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BellevueGuy · December 6th, 2009, 07:33 PM

I whole heartedly support Mercer Project. But some people is making garbage comments such as it's "just beautification", "out of touch with residents' needs", "If Paul Allen wants it, he should pay for it".

We shall see what happens. I already miss Nickles lol.

RMacherat · December 6th, 2009, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BellevueGuy

The Mercer Mess project?

It's (likely) dead. I don't think McGinn is very keen for it.

Good grief. Dead again ??!! How many times would this make? I give up.

mhays · December 6th, 2009, 08:27 PM

It's not dead. See above.

BellevueGuy · December 6th, 2009, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RMacherat

Good grief. Dead again ??!! How many times would this make? I give up.

Actually let me disclaim a bit...

McGinn did officially say he supports it.

But he says he is "concerned about the cost".

Given the current economy, I don't think he will push for it eagerly, compared to Nickles.

Also I thought McGinn's big idea is the city should go back to serve neighborhoods? For a lot of people it's unfair from their perspective for the city to invest $200 million all to SLU.

mhays · December 6th, 2009, 08:39 PM

SLU, and Greater Downtown in general, are a huge economic engine for the region. It's important to all of us to make our economic engines function.

Not that the average person thinks that far.

Capitol Hill · December 6th, 2009, 10:43 PM

http://www.seattle.gov/transportatio...nstruction.htm

This talks about the construction schedule, however I don't know if this is dependent upon the $50 million Tiger Grant.

alexjonlin · December 7th, 2009, 07:37 AM

I think McGinn will go ahead an support it since he said he would... He probably just said he's "concerned about the costs" to make supporters of Mallahan's completely anti-redo position feel better about being on his side nonetheless. And we've already started demolition and everything for it, so I think there's no question it's happening.

BoulderGrad · December 7th, 2009, 08:09 AM

Mcginn has been a big proponent of the surface boulevard for the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Without the Mercer Mess fix to allow better connections to other downtown streets, the surface boulevard would definitely be a parking lot (rather that just possibly a parking lot).

CityView Jim · December 7th, 2009, 04:55 PM

Last I heard, the TIGER Grant decision will be made in January. It'll put the project a year behind but it does seem ready to go.

BellevueGuy · December 7th, 2009, 08:56 PM

The WSDOT website said that Seattle city needs to commit about 100 million for Mercer Project, even with TIGER grant approved.

Is the money there yet?

alexjonlin · December 8th, 2009, 12:14 AM

I think the city already allocated the money.

BellevueGuy · December 8th, 2009, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexjonlin

I think the city already allocated the money.

Great news if it's true.

Looking forward to the day that I don't have to answer the question "what the hell is wrong with Seattle" from out-of-town friends when I drive them through SLU to Space Needle or Belltown.

alexjonlin · December 8th, 2009, 02:27 AM

According to this: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...bumper09m.html
"The city has secured $140.5 million for the project, with $31.4 million in private contributions. The city now hopes to land $50 million in federal funds to help improve Mercer Street from the freeway west to Dexter Avenue North, she said."

CityView Jim · December 11th, 2009, 04:49 PM

OK! We actually have news on the Mercer Project. OK if we keep putting that info in this thread?

Seattle City Council recently provided authorization for SDOT to move forward with early building demolition and site preparation work to support future construction of the Mercer Corridor Improvements project. As part of this early demolition contract, SDOT will be demolishing 8 buildings located along the north side of Mercer and the west side of Fairview, between Mercer and Valley streets. They are currently working to shut down utility service connections to each of the buildings. The building addresses are as follows:

1120 Mercer St. (old Lincoln Towing)
1123 Valley St. (old Sport Boat NW)
613 Fairview Ave. N. (old Pong building)
1104 Mercer St. (old Taco Del Mar)
601 Boren Ave. N (old Shell station)
1000 Mercer St. (old West Marine)
800/816 Mercer St. (located at Mercer and Broad St.)
601 Westlake Ave. N. (parking garage at McKay site)

In addition, as part of site preparation for a newly widened Mercer St., they will be installing preload material over 2 blocks on the north side of Mercer, between Fairview and Terry Ave. This will involve the temporary installation of a 5 ft. ecology block wall along the back of sidewalk to support approx. 5 ft. of soil to be temporarily placed over the area. The purpose of the preload activities is to compact the area prior to roadway construction in efforts to alleviate the potential for future damage to pavement and/or other facilities due to settlement.

