Road end design concepts to be unveiled

Surely Madison Park can do better than what currently exists at the end of E. Madison Street: a waterside parking lot with an excellent view. What could have been a lovely amenity for the community has been left for almost 60 years as just an afterthought.

But that’s about to change.

On Thursday evening Murase Associates, the landscape architectural firm hired earlier this year by the Madison Park Community Council, will be presenting the community with its preliminary designs for a revitalized space at the end of the road. The Council’s LOLA (Love Our Lake Access) Committee is sponsoring a community meeting Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. at the Park Shore Retirement Community (1630 43rd Avenue E.) at which Murase’s preliminary concepts will be reviewed and discussed.

This is the community’s opportunity to weigh in on the proposed designs and give input on what we’d like to see replace the cars, concrete, and trash receptacles that now clutter up this prime neighborhood location. The designs are too hush hush for me to be able to present them on this blog (that’s Murase’s design concept for Counterbalance Park shown above). So if you’re interested you’ll just have to attend the meeting to see the illustrations for yourself.

Everyone will get another chance to weigh in when the final designs are presented at a similar public forum, May 26 at 7:00 pm at Park Shore. For more background on LOLA’s efforts, click here.

Here is what the Madison Street road end looked like in the 1930s:

[Graphic courtesy of Murase Associates. Ferry dock photo from the collection of MOHI.]

Madison Park boundaries: Redfin falls into line, the City balks

You can chalk up another victory for Madison Park in the Battle of the Maps. National real estate website Redfin reports that it has changed its definition of our neighborhood to include all of Washington Park within the boundaries of Madison Park (that’s their new map to the right). Banished from Redfin’s thinking is the silly idea that much of Washington Park is located in the non-existent Harrison/Denny-Blaine neighborhood. As we reported earlier this year, Zillow was the first to change its map of our area to recognize all of Washington Park as an integral part of the Madison Park neighborhood. That leaves the City of Seattle as the only holdout among those entities who were asked to correct their maps.

It’s the City of Seattle, after all, which perpetuates the myth of a Harrison/Denny-Blaine neighborhood. As regular readers of this blog well know, the “unofficial” map of Seattle neighborhoods not only designates much the area south of E. Lee Street as not being in Madison Park, but it cedes that territory to the mythical community. Yes, there is a Denny-Blaine neighborhood to the south of us, but no Harrison/Denny-Blaine neighborhood has ever existed in the history of the City. And the area around the Seattle Tennis Club has certainly always been a part of Madison Park. But that’s not the City’s view:

Unfortunately, since there is no correct “official” neighborhood map, the “unofficial” map is used as a guide by mapmakers, Google, shopping sites, the news media, and other third parties. Madison Park is therefore often shown in an incorrect, truncated form. This is what most of think Madison Park looks like:

This is what the City (unofficially) thinks:

The Madison Park Community Council (MPCC) felt strongly enough about this issue to send a letter to the City asking that the neighborhood map be corrected. So far, the City is not budging. MPCC President Ken Myrabo told me he started with the Department of Neighborhoods, who referred him on to the City Clerk’s office. It’s the City Clerk who is responsible for the City’s neighborhood map, which is supposedly only utilized for filing purposes. Myrabo said he was told that changing the map would be too expensive--and besides it’s not an “official” map anyway. So why the concern?

I spoke this week with Carol Shenk of the Office of the City Clerk. She told me that the office receives four or five requests to change the neighborhood map each year, but they’re sticking with what they have. She noted that the City spent months working on the original map ten or fifteen years ago. But did the City ask anyone in Madison Park about it? She is sure that the City didn't. But she did remember that historical records had been consulted, as well as neighborhood and development maps. Apparently, however, not the map of the MPCC, which certainly existed at the time the City drew Madison Park’s “unofficial” boundaries.

Shenk admits that the map is “arbitrary,” but adds that “we just can’t be in the business of responding to every group’s request for changes.” For one thing, she said, her department has over 600,000 on-line documents, many of which would have to be re-indexed to reflect any changes to the neighborhood map. “We’re already understaffed and overwhelmed,” she told me.

Nevertheless, Shenk said she was willing to listen to Madison Park’s arguments and recommend changing the map if we can make a good case. Just don’t expect any action in the immediate future, she told me. “Perhaps volunteers from Madison Park would be willing to help re-index the documents?” she asked.

I don’t think her question was rhetorical.

[Those interested in reading more about the history of this issue can find it exhaustively covered here.]

