In October of 2011, the Urban Design Framework for the Capitol Hill Light Rail Station Sites was finalized. The Framework articulated the community’s vision for the redevelopment of the station sites, offering development guidance and design guidance to the future developers of the station sites. Shortly after the Framework was finalized, City and Sound Transit staff began negotiations on the terms of a Development Agreement that if approved by both the City and Sound Transit Board would outline development standards for the station sites that that vary from otherwise applicable development regulations in order to achieve goals outlined in the Framework.

City and Sound Transit staff are pleased to share the following documents with community members for review and discussion.

A draft term sheet
This draft term sheet is the result of negotiations between City and Sound Transit staff over the past nine months to describe commitments by each party to follow some of the development guidance offered in the Urban Design Framework. These commitments represent encumbrances that Sound Transit will place on the land that could not otherwise be required under City law and commitments by the City to provide variances from underlying development standards. These commitments also referred to as terms, will be written into a Development Agreement between the City and Sound Transit that will be considered and acted upon by the Seattle City Council and the Sound Transit Board. If approved, the Development Agreement will be legally binding for both parties on the Capitol Hill light rail station sites.

 

These draft, site-specific design guidelines articulate the design guidance offered in the Urban Design Framework. If approved by the Seattle City Council, these guidelines will be amended to the Capitol Hill Neighborhood Design Guidelines and apply specifically to the Capitol Hill light rail station sites.

 

The Coordinated Development Plan (CDP) addresses Sound Transit’s challenge of making available over 100,000 square feet for urban in-fill projects on five sites for Transit Oriented Development, while responding to the Urban Design Framework, City regulations and guidelines, and the Broadway real estate market. The CDP constitutes Sound Transit’s land use and development proposal, depicting and describing implementation of the proposed Development Agreement while articulating the benefits of the Urban Design Framework.

 

The CDP incorporates the UDF vision in order to demonstrate to future developers how to combine this unique location with exemplary real estate development and community place-making. These aspirations, combined with the CDP’s market-driven principles will guide redevelopment choices and creativity. By this approach, all stakeholders will have an increased level of certainty as to the type and form of development, its uses and purposes, with regulatory approval which runs with the land.

 

Our current best estimate of the public and legislative process is to draft, review and approve a Development Agreement.