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Design Review Program
Boards: Downtown

Boards Home | Capitol Hill | Downtown | Northeast | Northwest | Queen Anne/Magnolia | Southeast | Southwest

Downtown Board Members

Pragnesh Parikh
Position: Community Representative
Term: First
Term expires: April 4, 2012
 
Pragnesh Parikh 2010 Design Review Board

Pragnesh is partner at ReddishParikh A+U and has 20 years experience in design, project management, consultant selection and coordination, staff hiring and supervision, quality assurance and construction administration. He has worked for Sclater Partners Architects, Callison, LMN Architects and Ambia. His projects include 1200 Stewart mixed-use development and the Seattle Central Library in Seattle, Microsoft West Campus in Redmond, and Summit and Civica office buildings in Bellevue. He has extensive experience with Seattle’s Design Review program, having worked with out of town firms to best navigate the design review process and create buildings that respond to Seattle’s culture. He holds a Masters in Urban Studies and Geography degree from Temple University, and completed a Postgraduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning and an Undergraduate Program in Architecture at CEPT University in Ahmadabad, India. He is also an architectural photographer.

 

Sheri Olson
Position: Design Professional Representative
Term: First
Term expires: April 4, 2012
 
Sheri Olson 2010 Design Review Board

Sheri is an architect and writer with over 20 years of experience in Seattle, New York, and Boston. She has a wide variety of experience, including design of single family homes, office buildings, convention centers, cultural facilities, airports and a presidential library. She has written extensively about architecture and design; she has written several books on architecture, served as a contributing editor to Architectural Record and architectural critic for the Seattle PI and Times, and contributed articles to numerous magazines such as Dwell and Shelter. Her community service experience in Seattle includes a term on the Seattle Design Commission where she participated in the First Hill West Slope Workshop and the Future of Alaskan Way Workshops. She also contributed to the development of the Seattle Right-of-Way Improvement Manual. In 2007, she was a member of the Uptown & South Lake Union, Visioning Charrette Stakeholder Group and contributed to developing “A Joint Vision for Uptown and South Lake Union Urban Centers.” She was elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and is a LEED accredited professional. She has a Masters degree in architecture from Columbia University and a Bachelors degree in architecture from the University of Arizona..

 

Brian Scott
Position: Development Representative
Term: First
Term expires: April 4, 2011
 
Brian Scott Design Review Board

Brian Scott is an urban designer and planner in private practice, with 30 years of experience in comprehensive community development, including specialties in downtown revitalization, demonstration projects, communications, stakeholder engagement, management, consensus building, and public policy. He has worked on a range of projects such as redevelopment plans for Fort Lawton, the Alaskan Way Viaduct, and Meydenbauer Bay Park in this region, as well as development renewal plans in Portland Astoria, Salem, Coeur d’Alene, Missoula, and Billings. He is currently working with several Seattle neighborhoods on creating or renewing Business Improvement Areas. He was a nonprofit executive with Livable Oregon, Oregon Downtown Development Association, and the Portland Schools Real Estate Trust. He served on the board of the International Downtown Association and the Oregon Parks Foundation. He earned a Ph.D. in Urban Studies from Portland State University, a Certificate in Non-profit Management from the Center for Urban Education, a Masters in Landscape Architecture from North Carolina State University and a BS from Oregon State University.

 

Jan Frankina
Position: Local Residential Representative
Term: First
Term expires: April 4, 2011
 
Jan Frankina Design Review Board

Jan Frankina has over 25 years of design and planning experience and is a principal of her own firm, Jan Frankina LLC, which specializes in residential construction following Not So Big housing practices. Previously, she was the director of retail and urban design for Gensler Architects, and the director of design and planning for the Pennsylvania Ave Corporation, both in Washington, DC. She has served as the executive director of the Kentlands Community Foundation, as a member of the Columbus Comprehensive Masterplan, and on the board of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. She holds a Masters of Architecture degree from Harvard University, a Master in Community Design from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Boston University.

 

Gabe Grant
Position: Local Business Representative
Term: First
Term expires: April 4, 2012
 
Gabe Grant 2010 Design Review Board Gabe has worked in for-profit and non-profit real estate development since 2001. He is currently a Vice President with HAL Real Estate Investments, a company with a history of diverse, creative and highly successful projects in the region. At HAL, Gabe works on new acquisitions, development and has responsibility for the financial performance of a number of properties. He is currently co-chair of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Young Leaders Group, has served on the board of Historic Seattle and on the Zoning Review Board of Cambridge, MA and in 2009 was named to the Puget Sound Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list. Gabe was a Fulbright Scholar, 1997-1998, and earned a Masters of Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School, a certificate from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and a BA in International Studies from the University of Washington.
Last Updated: April 2, 2010

Upcoming Project Reviews
Each of the seven Design Review Boards meets twice a month. See the upcoming schedule. 

Archive

Search the archive to find design proposals and reports of project reviews.

Digital Submissions
Applicants must provide a .pdf file of their design proposals to DPD five business days in advance of a board meeting. Download the instructions. Ready to send? Submit your .pdf file.

Design Guidelines

Thirty design review guidelines for multifamily and commercial buildings--along with neighborhood-specific supplements--form the backbone of the City's Design Review Program in Seattle's neighborhoods. Separate guidelines govern downtown development.

In 2010, DPD will be updating the design guidelines for multifamily and commercial development.

Gallery of Great Examples

5th and Bell
See the 5th and Bell project and other great examples of projects that were developed through the Design Review process.

Department of Planning and Development (DPD)
DPD Home | About DPD | Contact DPD | Search DPD | Site Index
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