Condo could 'entangle' traffic at busy junction

The design of a new condo that would replace the Denny's Restaurant at the northwest corner of 15th Avenue Northwest and Northwest Market Street, a prominent intersection in Ballard, is drawing some criticism from the community.

Also, some unearthed architectural history about the building, formerly a Manning's Cafeteria, could make it eligible for landmark consideration with the City of Seattle.

Kirkland based developers Rhapsody Partners hope to demolish that building and replace it with a 250-unit, six to eight story condominium, Ballard Commons. Rhapsody purchased the lot from the failed Seattle Monorail Project.

Initial designs call for the new building to be about 60,000 square feet. Zoning would allow it to stand six-stories high on the east and eight stories on the west.

An earlier design called for just six stories, but now the developers are talking about stepping up the west portion to the 85-foot height limit, said Alan Justad, a spokesperson for Seattle's Department of Planning and Development.

Retail space is planned for along 15th Avenue Northwest and Northwest Market Street. Underground parking garage entrances for residents and 95 above grade parking stalls for retail customers would be accessed on Market Street and Northwest 56th.

Beth Miller, executive director of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, said there are a number of concerns with the project.

Rhapsody has been in negotiations with the Rite Aid Pharmacy chain to occupy a Market Street storefront with a drive-thru pharmacy accessed from Northwest 56th Street. Miller said with a Walgreens and Safeway pharmacy already at that intersection, "we've got those needs covered in Ballard."

A car-dependent business facing Market doesn't fit with the community's pedestrian friendly philosophy either, she said.

Miller's also concerned that cars trying to enter the driveway on Market Street would get "entangled" with the two eastbound left turn lanes on Market.

Instead of more commercial frontage on 56th, two driveways, a wall along a drive-thru lane for the drug store and residential units are planned. Some residents and business owners fear a "big blank wall" would attract transients and illegal behavior.

"We have been having numerous meetings in the community with city department representatives trying to deal with a very real problem," Miller said. "We have advanced from the usual old-timer inebriants to more aggressive folks who are using hard core drugs."

Rhapsody Partners has since replaced the architect firm Weber and Thompson with Freiheit and Ho Architects. Representatives could not be reached for comment.

Curt Pryde, principle of Pryde-Johnson, the developers of Hjarta condominiums directly west of the Ballard Commons, said Rhapsody should work with the community to create a "vibrant pedestrian space."

"We don't think that's being sensitve to the community at all," Pryde said. "It's just not good urban planning and it's not good design."

Pryde also said the developers should take extra care, given the significance of the location as a "gateway to Ballard."

The Northwest Design Review Board, a citizen-led group that reviews the design of new developments, has asked for further design work to be done. It will be presented at the public next meeting, planned for August or early September.

But there is another side to the story that could change how the development moves forward.

There are stirrings of a movement to save the current Denny's' building, thanks to a recent article by Knute Berger on Crosscut.com, a local online publication.

The shape of the Denny's building, especially its curled A-frame roof, has intrigued many and been called as "quirky" as Ballard itself.

While it's perhaps best known throughout the community as a long-time gathering place for "old, old Ballard," the building's architectural history is just as significant, Berger said.

Berger, like so many, thought the building might be a product of the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. But based on research with the city's planning department, it turns out the structure was built just after the fair in 1964 as a Manning's.

Manning's was a family-owned chain that was founded at Seattle's Pike Place Market as a coffee company in 1908, Berger found. The family and business headquarters moved to the Bay Area in the 1920s.

That's where Berger said the Manning's must have run into Clarence Mayhew, a prominent Bay Area mid-century modern architect who was mostly known for his residential design in the 1940s and 1950s. Mayhew passed away in 1994.

But Berger was able to confirm with Mayhew's business partner, H.L. Thiederman, that they indeed had been commissioned by the Manning's to build restaurants in several western cities, including the one in Ballard.

This was at the height of a popular trend in architecture called "Googie," which gave rise in the Las Angeles area post World War II. It's a sort of "space-age," "roadside" style with bold angles, colorful signs and sweeping cantilevered roofs.

Ballard's Scandinavian culture also may have influenced the architects, as its roof is similar in design to Norwegian stave churches, Berger said.

There has been a resurgence of interest to preserve this kind of modern architecture, said Alan Michelson, head of the Architecture-Urban Planning Library at the University of Washington.

Michelson became familiar with Mayhew's work while doing his residency in the Bay Area.

He said it's important that Seattle save some of its "roadside" buildings because it's part of what "gives a city its texture and reason."

"This is one of those buildings that could be bulldozed and not very noticed but it's a significant remnant of the auto culture," Michelson said. "It's eccentric--it's a landmark because it's eccentric."

Tearing down this building for another "monstrous condo complex," would just further erode Ballard's quality of environment in the face of rapid growth, Michelson said.

"There has to be a balance," he said. "It's a gatepost to downtown Ballard. In the rush to make money, I think this is lost. And it's important to people-it is part of their memories."

Anyone can nominate a building 25 years or older for landmark status with the city's Landmark Preservation Board.

In many instances, historic buildings can be incorporated into the design of new developments, said Sarah Sodt, landmark preservation coordinator for downtown Seattle. However, in this case, that may be difficult given the building's "unusaul form," she said.

Exterior features are typically protected with landmark status.

The local chapter of the international group Documentation and Conservation of the Modern Movement has been looking into the possible preservation of the building since Berger's article. Other groups have expressed interest as well, he said.

"If people think it's important to save, they should," Berger said. "If they don't, nature will take its course."