Clark, Inc. agrees that running down 1st is the better option. It would help boost business and attract more to the area.
Some business owners are concerned that if the project does move forward, construction may cause problems by limiting parking spaces and obstructing accessibility to their businesses. They realize that they will benefit from it being on 1st and accept the idea if construction can be controlled. The City of Seattle held an open house Wednesday evening for those who wanted to learn more and discuss the topic as well as to kick off the  Center City Connector Project which will explore transit options for downtown.