Today, the City is holding a Design Review Meeting regarding the proposed mixed use project at 4529 Sand Point Way, where El Camion is currently serving out of its food truck.
Project 3035994 is for a 6-7 story 73,000 square foot building with 70 apartment with a focus on larger units, called "Trestle Flats."
The project is zoned NC2P-55 and would sit out closer to the street than next door Laurelhurst Condominiums to the north, which is 8 stories high.
At street level is proposed commercial space with half the space for medical services and the other half for a restaurant. Off street parking for approximately 45 vehicles is proposed with garage access from a curb cut out on Sand Point Way, similar to the curb cut out at next door Laurelhurst Condos. Access to parking is not permitted from the principal pedestrian street, according to the proposal on file.
Project 3035994 is for a 6-7 story 73,000 square foot building with 70 apartment with a focus on larger units, called "Trestle Flats."
The project is zoned NC2P-55 and would sit out closer to the street than next door Laurelhurst Condominiums to the north, which is 8 stories high.
At street level is proposed commercial space with half the space for medical services and the other half for a restaurant. Off street parking for approximately 45 vehicles is proposed with garage access from a curb cut out on Sand Point Way, similar to the curb cut out at next door Laurelhurst Condos. Access to parking is not permitted from the principal pedestrian street, according to the proposal on file.
The property lines are bound by Laurelhurst Condos to the north, 39th Avenue NE to the west and north, and Sand Point Way to the south. The parcel is triangular in shape and includes the former Bike Shop site and parking lot and grassy area where the picnic tables are now to where it meets the driveway going up to the 3 story commercial building housing the Burke-Gilman Brewery and and a dental office.
Before that it was the location of Zopf Pharmacy, owned by the Zopf family for many decades until the land was sold in November of last year for $3.5 million, according to King County records, after being on the market for about 3 months. The buyer is listed as Shilshole Development.
The property was last sold in 2008 for $1,600,000. In 2007, another developer requested a construction permit, proposing a 4-story mixed use building with 30 residential units, but was cancelled in 2011.
Project 3035994 says:
The project seeks to contribute to the Sand Point corridor, by developing an underutilized site for more useful and livelier functions and activating the street level with highly-visible commercial spaces and residential units above.The attenuated lot provides the opportunity to define the curving street edge along Sand Point way, while offering opportunities for pedestrian and bicycle-focused connections to the neighborhood and adjacent Burke-Gilman trail and by maintaining wide sidewalk and providing a vibrant commercial space.
The proposal also includes preserving an "exceptional" Madrona tree and a large Black Locust Tree and says "these trees are recognized as neighborhood amenities that the community values for their presence and as bird habitat.
Randy, the grandson of the original owner of the property, George Zopf, who said that his grandfather built the building that housed Zopf Pharmacy which also included a popular soda fountain, until the 1970's. It was also where George, a pharmacist, met his wife. Their daughter, Phyllis, also was a pharmacist there for many years.
In 2005 the upstairs portion of the building sustained about $75,000 in damage in an arson fire allegedly started by an employee who wasn't paid. No repairs were ever done following the fire to the deck, siding or the two-bedroom, two-bathroom upstairs apartment, leaving it completely fire damaged. It was reported that there was no running water or heat in the fire damaged building, when the Bicycle Center was in operation.
The building was demolished in November 2016 after it became more and more dilapidated and covered with graffiti. A neighbor said that when the building was being demolished and the inside was visible, especially the upstairs, one could see graffiti, needles, and the severe decay.
The property manager told the Laurelhurst Blog at the time: "We do not have a building design and use of the new building for the property at this point. We just want to remove the neighborhood nuisance."
One neighbor told the Blog staff remembering Zopf Pharmacy:
Really old Laurelhurstians remember that place as Zopf's Pharmacy in the mid-60's complete with a great soda fountain! And Green River Sodas for 35 cents. They had a great comic book selection too(which my mom wouldn’t let me buy). I’d sit at Zopf’s and read the latest Flash until chased away by Mrs. Zopf.
For more information go here.
