By now most people are aware of the major interior renovation going on at the Broadway Market. The large QFC that should be up and running inside the arcade could be a harbinger of change for the Broadway business district.
Other changes, perhaps less immediately visible, are in process from the city's side of the equation. Chief among them is an effort to change the current zoning on Broadway in the hope of encouraging redevelopment on the street.
While the zoning map of Capitol Hill is a puzzle of different color-coded designations, on either side of Broadway, from East Pike to East Roy streets, the zoning now allows buildings up to 40 feet in height. Efforts now well under way are likely to raise that limit to 65 feet. The hope is to encourage development along the neighborhood's largest business district.
"The overall idea here is, through some rezoning, to help the retail portion of Broadway be more successful," said Roque Deherrera, a senior land use planner with the Department of Planning and Development who has been working on the Broadway zoning issue. "The goal is improve the business district, try to attract some better retail and anchor tenants that will hopefully help the rest of the area out."
Height is a four-letter word for many residents. Recall the reaction roughly five years ago when the proposal for the North Anchor site at Broadway and East Roy Street included a contract rezone that would have allowed the developer to build to 65 feet. Concentrated negative reaction effectively curtailed such efforts; the amended project nears completion under the current 40-foot limit.
Other regulatory changes being proposed include reducing the parking requirement from 1.1 to 1.5 spaces per residential unit to .8 spaces per unit. The change would, according to census data, more accurately match the number of vehicles per unit currently found within the Capitol Hill Urban Village.
Another change calls for reducing the amount of space that needs to be devoted to residential amenities such as balconies and roof top decks. Also proposed: Changing zoning on properties that are split zoned. Split zoning occurs when a different zone applies to the same parcel of land or site. This is sometimes the case when one side of an alley is zoned differently from the other; several Broadway properties fit this description. The result can be confusion from a developmental standpoint, particularly when it comes to parking and vehicle access.
The fourth element, and the one that garners the most attention, is raising the maximum allowable height.
"One of the things we're trying to do here is to help Broadway compete with other nearby commercial areas. Olive Way, Pike-Pine, are all NC3-65, meaning 25 feet more height is allowed than on Broadway. It certainly makes a difference for development. With the other changes, more height will help add to the feasibility of redevelopment on Broadway," DeHerrera said.
As for timing, work is going on now to create the code and zoning amendment that will go to the mayor's office. There will be an environmental review, followed by a 21-day public appeal process. Jennifer Davis-Hayes of the city's Office of Economic Development said this could take place by the end of July.
"The goal is definitely to get it done this year," said DeHerrera. He added that with another challenging budget cycle likely to occupy the City Council's time at the end of the year he hoped the council would act on the zoning proposal by September. He said that he did not think there were huge obstacles in the way of council approval followed by the mayor's signature.
"I think the mayor and council have support for Broadway in general," said Davis-Hayes. "I think there is an awareness that this helps put Broadway on the same footing as other shopping areas."
Assuming the zoning change goes into effect by the end of 2004 it may be quite awhile before the result of the change is apparent. DeHerrera cautioned that raising the height limit to 65 feet hardly means that large buildings of uniform height will instantly appear along 10 blocks of Broadway.
For people concerned with what the possible results of a higher ceiling for developers might by like, DeHerrera suggested looking at other neighborhoods, the University District in particular. "The Ave" allows for 65-feet of building height, and does so along a much narrower street.
Davis-Hayes thinks the climate for increasing the zoning height along Broadway makes raising the ceiling a logical move. She noted that there has been hardly any redevelopment along Broadway in recent years. Contrast that with the Pike-Pine corridor as well as the Olive Way business area.
"During neighborhood planning we were told people didn't want this," she said. "But we've been told that things have changed, that Broadway needs some additional flexibility. Increasing the zoning is one of the tools that can help revitalize Broadway. And it's not as if all of a sudden all of Broadway will be built to 65 feet. In 30 years you wouldn't see that. You'll always have a mix of building heights, probably a broader ranger when this change takes effect."
"We recognize that zoning is not the answer or the end-all, be-all to revitalizing anything," said DeHerrera. "It only encourages and allows for the potential."
The city has identified roughly eight properties on Broadway that are prime targets for redevelopment. Besides the current QFC location, some parking lots are ripe for redevelopment, as is, for instance, the former Ron and Jerry's ice cream shop location. Several bank sites, which feature fairly small buildings with parking lots, are also possible locations for new projects. (One project at the U.S. Bank location is currently going through design review.) Hayes said that identifying promising parcels doesn't mean they are on the verge of redevelopment, only that they are probably better candidates than some other properties.
DeHerrera said that the city understands that people may have an immediate reaction to the prospect of raising the allowable building height. He added that the city was asked to get involved with the process, and that the character of Broadway won't suddenly disintegrate as a result.
"One thing to remember is that the 65-foot development is not achieved overnight. It happens incrementally," he said. "As it stands now, very few Broadway properties are currently developed to their highest capacity. We think this trend will continue over time and you'll end up with a range of heights, which is a positive thing. If we get two, three, four major developments in the next five years, with maybe the current QFC being one of them, that would be a major win for Broadway."
Doug Schwartz is the editor of the Capitol Hill Times. He can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com or 461-1308.
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