Get ready to rock then roll along SLU

General Article

The end of the summer concert series will signal start of major neighborhood improvements, including streetcar, park, development

The South Lake Union community will enjoy — and/or endure — a summer like no other starting June 24. That's when country rocker Lucinda Williams kicks off the Cingular Summer Nights at South Lake Union Park outdoor concert series.

The 17 concerts, which will draw up to 4,000 people per show, run through Aug. 26. As soon as promoters announced the schedule www.onereel.com, Robbie Phillips, external relations coordinator at the Hutchinson Center, marked each of the concert dates on her calendar — not because she plans to attend every performance but because she wants to be aware of the extra traffic she may encounter during the trip home on concert nights.

"Most of the concerts start at 7 p.m. and they open the gates 90 minutes before the concert," Phillips said. "People are going to be coming into the area right when Center employees are getting ready to leave. That could create some traffic problems, but a lot of employees are still looking forward to having the concerts so close."

Either way, the annual concert series won't be calling South Lake Union Park home forever. The series — a longtime event better known as Summer Nights at the Pier — is taking place there this season and perhaps next while structural improvements are being made to its original venue at Pier 62/63 on the downtown waterfront.

As short-lived as the concert series may be, it underscores the South Lake Union community's ongoing transformation into a dynamic live/work/play environment thanks to a host of public and private projects that continue to make progress.

A streetcar line between Westlake Center and the Hutchinson Center is rolling toward construction (www.buildthestreecar.org). With the funding package identified, Seattle City Council members expect to authorize the completion of the design this month, said Kristen Simpson, project spokesperson.

If all goes well, construction should start a year from now and be completed 12-18 months later, Simpson said. Property owners along the line — including the Hutchinson Center — will pay $25 million of the $47.5 million construction cost. The Center's share is estimated at $1.7 million.

Metro will operate the streetcar and incorporate it into its existing fare system, Simpson said. The line is expected to carry between 330,000 and 380,000 passengers in its first year and grow to 1 million passengers as South Lake Union develops. The streetcar initially will operate 15 hours a day and run every 15 minutes. As ridership increases, the hours may expand and the frequency increase, Simpson said.

Another pending transportation improvement is the Mercer corridor project (www.cityofseattle.net/transportation/ppmp_mercer.xml). Center employees can learn more about the project's progress at an open house from 5-7 p.m. on June 29 in the armory building at South Lake Union Park.

Right now, the city continues to prepare an environmental assessment for the project, which will transform Mercer Street into a two-way boulevard with three lanes in each direction, a wide median, left-turn pockets, sidewalks, trees and pedestrian crossings. As part of the project, the city will shrink Valley Street from a busy five-lane street that isolates South Lake Union Park from the rest of the neighborhood to a two-lane road friendlier to cyclists and pedestrians.

The city expects to complete the environmental assessment and hold public hearings in February 2006 before seeking funding from the city council to complete a final design, said Eric Tweit, project spokesperson. Design will take 18 months. The earliest construction could begin would be 2008 with completion in 2010. In the meantime, the city still must secure $70 million in construction funding.

$25 million project

The end of the Summer Nights concert series will signal the beginning of the first phase of major improvements at South Lake Union Park (www.seattleparksfoundation.org). Work will start this fall on a bridge, boardwalk, shoreline terrace, seawall and initial landscaping, said Karen Daubert, executive director of the Seattle Parks Foundation, which is raising funds for the 12-acre park. By this time next year, phase 1 should be complete, she said.

The $25 million project got a big boost earlier this spring when Vulcan Inc. announced a $10 million donation. Combined with $5 million from a parks levy, the donation leaves the foundation with another $10 million to raise. Half of Vulcan's contribution will help fund the first phase of construction. Vulcan will award the other half after the foundation has raised the remaining $10 million and the Valley Street project is underway.

Provided fund-raising efforts are successful, construction on the park's second phase will begin in late 2007 and be completed the following year. The second phase will add fountains, a model-boat pond, a hand-carried-boat launch, maritime displays and more landscaping plus expand the Center for Wooden Boats.

Vulcan's contribution to South Lake Union Park is far from the company's only involvement in the community. Vulcan, the multi-focused business and charitable enterprise established by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, owns more than 60 acres in South Lake Union. Together with various partners, it has completed or is in various stages of completing several new buildings with many more to come.

Center employees can check out Vulcan's vision for South Lake Union at the new South Lake Union Discovery Center, which serves as a one-stop resource for information about the future plans for Vulcan properties in South Lake Union. Located at 101 Westlake Ave. N., the center is open daily from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. and on Wednesday until 9 p.m.

New neighbors

Among the many new neighbors the Hutchinson Center is gaining as a result of Vulcan developments is UW Medicine Lake Union, a new University of Washington medical research center that is being built in three phases and could ultimately total more than 800,000 square feet.

The first phase opened earlier this year in the renovated former Washington Natural Gas headquarters at 815 Mercer St. The 110,000 square-foot facility houses 300 scientists and employees, including a research team investigating cardiovascular disease and another focused on methods of treating and preventing women's cancer.

Construction on the second phase, which will consist of a 200,000-square-foot wet-lab facility and a 100,000-square-foot office building, is expected to begin in mid-2006 and be completed two years later. The UW is still deciding what programs will occupy those buildings. No date has been set for construction of the third phase, which will consist of up to three buildings totaling 400,000 to 450,000 square feet.

The latest Vulcan project to begin construction is Alley24. Located at 223 Yale Ave., the six-story, four-building development includes 185,000 square feet of office space, 172 apartments and 28,000 square feet of retail. A joint venture with PEMCO, the building will feature a European-inspired alleyway that runs through the center of the property, creating a wide pedestrian walkway. Tenants will include architecture firm NBBJ and construction firm Skanska USA Building, Inc.

Also noteworthy are the new restaurants and services that co-occupy several of Vulcan's other South Lake Union properties. New at the 428 Westlake Building, headquarters to the Tommy Bahama company, is Key Bank and Beba's-n-Cinnamon's World Café, which includes a wine bar. Slo Joe's BBQ has opened in the SBRI Building. New at the corner of Westlake and Republican are Uptown Espresso and Blue Moon Burgers.

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