FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/14/2013
Councilmember Sally Bagshaw
Councilmember Nick Licata
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen
Councilmembers support shorter, slimmer towers
for South Lake Union waterfront blocks
Seattle City Councilmembers Nick Licata, Tom Rasmussen and Sally Bagshaw today announced their support for shorter, slimmer towers for the waterfront blocks in South Lake Union adjacent to Lake Union Park.
The Councilmembers support reducing the maximum height included in the Mayor’s rezone proposal from 240 to 160 feet on the blocks bordered by Mercer and Valley, and slimming down the size of the towers.
Councilmember Licata said, “This compromise configuration still allows Vulcan to build their towers, while providing for greater public views of Lake Union and less shadowing on Lake Union Park than what the Mayor has proposed. By limiting the towers to 160 feet in height and smaller floor plates, the towers will be more in scale with the rest of South Lake Union’s buildings, and still provide a significant amount of housing and retail frontage.”
“My goal is to minimize the effect of the towers on Lake Union Park. This urban gem, close to the center of downtown Seattle, provides valuable access to green space and the lake shore,” said Councilmember Rasmussen.
Councilmember Bagshaw added, “160 foot towers grant additional capacity in regards to height and density and advances our goals of future development without sacrificing space and openness.”
Current zoning establishes a maximum height of 40 feet, with an exception that allows structures up to 65 feet if 20 percent of a site is set aside for street level open space.