Another tenant says ‘enough is enough’

If you wandered down to the “Village” over the weekend you may have noticed that there’s suddenly another retail vacancy in the heart of the business district. At the end of last month Maison Michel at Madison Park decamped from its long-time space at 4118 E. Madison Street, leaving Spa Jolie as the only remaining tenant in that once-charming, now-notorious building.

As we reported last summer, building owner Constance Gillespie is known for her eccentricity, her hard bargaining with tenants, and her unwillingness to spend money on the rapidly-deteriorating structure. It was this last point that apparently caused the rift with the owner of the now-departed antique and fine furnishings store. Though I didn’t get a return call from Maison Michel principal Michael Schoonmaker regarding this story, I am told that he finally could take no more and decided to move to another location in Madison Park (around the corner on 43rd Avenue E.)

So while the move is not a retail loss to the neighborhood, having another unoccupied storefront on the main drag is certainly not a plus for the merchants of Madison Park. And this is hardly likely to be a temporary situation. The building’s central unit has been vacant for years; and based on appearance, the building is clearly in an advancing state of decline.

I recently came across a a shopping website on which Madison Park was referred to as having a “quaint” retail district. It looks we just got a bit quainter.

.

McGilvra honored with State school award

McGilvra is one of only five Seattle elementary schools to receive a 2009 Washington Achievement Award from the State Board of Education and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The awards, recently announced by the Superintendent (prior to his DUI arrest), are part of the Education Board’s accountability program, under which all State schools were indexed for the performance of their students in statewide reading, writing, math and science tests for the last three school years (2007-2009), as well as for the schools’ extended graduation rate. The State awards are being given to schools that have “profoundly affected student learning.”

McGilvra is one of 51 elementary schools in the Seattle School District. The four other Seattle elementary school award recipients are Beacon Hill, Bryant, Hay and Laurelhurst. Statewide, only 70 elementary schools were recognized. So for McGilvra, this is a big honor. Congratulations to the teachers and staff of the School—as well as to those studious kids—for their achievement.

Incidentally, McGilvra’s demographics were posted to the Seattle School website recently (though mining the data there practically required a request under the Public Disclosure Act). McGilvra has 257 students enrolled this school year, which is in line with last year’s level. Of these, 77% are white (compared to 46% for the District as a whole) and only 6% qualify for a free or reduced-cost lunch (compared to 40% District-wide). Much of this difference in school demographics, relative to the rest of the City, is the result of neighborhood characteristics; but only 59% of McGilvra’s students live in the general area (within the boundaries of the McGilvra school-assignment area). Almost all of the students in the School are there because their parents chose the school as their first choice for assignment (only 7% are in the school as a result of a second or lower choice).

Some changes may take place next year in the enrollment mix, according to PTA co-President Bob Steedman. This is the result of the New Student Assignment Plan, which among other changes, mandates that students living within a school’s enrollment area are automatically allowed to attend their neighborhood school. This alone should not impact McGilvra, since McGilvra already is able to accommodate the children of area residents and still have 40% excess capacity for students from other areas. This year is a transition year for the new plan (previously enrolled students are allowed to stay in the school whether or not they would qualify under the new rules), and it is not clear how the plan may work in future years when grandfathering goes away. Siblings of grandfathered students, for example, will not be automatically assigned to the same school. This has been a big issue for many parents. The introduction of special education programs into certain elementary schools may also cause changes in enrollment. For McGilvra, as for the rest of the City’s schools, the assignment plan remains a moving target.

February Real Estate Report

Steady as she goes

Good weather has always been considered a big plus when it comes to selling a home, and environmental conditions may have played an improbable-but-positive role on the local real estate scene in the first couple months of the year. Economic conditions, not so much. Nevertheless, Madison Park’s real estate market seems to be fairly stable, and the under-$2 million market seems downright robust compared to last year. These are the sales results in Madison Park for the month of February:

Houses

Sales: 7
Median Sale Price: $1,508,286
Average Sq. Ft.: 3,433
Average Price per Sq. Ft.: $507.16
Average Days on Market: 206
Average Discount from Original List Price: 9.7%

Condos

Sales: 1
Sale Price: $975,000
Sq. Ft.: 1,537
Price per Sq. Ft.: $634.35
Days on Market: 67
Discount from Original List Price: 0%

This compares to the two home sales recorded in Madison Park during February 2009, as reported by the King County Assessor. It’s interesting to note that the house sales this year varied widely in terms of their time on the market. One home sold after being listed for only three days—and at 100% of the list price. At the other end of the spectrum, a $1,600,000 house in Broadmoor sold after 673 days on the market—and at a 20% discount from the initial list price. Of the eight sales, three homes sold in less than three months, while three of the houses sold after over a half year on the market (each of these in Broadmoor).

