WaHu Student Housing - 1000 Washington Avenue SE

[dmdhashw]

The site plan looks like a Romulan warship,

[Nathan]

I... Think... I like it. I think what I like the most is that they used the full odd shape block, but didn't make the massing of the building dependent on it. Especially the idea of looking east down Washington and seeing that 11 story (not 6! wowzer) tower will be an awesome sight.

[mnmike]

Here is a rendering:

[Didier]

That's nuts. This area is going to look very different in a couple years.

[min-chi-cbus]

Ohhhhhh, that makes so much more sense than what the drawings were telling me! I REALLY like this! But what on EARTH are those juxtapositioned railroad tie pilings-type thingies that hold up an awning over the sidewalk at the base level? That can go if you ask me! The rest of it -- although not beautiful it's different and fills out the block in a unique way that I frankly don't think I've ever seen before.

[seanrichardryan]

Yeah, the angled posts are slanted for the sake of being slanted, with mo relation to the structure. Lose it.

[min-chi-cbus]

I also just noticed that the sidewalk might be raised above the ground, since it seems flush with the top of the staircase just off to the left of the front corner of the building (tower portion). So now I can't tell how that area is supposed to be used -- if at all -- by pedestrians.

This isn't a dormatory, is it? I saw the words "student housing" and was confused whether these were dorms or just apartments that students might want to live in.

[FISHMANPET]

I think your eyes are playing tricks on you, it looks like it's flush with the ground. And it's not a dorm, it's just being marketed to students like everything else on campus.

[go4guy]

I really like the look of this one. You have the tall tower on the main corner. There is tons of depth with the entire project. And the design is nothing like everything else that has been put up recently. I welcome it.

[Nathan]

Amazing! I for one LOVE the yellow metal I-beam type columns, it's so cool and mid mod!They also relate to the yellow running up the NW side of the taller tower and angled crown. The massing, materials, and windows remind me of a lot of cool buildings in London and Berlin!!!

I think to be a dorm it has to be owned/ordered for construction and managed by the University itself... these are privately owned, student oriented (housing) apartments... right?

[John21]

I like this one a lot. It's crazy how much that area has changed from even 5 years ago.

[FISHMANPET]

I now work across the street from this site. I was thinking that the LIttle Dearborn auto parts store was ripe for development, and as it turns out this includes that. It's actually 1016, 1024, and 1032 Washington Ave that are included in this, so pretty much the whole block bounded by Huron, Washington, University, 25th, and Delaware, with the exception of that dinky little garage thing behind 1032, unless that doesn't need to be rezoned.

Ugh, I can't even figure out what that garage thing is, whatever it is I think it needs to go.

[mulad]

Other than Arby's (1016 Washington Ave) and the CSL plasma building and parking lot (1024 and 1032 Washington), it looked to me like this only included the Splatball building (2408 University) and the parking lot behind it (1025 Delaware St). GIS map here.

I don't think it touches the Caspian Bistro (2418 University Ave) or Little Dearborn (2424 University) or the garage building behind (201 25th Ave SE).

[FISHMANPET]

Hmm, looks like your correct, I guess I hopefully assumed that the bistro and LIttle Dearborn was one building along with Splatball.

Someone please redevelop little dearborn! We don't need an antique auto parts store a few blocks from a light rail stop. And I don't think a Bistro that isn't even open 7 days a week has much of a place either.

[dmdhashw]

Yes, lets get rid of a perfectly viable business that has been around for decades because it doesn't fit our cookie cutter vision of the future.

[martykoessel]

Little Dearborn might not be beautiful, but it's not a junkyard cluttered with rusting car parts either. The guy has been in business for years, which indicates that he's providing a valuable service and doing a good job managing his store. Besides, the shop adds some character to an area that's rapidly changing.

The Caspian Bistro has been around for a long time, too, which is a particularly great accomplishment for a restaurant. And those big, empty panels over the windows? The owner had purchased beautiful tiles from Iran to be inlaid in those spaces, then the sanctions hit, and they never made it through customs. That must have been quite a hit to his pocketbook.

In short, in talking about how things might be prettier, please take a moment to step into the shoes of the small businessmen who are giving it their all and could end up clobbered by the big developers.

[Didier]

Little Dearborn and the Caspian Bistro are the kind of businesses that make a unique, urban area.

[Tcmetro]

We don't need local businesses. More CVS, Subway and HR Block for everyone!!!!!!

[Nick]

Someone please redevelop little dearborn! We don't need an antique auto parts store a few blocks from a light rail stop. And I don't think a Bistro that isn't even open 7 days a week has much of a place either.

Not to pile on, but this is just the weirdest statement to make.

[Nathan]

I would think the mentality would be more like 'yay now that there is light rail, and more housing the Caspian might be able to be open 7 days a week!'