COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Scroll down to read the following letters of support
>Letter of support from Goodwill President, Ken Colling
>Letter of support from the Rainer Chamber of Commerce
To the “Go Dearborn St.” Members –
On behalf of our Goodwill community, we want to thank you for your
efforts in support of the development project on the Goodwill property
at Rainier and Dearborn Streets. We support the City’s public design
review process and have also engaged many organizations and local
leaders representing varying perspectives in an ongoing dialogue. We
believe that a shared consensus from this process will result in a
stronger project for all stakeholders and best serve the surrounding
communities.
As we all know, Goodwill’s current facilities on Dearborn Street in
Seattle date back to as early as 1923. To continue serving the
community and expand our job training and education mission, we need
to rebuild our facilities.
Ten years ago, we began to research options for renovating our
current property. The estimated cost to renovate was approximately
$14 million in today’s dollars and would require additional offsite facilities
that would cost several million more. We do not have the capacity to
fund such a project and we reached the conclusion that leveraging the
value of our land through a redevelopment would enable us to address
our long-term facility needs.
After much review and assessment by our Board of Directors over a
period of years, Goodwill entered into an agreement to transfer our
property to Dearborn Street Developers, LLC in exchange for a new job
training, retail and administrative facility within a mixed-use retail and
housing development. A new facility would give us the capacity to
expand our free job training and education programs and to serve more
people in the community. This proposal would also allow us to remain in
the community we have lived in and served for more than 80 years.
We are excited about the opportunity to be part of a vibrant, mixed-use
center that would contribute to the economic vitality of the area by
creating new jobs, drawing new customers to surrounding businesses
and adding more residents to the neighborhood. We see tremendous
opportunity to partner with the future retailers for client job placement,
retention and case management services.
We are equally enthusiastic knowing that the project will contain low-
income housing, an important facet for individuals in the community and
Goodwill’s varied constituents. Bringing affordable housing to the
project has been an important goal for Goodwill from the beginning.
We believe that the project design has been favorably shaped by the
public design review process. We truly hope that a consensus, that
best represents overall community needs, can be reached.
Best Regards,
Ken Colling
President and CEO
Letter of Support from the Rainer Chamber of Commerce
The Rainier Chamber of Commerce, having spent considerable time on
the subject conditionally endorses the Dearborn Street Project with the
caveat that the issues discussed as follows are met.
When measured against the Chamber’s position on development in the
Rainier Valley, the proposed project has both positive and negative
possibilities. Increasing the availability of retail goods and services
thereby encouraging spending closer to home as opposed to elsewhere
we view as positive. The fact that a large percentage of the retail
square footage is dedicated to large retailers has the potential to be
harmful to existing small businesses and discourages small business
growth. The Chamber believes that striking a balance between large
retail spaces and small is critical for success of the development as
well as our existing business districts. In particular we are concerned
about the fate of the Little Saigon business district as it offers a unique
small business area that remains a vital link for many in S.E. Seattle and
beyond. The Chamber fights for the vibrancy of neighborhood small
business districts and large chain stores can have a negative effect on
these efforts.
It should be noted that the Chamber stands solidly behind the South East
Action Agenda’s community vision, which places a premium on
preserving racial, cultural, and economic diversity. We indeed hope for
the sharing of economic development benefits with current residents
and businesses.
We applaud the developer for making physical changes to the site
design in terms of vehicular access along Rainier Avenue. A traffic
bottleneck at the Northern end of the Valley is something we can ill
afford. The Chamber also appreciates the greater detail offered in the
housing that serves the 80-150% of King County median income. The
potential of hundreds of moderate priced condominiums close to transit
will benefit the Valley residents in search of affordable home
ownership. The developer’s effort in creating a truly pedestrian friendly
environment for Valley residents fits in well with the idea of a greater
connection to Little Saigon and the Jackson place neighborhood.
The Chamber makes the following recommendations in the strongest
possible terms. We ask TRF/Ravenhurst Development to continue to
work with individuals, businesses, and community groups including the
Dearborn Street Coalition. We also encourage the developer to
consider below-market rents for a reasonable period of time to ensure
the success of new small businesses that take up residence at the
Dearborn site. We fully expect the developer to encourage its tenants to
join the Rainier Chamber of Commerce as well as the Little Saigon
business community.
Finally, we urge the developer through its master construction contracts
be accountable to the community in terms of making work available to
Rainier Valley and Central area contractors. The Rainier Chamber must
insist that dollars generated by the development of the Dearborn site
benefit current Valley residents and businesses from the day ground is
broken, to opening day and beyond.