The most expensive home sold in February was a $3,900,000, 3,200 sq. ft. Washington Park residence located on Lake Washington. The least expensive house was a $679,000, three-bedroom home located north of Madison Street. So it is still possible to buy into Madison Park for under $1 million.

But just barely. March’s inventory is pretty sparse on under-$1 million house listings. Of 51 listings, there are only five that are in that price range—and two of these, just barely so ($975,000). The median price (the point at which half are priced lower and half higher) is $1,895,000, which is pretty much where it’s been for the past year or so. Most of the inventory is in Washington Park and Broadmoor. Although the rest of Madison Park constitutes more than half of the total residences in the neighborhood, there are only 13 houses listed for sale in the “North of Madison, East of Broadmoor” section, representing only 25% of total listings. These houses are not cheap, either, with a median price of $1,295,000.

There were 15 new listings, including 12 houses, since our last report. There are currently 71 listings in Madison Park, including 18 condos and one duplex. The by-far most expensive home on the market is this impressive-if-austere sawn Texas limestone house (466 39th Avenue E.). The Stuart Silk-designed 6,600 sq. ft. residence was built in 2009 and sits serenly on Lake Washington (Windermere Real Estate’s handy mortgage calculator reports that you can buy this house with monthly payments of only $55,399, assuming a 5% interest rate and 20% down).

The least expensive listed house is this 1926 stucco 770 sq. ft. two-bed/one-bathroom bungalow at $579,000:

I think the general mood among local real estate agents is pretty positive, although many of them are known for their professional Pollyannaism. Nevertheless, the picture in the Park seems to be fairly sunny. Pendings continue strong (15 properties were listed as pending sale as of March 19), and agents report that there are a lot of people looking—at least compared to this time last year. Good cause for cautious optimism.

.

[Upper photo: This 1930's Tudor listed at $1,750,00 is located at 1120 36th Avenue E.; middle photo was uploaded from the Stuart Silk website, hyperlinked above; lower photo uploaded from Redfin, also hyperlinked above. Special thanks to Wendy Skerritt of Windermere Real Estate-Capitol Hill for her assistance in compiling market statistics from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.]

McGilvra’s new principal says ‘I’m loving it”

Though she’d only been on the job for seven weeks, I thought it was about time for me wander down to the old school and find out what the new principal has to say about her unanticipated mid-school-year assignment. Fortunately for me, Principal McShane was a good sport when I suggested it was time for us to have a chat. And when I sat down with her earlier this month to get her impressions, I found her to be engaging, energetic, and generous with her time. She was even candid, though I still did get an occasional admonishment: “please don’t put that in your blog.”

First of all, regarding the pronunciation of her first name, Birgit. “It’s pronounced as in birdJET,” she tells me, noting that the name (it’s Danish) was always a problem for her when she was in school. She arrived in America from Denmark when she was five and was sent off to school knowing little or no English. She’s a product of the Seattle Public Schools (Roosevelt High School) and lives in Ballard with her husband in a house they’ve owned for many years. She says she doesn’t mind the commute to Madison Park, but the getting up early to head off to work was a bit of a challenge in the first few days. She’d been retired for three years when the call came from the School District: ‘Would you be willing to come back and take on the principal’s role at McGilvra?’ She said yes, and she admits to no regrets so far.

Unsurprisingly, McShane was circumspect about the circumstances under which she learned that her days of sleeping in late were over. So I didn’t press her for an answer to exactly how long before her arrival at McGilvra on Monday, January 25, she knew she would be replacing DeWanda Cook-Weaver, who had vacated the principal‘s office the previous Friday. As we reported at the time, Cook-Weaver suddenly took an extended “leave of absence” only five months into the school year—with no public goodbyes. The issue was then (and still is) a “personnel matter” that the School District is unwilling for legal reasons to discuss.

McShane told me that she is a forward-looking person and doesn’t see any reason to focus on what may have happened before she arrived at McGilvra. The school is known for having strong parental involvement, and I wondered if McShane has found that at all disconcerting. Far from it, she told me. “Parental involvement is paramount to having a successful school. In fact I don’t know how you’d do it without that support.” She noted that her experience includes taking on the principal role at Daniel Bagley Elementary, a school that at the time had only a few active parents. She said she immediately began working to change that, and by end of her tenure there she felt that the school had one of the highest levels of participation by parents of any elementary school in the City.

