West Seattle Lumber Yard to be Converted to Apartments

The West Seattle Design Review Board recently approved Sweeny Blocks West, a proposed 8-story apartment building with 222 units.  The building will have 150 parking spaces and 13,200 square feet of retail.  The site, near the intersection of Fauntleroy and Avalon, is owned by the Sweeny family and has historically operated as the Alki lumber yard.  It is across 36th Ave. SW from what the proposal refers to as Sweeny Blocks East, which appears to be another future apartment building.

The proposal, by Ankrom Moisan Architects, shows a wide pedestrian right of way with landscaping on 36th Ave SW, between the East and West blocks.  The massing of the West building is intended to evoke stacks of lumber, and the current lumber yard’s neon sign is anticipated to be featured on top of the new building.  HB Management is the developer and Berger Partnership is the landscape architect.  

The project reflects the continuing strength of the West Seattle residential market, despite restricted access to the rest of the city due to the almost 2-year closure of the West Seattle Bridge.