By KATIE ZEMTSEFF, Daily Journal of Commerce Staff Reporter
TG Development has completed an eight-unit townhouse called Fourth and Roy on Lower Queen Anne and says it shows Seattle's “next generation” of townhomes, part of a revision of the city's low-rise code.
Brandon Nicholson, principal at NK Architects, has been involved in the Department of Planning and Development's revision of the code for more than five years. The city has already adopted changes to the code for high-rise and mid-rise buildings.
The new low-rise code will be released this month by the Seattle City Council's Committee on the Built Environment. It is expected to be reviewed this spring, and could be in effect by the end of the summer.
Nicholson said Fourth and Roy shows where the new low-rise code is heading and would have been much easier to permit under the new version.
“We're looking at breaking the old code's single-family emphasis and focusing on getting living spaces that have a relationship to the right of ways adjacent,” he said.
Fourth and Roy has two buildings — at 319 and 323 W. Roy S. The eight units are two or three bedrooms. The units are about 1,600 square feet and recently went on the market for around $600,000.
Tom Rodgers of TG Development owns the project and was general contractor.
The complex does not look like a typical townhouse project. It looks like a modern version of the older brick apartment buildings in the neighborhood.
“In a neighborhood filled with old brick buildings, it might be much more modern in aesthetics but in materials and scale, it's appropriate for the context of Lower Queen Anne,” Nicholson said. “I try to picture a four-plex knockoff craftsman (townhouse on the) parcel. It wouldn't fit in with the character of the neighborhood.”
The developer originally planned to build a duplex but decided to pursue administrative design review for four units. Once the four-unit project was approved, the owner of a neighboring lot decided to sell his parcel, turning the four-unit project into eight units.
One striking feature is the lack of space dedicated to cars. The only thing suggesting vehicle use is a short driveway between the two buildings that leads to an underground garage. Each townhouse has one parking space directly under it, with a staircase going straight from the living space to the garage. Four units will have two parking spots.
By taking away the cramped garages and drive courts that come with many of today's townhouses, NK Architects was able to add more open space. Each townhouse has a small patio that faces an interior courtyard. Units also have front yards and rooftop decks that cover the entire roof of each unit.
He said the coming code will allow for more flexibility to create projects like this that blend with neighborhoods and respond to unique needs. It will either have definitions of different kinds of low-rise projects with guidelines for each, or will be flexible enough to accommodate different types of buildings.
Nicholson said the current code, from the 1980s, was written to make multifamily projects look like big houses. This time, the city is looking more at its end goals.
“The old code often incentivized things that we didn't want to see,” he said. “This time, they're looking at what they actually want, meaning better ground-related urban housing and working toward a code that will allow for it and promote a better pattern of development.”
For example, the new code will provide more parking options for developers. It will be easier to consider different approaches, whether the code allows multiple points of entry to a site, mandates entry from an alley or allows lidded roof decks over parking areas.
One issue that did not get solved for Fourth and Roy was the ability to provide stoops. The team wanted to move the living space up but height limits kept the living area at grade, Nicholson said. When working on the new code, Nicholson's experience highlighted how allowing a team to build one or two feet above grade could create defined stoops and give residents more privacy.
“There was nothing we could do about it for this project. It just showed that it was an issue in the code as it stood.”
The project uses sustainable products and materials, such as bamboo flooring, recyclable carpet and rooftop decks made of ironwood from South America that will not degrade for 75 years.
Units have hydronic and radiant floor heating and tankless natural gas water heaters. Windows have dual panes with argon gas for energy efficiency.
Nicholson said he hopes the new code will let townhouses blend better with their neighborhoods.
For more information, visit http://fourthandroy.com/new.
