Upcoming Neighborhood Talaris Development Meetings And The New Informational Website

 

 
 

The developers of Talaris Conference Center (4000 NE 41st Street), the 18 acre property, located in Laurelhurst, have set up several neighborhood open houses "to share information about the options, answer questions and hear what neighbors think."

 

Also on hand will be exhibits and information on the upcoming revedevelopment as shown on their new  website, Talaris Living, which shows both background on the project and the options under consideration.

 

It states that the new development will "provide a housing option for residents seeking to downsize, for employees wanting to be part of a walkable community and for young families wanting to raise children in a safe and vibrant neighborhood."
 

The general information states that "underlying zoning allows for 5,000 square foot single-family lots. And after considering a number of site plan concepts, we discovered that Talaris presents a unique opportunity to both preserve the site's legacy landscape and make the property financially viable."

 

There are two options being considered for the property with rough drawings posted on the website.
 

Low impact residential option:

• the website doesn't state exactly what this entails as far as how many new buildings will be constructed.  Only states that "new building foundations (will be placed) in strategic locations".
• George Thurtle told us:

"We are  evaluating a Low Impact Residential land use concept as an alternative to developing a single family plat as allowed by the existing SF 5000 zoning. The overall goal of the Low Impact Residential concept is to achieve the same economic return as a single family plat but preserve the character and aesthetics of Talaris. The present SF 5000 zoning does not allow those goals to be achieved. "

 

Single Family housing option:

• The property will be subdivided into 90+ new single family residential lots in a master planned development.
• A new homeowner's association will be formed to govern the look and feel of the development.
• The plan meets current zoning restrictions and critical area constraints and has a clearly defined permitting process.
• The other option is to default to the underlying zoning and build another single family subdivision.

Here are the dates and times of the community "Open Houses":

 

• Monday, January 21st, 3-7 PM
• January 22nd, 3-7 PM
• January 24th, 3-7 PM
• January 28th, 3-7 PM
• January 31st, 3-7 PM
• February 2nd, 11-2 PM
• February 4th,3-7pm
• February 7th, 3-7pm
• February 9th, 11-2pm

 

All the open houses will be held in the Willows Building in the central building cluster at the Talaris Conference Center.

 

At the November Laurelhurst Community Club Board Meeting, George Thurtle, John L. Scott, Consultant to 4000 Property LLC; Brent Carson, Van Ness Feldman Gordon Derr,  presented presented one of their concept plans for development of the property to almost 50 neighbors who attended.

 
The Laurelhurst Blog received numerous comments from those who attended the meeting and from those who didn't know about the meeting.
 
For more information or to give feedback contact  George Thurtle, the lead development consultant at (206) 713-3355 or george.thurtle@comcast.net. 


(photo courtesy of Talaris Living website)