Advertising for bids for this demolition work will be on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009, with a contract award expected early January 2010. They expect physical building abatement and demolition work to begin in late January or early February 2010, with the demolition and site preparation activities taking approximately 3-5 months to complete.

CityView Jim · December 11th, 2009, 05:03 PM

Oh, and on another note, I believe McGinn will support the construction if the money is awarded. I didn't know that Paul Allen was a McGinn campaign supporter. In fact McGinn is having a fund-raising event at the SLU Discovery Center next week! LOL

8ball · December 11th, 2009, 10:23 PM

This is awesome news - long past time the Mercer Mess was fixed. It will be great for Seattle and the SLU.

alexjonlin · December 12th, 2009, 04:11 AM

I believe they've been doing the demolition for a while now. The buildings at the NW corner of Westlake & Mercer had their beautiful facades taken off for use on the development that will go there, then the buildings were knocked down. Also, a lot of the businesses, like that marine supply store, moved out a while ago. I don't think there's been any doubt for the last several months as to whether the project would go forward.

CityView Jim · December 12th, 2009, 06:21 PM

West Marine just moved in November. That was the one they have been waiting almost a year on and why this whole thing got delayed.

Capitol Hill · December 12th, 2009, 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CityView Jim

West Marine just moved in November. That was the one they have been waiting almost a year on and why this whole thing got delayed.

If I remember correctly, they were fighting the demolition of their building, and there was some sort of decision that 1/3 of the building could feasibly be demolished, leaving the other 2/3 for their operations. I don't know how feasible this was, and they may have just decided to move operations and got a decent settlement. If anybody knows anything more, please expand on my knowledge.

Capitol Hill · December 12th, 2009, 11:24 PM

Just found the information I was looking for:

West Marine is one, if not the last, business that is left on Mercer St in South Lake Union. But this move has come with growing pains for both the city and West Marine.
With South Lake Union undergoing a face lift, Mercer St is getting a new set of shoes two. But the $200 million street improvement project forced West Marine to lift its sails and head into the wind towards 1275 Westlake Ave N.
The city, West Marine, and the landlord of the building that West Marine occupied were caught in a whirlpool of issues. The city wanted to take the land where West Marine was located to make way for street widening and West Marine wanted to ground itself and not move because the peek of boating season was in full force and heck, it’s a great location. Both the city and West Marine saw the deadheads in the water though.
The next step was on to court where both sides argued their case and in the end, the three sides came to a settlement and the city ended up paying West Marine and the landlord $8.4 million (Seattle PI 5/8/09).

December 7th, 2009, 08:09 AM	#108
BoulderGrad Registered User Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 3,376 Likes (Received): 43	Mcginn has been a big proponent of the surface boulevard for the Alaskan Way Viaduct. Without the Mercer Mess fix to allow better connections to other downtown streets, the surface boulevard would definitely be a parking lot (rather that just possibly a parking lot). __________________ My shrink once said to me: "Maybe life isn't for everyone..."

December 11th, 2009, 05:03 PM	#115
CityView Jim Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 4,046 Likes (Received): 80	Oh, and on another note, I believe McGinn will support the construction if the money is awarded. I didn't know that Paul Allen was a McGinn campaign supporter. In fact McGinn is having a fund-raising event at the SLU Discovery Center next week! LOL Last edited by CityView Jim; December 11th, 2009 at 10:28 PM.

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December 6th, 2009, 07:33 PM	#101
BellevueGuy Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 398 Likes (Received): 0	I whole heartedly support Mercer Project. But some people is making garbage comments such as it's "just beautification", "out of touch with residents' needs", "If Paul Allen wants it, he should pay for it". We shall see what happens. I already miss Nickles lol.

December 6th, 2009, 08:27 PM	#103
mhays Journeyman Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Seattle Posts: 8,470 Likes (Received): 125	It's not dead. See above.

December 6th, 2009, 08:39 PM	#105
mhays Journeyman Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Seattle Posts: 8,470 Likes (Received): 125	SLU, and Greater Downtown in general, are a huge economic engine for the region. It's important to all of us to make our economic engines function. Not that the average person thinks that far.

December 6th, 2009, 10:43 PM	#106
Capitol Hill Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2,542 Likes (Received): 196	http://www.seattle.gov/transportatio...nstruction.htm This talks about the construction schedule, however I don't know if this is dependent upon the $50 million Tiger Grant.

December 7th, 2009, 07:37 AM	#107
alexjonlin Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 2,284 Likes (Received): 89	I think McGinn will go ahead an support it since he said he would... He probably just said he's "concerned about the costs" to make supporters of Mallahan's completely anti-redo position feel better about being on his side nonetheless. And we've already started demolition and everything for it, so I think there's no question it's happening.

