$300M project at Seattle Goodwill site canceled

A $300 million development that would have brought 600 apartments and condominiums and a Target-anchored shopping center to the Goodwill site in Seattle has been canceled, its developer announced Friday.

The often-controversial project on South Dearborn Street has been five years in the making, and the developer has paid out nearly $140,000 in fees alone to the city planning department.

The project had cleared several major hurdles, including a legal challenge and a zoning change, and its sudden demise was unexpected.

"I'm very disappointed," said Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell, "But that only means, I think, that the city needs to commit to finding some economic development still for that area."

The council was preparing to consider the last piece of legislation — giving up road rights of way to make way for development of the 10.3-acre parcel.

Darrell Vange, president of Ravenhurst Development, said the economy forced him to pull the plug.

"In this economy, it's going to be a long, long time before a project like this was going to be economically viable," he said. "We decided that we should abandon the project for now, and if there is an opportunity to work with Goodwill to do something on the site in the future, we might pursue it."

Vange said the developers anticipated a "contentious and difficult" fight to get the street rights of way. Target was hesitant to commit as an anchor tenant in this economy, he said, and financing was a problem.

Bill Bradburd, a project opponent who recently lost a hearing-examiner appeal of the project, said he was glad it failed. He and the group he formed, the Community Alliance for Responsible Development, thought the project was too big, didn't provide enough family and low-income housing, and didn't follow city plans to build big developments near transit hubs.

"Personally, I'm relieved," he said. "I think many of us in the community have opposed this project since its inception. It's been four years or so of aggravation for many of us."

Another group of opponents had reached an agreement with the developers for low-income housing, support of the nearby Little Saigon business district, and other community benefits. That group released a statement Friday that acknowledged all that work was now moot. But the agreement with developers was "a groundbreaking model for making development accountable to community stakeholders," the statement said.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com