As for McGilvra’s parents, she says she is pleased with them and hopes they’re as pleased with her. “I believe they are happy to have an experienced principal” in the interim role, she told me. “They’ve been wonderful, very welcoming.” She said that she’s had the same reception from the teachers and staff of the school.

But it’s the kids that she is enjoying the most, she told me. She says that one of the real fun parts of the principal’s job is taking on lunch and recess duty “because I get to be with the children.” On her first day in the lunchroom, however, she said it was difficult for her to communicate with her charges because of the noise level. She solved the problem with the introduction of a P.A. system, which has really helped with the interaction. “I have fun with it—and I hope that they are having fun with it as well.”

After seven weeks has she discovered anything that has shocked her about McGilvra? “Nothing at all,” she told me, adding “but I usually don’t get shocked.” She did say, however, that the intensity of parent involvement could have been shocking to someone who had not already experienced something like it in a previous position. She commented that she began her career as a Head Start teacher, and parents are highly involved with their children’s education under that model. With that background, she said, she’s developed a philosophy about being successful that starts with the idea that “parent involvement is not a threat.” What a teacher—or a principal—needs to do with parents, she noted, is “build trust.”

I asked PTA co-President Bob Steedman what the parents’ reaction to McShane is after her first few weeks on the job. “We’re enjoying her being here,” he said, noting that the parents have found her to be personable, professional, and very approachable. “She really took the bull by the horns” when she arrived, he told me. “She communicates well and has already resolved a lot of issues that we were having.”

Steedman reports that the teachers and staff of McGilvra seem to really like McShane, especially because she listens and then acts on their concerns. He also gives her solid marks on discipline. In his view, McShane knows how to lay down the law as principal, making the rules and expecting the students to follow them. “But the kids really respect her.”

Steedman’s bottom line on McShane: “She’s great, she really is. I wish she could stay.”

But that’s not in the cards. McShane is officially retired under the State teacher pension system and could not remain on “active duty” into the next school year. When she took on the “interim” principal role, McShane expected it might be an assignment of only a few weeks. Sometime before I interviewed her, however, she said she got a call from the School District in which “I was invited to stay” through the end of the school year. She said that she and the District agreed that she's a “good match” with McGilvra.

The process is now underway, however, to pick a principal for the new school year. A committee appointed by staff and the Building Leadership Team (BLT), composed of teachers, parents, and staff, will advise the District on the new hire. That role will include interviewing the candidates and recommending some of them to the Superintendent. McShane told me that while it is probably not impossible that a principal from another Seattle school could be a candidate, it is more likely that the candidates will be from outside the District or Seattle assistant principals or head teachers who hold principal credentials. The process is expected to last into April.

.

Will McShane be sad when it’s all over? She’s not saying, but I suspect it will be a regretful departure on both sides. “I love the action of being in school” she told me, “and I feel I can still offer something. McGilvra’s a wonderful place in which to work."

New meaning for the term ‘spec house’

The a 5,800 sq. ft. Georgian Colonial-style mansion sits prominently on a prime piece of Washington Park real estate, 821 34th Avenue East . Completed late last summer, the four-bedroom, four-bathroom house features 12-foot ceilings, seismic framing, a 200 sq. ft. walk-in closet, a sauna that seats 10, a 1,800 bottle wine cellar, and classic cut-crystal Bohemian and Murano chandeliers. It’s a $5,650,000 spec house.

The developers of the property are uncomfortable, however, with my applying that term to their masterpiece. By definition, ‘spec house’ simply refers to a house that has been “built in anticipation of finding a buyer, that is, speculatively.” But the practical implication of speculative development for much of the housing market right now is a glut of unsold houses nationally that continues to depress housing values and undermine the financial stability of many community banks. Thus ‘spec house’ has taken on some very negative connotations in the lower end of the market.

Speculative development, however, has been a prominent feature of the Madison Park housing scene for many years, as older homes—often debilitated houses and cottages—have been replaced one lot at a time with much bigger, modern dwellings. We reported last summer that spec houses represented a fifth of all the residences then listed for sale in the Park (exclusive of Broadmoor, where speculative building is not allowed). So there’s nothing new or noteworthy about developers building houses in our neighborhood without having specific buyers in mind. What is perhaps a bit different about the situation today is the extent to which there are several very large, very high-end spec houses for sale here, all located in Washington Park and priced at more than $3.5 million.