Scroll down to read the following letters of support
>Letter of support from Goodwill President, Ken Colling
>Letter of support from the Rainer Chamber of Commerce
To the “Go Dearborn St.” Members –
On behalf of our Goodwill community, we want to thank you for your
efforts in support of the development project on the Goodwill property
at Rainier and Dearborn Streets. We support the City’s public design
review process and have also engaged many organizations and local
leaders representing varying perspectives in an ongoing dialogue. We
believe that a shared consensus from this process will result in a
stronger project for all stakeholders and best serve the surrounding
communities.
As we all know, Goodwill’s current facilities on Dearborn Street in
Seattle date back to as early as 1923. To continue serving the
community and expand our job training and education mission, we need
to rebuild our facilities.
Ten years ago, we began to research options for renovating our
current property. The estimated cost to renovate was approximately
$14 million in today’s dollars and would require additional offsite facilities
that would cost several million more. We do not have the capacity to
fund such a project and we reached the conclusion that leveraging the
value of our land through a redevelopment would enable us to address
our long-term facility needs.
After much review and assessment by our Board of Directors over a
period of years, Goodwill entered into an agreement to transfer our
property to Dearborn Street Developers, LLC in exchange for a new job
training, retail and administrative facility within a mixed-use retail and
housing development. A new facility would give us the capacity to
expand our free job training and education programs and to serve more
people in the community. This proposal would also allow us to remain in
the community we have lived in and served for more than 80 years.
We are excited about the opportunity to be part of a vibrant, mixed-use
center that would contribute to the economic vitality of the area by
creating new jobs, drawing new customers to surrounding businesses
and adding more residents to the neighborhood. We see tremendous
opportunity to partner with the future retailers for client job placement,
retention and case management services.
We are equally enthusiastic knowing that the project will contain low-
income housing, an important facet for individuals in the community and
Goodwill’s varied constituents. Bringing affordable housing to the
project has been an important goal for Goodwill from the beginning.
We believe that the project design has been favorably shaped by the
public design review process. We truly hope that a consensus, that
best represents overall community needs, can be reached.
Best Regards,
Ken Colling
President and CEO
Letter of Support from the Rainer Chamber of Commerce
The Rainier Chamber of Commerce, having spent considerable time on
the subject conditionally endorses the Dearborn Street Project with the
caveat that the issues discussed as follows are met.
When measured against the Chamber’s position on development in the
Rainier Valley, the proposed project has both positive and negative
possibilities. Increasing the availability of retail goods and services
thereby encouraging spending closer to home as opposed to elsewhere
we view as positive. The fact that a large percentage of the retail
square footage is dedicated to large retailers has the potential to be
harmful to existing small businesses and discourages small business
growth. The Chamber believes that striking a balance between large
retail spaces and small is critical for success of the development as
well as our existing business districts. In particular we are concerned
about the fate of the Little Saigon business district as it offers a unique
small business area that remains a vital link for many in S.E. Seattle and
beyond. The Chamber fights for the vibrancy of neighborhood small
business districts and large chain stores can have a negative effect on
these efforts.
It should be noted that the Chamber stands solidly behind the South East
Action Agenda’s community vision, which places a premium on
preserving racial, cultural, and economic diversity. We indeed hope for
the sharing of economic development benefits with current residents
and businesses.
We applaud the developer for making physical changes to the site
design in terms of vehicular access along Rainier Avenue. A traffic
bottleneck at the Northern end of the Valley is something we can ill
afford. The Chamber also appreciates the greater detail offered in the
housing that serves the 80-150% of King County median income. The
potential of hundreds of moderate priced condominiums close to transit
will benefit the Valley residents in search of affordable home
ownership. The developer’s effort in creating a truly pedestrian friendly
environment for Valley residents fits in well with the idea of a greater
connection to Little Saigon and the Jackson place neighborhood.
The Chamber makes the following recommendations in the strongest
possible terms. We ask TRF/Ravenhurst Development to continue to
work with individuals, businesses, and community groups including the
Dearborn Street Coalition. We also encourage the developer to
consider below-market rents for a reasonable period of time to ensure
the success of new small businesses that take up residence at the
Dearborn site. We fully expect the developer to encourage its tenants to
join the Rainier Chamber of Commerce as well as the Little Saigon
business community.
Finally, we urge the developer through its master construction contracts
be accountable to the community in terms of making work available to
Rainier Valley and Central area contractors. The Rainier Chamber must
insist that dollars generated by the development of the Dearborn site
benefit current Valley residents and businesses from the day ground is
broken, to opening day and beyond.
Fuller Sears Architects Rendering Courtesy of Dearborn Street Developers.
Questions? Comments? Email info@godearbornstreet.com
Questions? Comments? Email info@godearbornstreet.com
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