City plans taller buildings in Pioneer Square, International District

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and city planners are calling for taller buildings in parts of Pioneer Square and the Chinatown International District that would allow for 6,000 more apartments and condos and 16,000 more workers in the next two decades.

The mayor's "Livable South Downtown" plan, released Thursday, recommends taller buildings to the west, north and east of Seattle's professional sports stadiums.

Buildings just north of Qwest Field would go twice as high as current rules allow, up to 240 feet or about 20 stories. In the Chinatown International District, heights would nearly double from 65 and 85 feet to 125 and 160 feet.

In one of the most controversial proposals, buildings northwest of Safeco Field could step up, in a terraced effect, from their current cap of 65 feet to 85 feet, then up to 160 feet.

The Public Facilities District (PFD), an appointed board that oversees taxpayers' investment in Safeco, has adamantly opposed height increases that would block views of Puget Sound and the Space Needle from Safeco's upper reaches.

Board member Joan Enticknap said that even a 20-foot increase would block some views of Puget Sound. "As it goes higher, it will block views even more significantly," added Enticknap, president of Home Street Bank.

Greg Smith, owner of a four-acre property to the west of Safeco and Qwest Field, wants to develop offices, restaurants and shops that would help create a bustling stadium district.

In return for the increased height allowances and property values that land owners would receive, taxpayers would realize several benefits, said a planning department spokesman. Growth near downtown would curb suburban sprawl and traffic while fighting global warming, said Alan Justad. It would also add taxes to the city treasury and enhance public safety by adding residents and "eyes on the street."

Pioneer Square merchants and activists have pleaded for more housing as a way to tame the area's crime and rowdy nightlife.

In its effort to shoehorn more development into the area near the stadiums, Nickels' plan would allow 180-foot buildings over the railroad tracks south of Union Station. Seattle development firm Nitze-Stagen has long talked about building hotel, office and retail space above the tracks between Qwest Field's north parking lot and 4th Avenue South.

The mayor's plan has been evolving since 2005. The city today will release a final environmental analysis, which can be appealed until June 12, Justad said

On Tuesday, planners will present their proposals and take public comment.

Nickels plans to craft legislation that would go to the City Council later this year. Councilwoman Sally Clark, who oversees land use and neighborhoods, may not take up the plan until next year, according to an aide. Her committee will make a recommendation after reviewing the plan.

This story, published May 30, 2008 was corrected on June 21, 2008. The deadline for appealing an environmental analysis of Mayor Greg Nickels' Livable South Downtown recommendations is June 12, not late June as reported in a story about a proposal for taller buildings. Also, developer Greg Smith no longer owns seven acres west of Safeco and Qwest Field as stated in the original article; he owns four acres.