The Georgian Colonial is the most dramatic of these houses. It was built by Old World Elegance LLC, whose three principals, real estate broker Wayne Boswell, financier Danny Campbell, and architect Milan Heger, say they wanted to create a high-craftsmanship home in keeping with the essence of the Washington Park neighborhood. I recently toured the property with Heger, who told me that the house was “customized to our concept of what the new owner will be like: a person who respects history and culture, has joie de vivre, loves travel, and loves to live with references.” The concept was to create an old-word, European feel in a house with all of the modern amenities. “We never conceived of this as a spec house. It has been built with an idea in mind of who is my typical architectural client.”

Before he began designing the house, Heger said, he studied many of the early-twentieth century colonials on Capitol Hill in order to connect the historic Georgian style to that of Seattle. All of the interior woodwork and molding, he noted, was custom designed and milled to specifications. The red mahogany which encloses the home’s living room is Forest Stewardship Council certified, although not everything in the home is green. “We went green wherever it made sense,” Heger commented. In addition, many of the home’s elements are ergonomically designed, he noted.

The house features lots of marble, including the floor of the impressive entry foyer, and extensive use of tile work. The first floor “powder room” has, for example, a huge carved-marble sink, intricately inlaid tiles, and Venetian burnished plaster (which contains particles of marble). The master bathroom on the upper floor is definitely a showpiece, with a woven-pattern tile floor, and a shower that could probably accommodate six easily.

The house has a chef’s kitchen, a large entertainment room, a fitness center with steam room, an over-sized laundry room which can double as a staging kitchen for event caterers, a large home office, three decks, and the obligatory detached garage. There’s a grand wooden staircase off the main entry, a wireless backup to the wired security system, a residence-wide sound system, and a leaded-glass-windowed wooden wine-cellar door that was salvaged and refurbished from the original house that sat on the site.

Well, it’s quite a production, and one that will definitely not appeal to everyone’s taste. But Heger’s partner, Wayne Boswell, professes unconcern about ultimately selling the property, which has been on the market for about a year. “We’re looking for the right buyer to come along who will appreciate the value,” he told me. “We’ve created something special. I’m certain we’ll be successful.” He noted that the principal motivation for selling this house is to be able to do the next one. “We’re neighborhood oriented,” he added, “and Washington Park is the only place we want to be.” And he adds, “We don’t have any bank financing.”

Another “custom” Washington Park property currently on the market is this 6,330 sq. ft. house at 602 34th Avenue East completed late last year by Babylon Gold LLC, which has developed other luxury properties in the area. Listed at $3,750,000, the five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bathroom house features a gourmet kitchen with Calcutta marble counters, a home theatre/media room, multiple laundry rooms, wine cellar, and vaulted ceilings. It has been on the market 145 days.

.

Like most of the high-end spec houses on the market in the Park, the builder put a lot of attention into the details, making a strong attempt to integrate the interior with the house's exterior.

The one high-end spec house in Washington Park that has excellent views is the 6,990 sq. ft. “two-storey traditional” at 1217 39th Avenue East (shown below), built by a longtime Washington Park resident. Listed at $4,290,000, the house has five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a butler’s pantry, mud room, wine cellar, nanny’s quarters, media and billiard rooms, and an “open-concept” kitchen. It has been on the market 270 days.

.

This is the view from the master suite:

By my count there are presently five spec houses for sale in Washington Park and one spec house on the market north of Madison Street. At least one spec house has been sold this year and one has been withdrawn from the market by its builder, unsold. I am told that the owner is hoping to “wait the market out.” Another spec house has apparently been foreclosed upon by the bank that provided the financing, though that house is still on the market.

So obviously not every speculation works, even in Madison Park—which raises a question about what it takes to be successful when building a house for an unknown buyer. Real estate agent Guy Tobin of Madison House says he thinks it’s essential for spec builders “to get the details right” and not create something that is out of line with the other houses in the neighborhood. Jane Powers, a broker at Ewing & Clark, agrees, saying that quality construction and detailing are essential to success. “A spec house should be special,” she adds, “but not odd.”

Then, of course, there’s the issue of timing the market correctly. At least three spec houses are still in some stage of construction in Madison Park—and when they’re completed it may signal the end of speculative building in the neighborhood for some time. Financing is tough, the market here remains precarious, and developers have good reason for caution. For though it may not be true that timing is everything, it certainly is something.

[Photo credits: Georgian Colonial house photos by John G. Wilbanks Photography, courtesy of Old Word Elegance, LLC. 34th Street house interior photos by Buck Usher or Usher Creative, courtesy of Ewing & Clark. 39th Street house view shot courtesy of Redfin.]