December 7th, 2009, 04:55 PM	#109
CityView Jim Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 4,046 Likes (Received): 80	Last I heard, the TIGER Grant decision will be made in January. It'll put the project a year behind but it does seem ready to go.

December 7th, 2009, 08:56 PM	#110
BellevueGuy Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 398 Likes (Received): 0	The WSDOT website said that Seattle city needs to commit about 100 million for Mercer Project, even with TIGER grant approved. Is the money there yet?

December 8th, 2009, 12:14 AM	#111
alexjonlin Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 2,284 Likes (Received): 89	I think the city already allocated the money.

December 8th, 2009, 02:27 AM	#113
alexjonlin Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 2,284 Likes (Received): 89	According to this: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...bumper09m.html "The city has secured $140.5 million for the project, with $31.4 million in private contributions. The city now hopes to land $50 million in federal funds to help improve Mercer Street from the freeway west to Dexter Avenue North, she said."

December 11th, 2009, 04:49 PM	#114
CityView Jim Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 4,046 Likes (Received): 80	OK! We actually have news on the Mercer Project. OK if we keep putting that info in this thread? Seattle City Council recently provided authorization for SDOT to move forward with early building demolition and site preparation work to support future construction of the Mercer Corridor Improvements project. As part of this early demolition contract, SDOT will be demolishing 8 buildings located along the north side of Mercer and the west side of Fairview, between Mercer and Valley streets. They are currently working to shut down utility service connections to each of the buildings. The building addresses are as follows: 1120 Mercer St. (old Lincoln Towing) 1123 Valley St. (old Sport Boat NW) 613 Fairview Ave. N. (old Pong building) 1104 Mercer St. (old Taco Del Mar) 601 Boren Ave. N (old Shell station) 1000 Mercer St. (old West Marine) 800/816 Mercer St. (located at Mercer and Broad St.) 601 Westlake Ave. N. (parking garage at McKay site) In addition, as part of site preparation for a newly widened Mercer St., they will be installing preload material over 2 blocks on the north side of Mercer, between Fairview and Terry Ave. This will involve the temporary installation of a 5 ft. ecology block wall along the back of sidewalk to support approx. 5 ft. of soil to be temporarily placed over the area. The purpose of the preload activities is to compact the area prior to roadway construction in efforts to alleviate the potential for future damage to pavement and/or other facilities due to settlement. Advertising for bids for this demolition work will be on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2009, with a contract award expected early January 2010. They expect physical building abatement and demolition work to begin in late January or early February 2010, with the demolition and site preparation activities taking approximately 3-5 months to complete.

December 11th, 2009, 10:23 PM	#116
8ball Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 83 Likes (Received): 0	This is awesome news - long past time the Mercer Mess was fixed. It will be great for Seattle and the SLU.

December 12th, 2009, 04:11 AM	#117
alexjonlin Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 2,284 Likes (Received): 89	I believe they've been doing the demolition for a while now. The buildings at the NW corner of Westlake & Mercer had their beautiful facades taken off for use on the development that will go there, then the buildings were knocked down. Also, a lot of the businesses, like that marine supply store, moved out a while ago. I don't think there's been any doubt for the last several months as to whether the project would go forward.

December 12th, 2009, 06:21 PM	#118
CityView Jim Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 4,046 Likes (Received): 80	West Marine just moved in November. That was the one they have been waiting almost a year on and why this whole thing got delayed.

December 12th, 2009, 11:24 PM	#120
Capitol Hill Registered User Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 2,542 Likes (Received): 196	Just found the information I was looking for: West Marine is one, if not the last, business that is left on Mercer St in South Lake Union. But this move has come with growing pains for both the city and West Marine. With South Lake Union undergoing a face lift, Mercer St is getting a new set of shoes two. But the $200 million street improvement project forced West Marine to lift its sails and head into the wind towards 1275 Westlake Ave N. The city, West Marine, and the landlord of the building that West Marine occupied were caught in a whirlpool of issues. The city wanted to take the land where West Marine was located to make way for street widening and West Marine wanted to ground itself and not move because the peek of boating season was in full force and heck, it’s a great location. Both the city and West Marine saw the deadheads in the water though. The next step was on to court where both sides argued their case and in the end, the three sides came to a settlement and the city ended up paying West Marine and the landlord $8.4 million (Seattle PI 5/8/09).