The Port of Seattle announced that it will start sampling and testing stormwater from the former Lora Lake Apartment complex in Burien this winter as part of a legal agreement with the Department of Ecology (Ecology).

Ecology is seeking public comment on this plan through Wednesday, Dec. 23rd, and residents interested in reviewing the proposal should click here.

The project, called an “Interim Action,” is part of the work the Port is required to perform to study contamination at the site, which housed a barrel-cleaning company in the 1940s and 50s and an auto-wrecking facility from roughly 1960 to 1981.

A 22-building apartment complex was built in 1987. The Port, which owns Sea-Tac Airport nearby, bought the property in 1998 and demolished six buildings within the airport’s Third Runway protection zone in 2007.

The remainder of the buildings were demolished just recently.

Environmental samples taken in preparation for that demolition showed higher than expected levels of contaminants from the pre-apartment complex activities at the site. Pollutants associated with the site’s former activities include petroleum products, dioxin, solvents and other contaminants.

The Port demolished only above-ground structures, and took measures – under Ecology oversight – to not disturb potentially contaminated soil.

Port consultants will collect stormwater samples during rainstorms, with a plan to collect sampls during up to 10 storms. The information will help Ecology determine whether the site requires special or additional stormwater controls or treatment. Polluted runoff – stormwater – is the leading threat to water quality in the state’s urban areas.

As we reported in August, the Port of Seattle wants to develop facilities for airport-compatible activities there, such as air cargo, food service and warehouses, and on other property it owns within Burien’s Northeast Planning Area north of the airport.

But the now-vacant lot is just inside the Burien city limits and several city council members hope this location will anchor economic development in the Northeast Planning Area that will generate additional sales tax and other revenue for the city. Possible land uses include an auto mall and a business park.

City Manager Mike Martin said recently that an interchange at the location, at 15001 Des Moines Memorial Drive, would increase the value of the Lora Lake site for business development.

It is also available for review at the Burien Public Library (400 SW 152nd St., 206-243-3490), as well as the Department of Ecology’s regional office in Bellevue – by appointment (425-649-7190 – 3190 160th Ave. SE).

A fact sheet on Lora Lake Apartments site is available at: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0909175.pdf.

For technical questions or to comment on the plan, please contact David South, Ecology Site Manager, 425-649-7200; e-mail dsou461@ecy.wa.gov.

by Ralph Nichols

As demolition crews prepared this week to tear down the Lora Lake Apartments – long the center of heated controversy over affordable housing in Burien – near Sea-Tac International Airport’s third runway, attention was focused on possible uses for this prime commercial location.

The Port of Seattle, which owns the Lora Lake complex, wants to develop facilities for airport-compatible activities there, such as air cargo, food service and warehouses, and on other property it owns within Burien’s Northeast Planning Area north of the airport.

But the vacant apartment complex is just inside the Burien city limits and several council members hope this location will anchor economic development in the Northeast Planning Area that will generate additional sales tax and other revenue for the city. Possible land uses include an auto mall and a business park.

City Manager Mike Martin said recently that results of a state Department of Transportation study for a new interchange at State Route 518 and Des Moines Memorial Drive now underway might be available by summer’s end. An interchange at that location would increase the value of the Lora Lake site for business development.

Preparation for demolition includes mitigation of toxic contaminants in the ground at Lora Lake, which were discovered in a 2008 environmental study prior to a planned transfer of the property from the Port to the King County Housing Authority.

When the assay found hazardous chemicals in soil samples taken at depths of 7 and 14 feet, the apartment complex was determined to be unsafe for occupancy and the housing authority abandoned plans to reopen its 162 units. The site was used for commercial and industrial purposes from the 1920s to the mid-1980s. In the 1950s, it was an auto wrecking yard.

Despite the fact that Lora Lake is coming down soon, “Burien still has a major hurdle to overcome” before it can develop that location – and other sites in the Northwest Planning Area – for uses compatible with the city’s vision for economic growth, noted Councilman Gordon Shaw.

“Even after Lora Lake is done and gone, the Port of Seattle owns a large amount of the Northeast Planning Area,” Shaw said. “The Port has bought a lot of commercial and residential land under and near airport flight paths.”

That leaves Burien in the position of having to negotiate with the Port for purchase of Lora Lake and several other properties, or for other accommodations for development that conforms to the city’s comprehensive plan.

“I don’t think the Port will need all the land they’ve got, but why should they give it up?” he observed. “It’s going to be a very delicate thing for the city to work through … I don’t know what the path forward is on resolution, but I’ll be upset if all we get is a food service company and a freight handling company, and then they work with Des Moines on a 90-acre business park.”

Should Burien eventually develop an auto mall in the Lora Lake area, this would vacate the city’s existing auto row along First Avenue. Should that happen, said Deputy Mayor Rose Clark, possibilities for redevelopment of those properties might include a hotel or a convention center, or both, catering to air travelers.

Built in the late 1980s, the Lora Lake Apartments – once a 234-unit affordable housing complex – were bought by the Port of Seattle in 1998. The city, the Port and the King County Housing Authority, which managed the apartments, agreed they would remain open until 2005, at which time they would be removed. The apartments are less than 1,000 feet from the third runway.

When construction of the runway was delayed, all parties agreed the apartments would remain open until June 2007. In late March that year, representatives of the city, the Port and the housing authority discussed the scheduled June closure of the apartments. Although housing authority representatives indicated a desire to keep Lora Lake open, they recognized a “contractual obligation” and were ready to begin phasing them out.

But housing authority Executive Director Stephen Norman then sent a letter to federal and state as well as city officials, citing the need for affordable housing in King County and demanding that the apartments remain in use. Both the city and Port challenged the housing authority’s move to renege on the joint contract, and moved forward with plans to demolish Lora Lake. The housing authority countered with a suit to block demolition on the grounds that it had a legal claim to the property.

Before a hearing could be held in early 2008, the Port agreed to sell Lora Lake to the housing authority. But the sale was delayed pending the outcome of environmental testing at the housing complex.

So…what do YOU think of the future of this once-affordable housing complex? Please take our poll, or Comment below…

The Department of Ecology and the Port of Seattle on Thursday (July 2nd) reached an agreement on doing a study and subsequent contamination cleanup at the unoccupied Lora Lake apartment complex in Burien.

The Port-owned property, located at 15001 Des Moines Memorial Drive, once housed a barrel-cleaning company in the 1940s and 50s and an auto-wrecking facility from roughly 1960 to 1981. A 22-building apartment complex was built in 1987, then in 2007 the remaining units were vacated before becoming a rallying point for affordable housing and the prevention of homelessness, with legislators and community activists bearing down on Burien.

The Port, which owns Sea-Tac Airport nearby, bought the property in 1998 and demolished six buildings within the airport’s Third Runway protection zone in 2007.

Environmental samples taken in preparation for that demolition showed higher than expected levels of contaminants from the pre-apartment complex activities at the site.  The legal agreement, known as an Agreed Order, lays out a process under which the Port will evaluate the nature and extent of contamination at the site and assess cleanup options.

Pollutants associated with the site’s former activities include petroleum products, dioxin, solvents and other contaminants.

The Port, meanwhile, plans to demolish the remaining 16 structures on the property because they claim that vacant buildings pose public safety hazards from arson, accidental fires and vandalism. Only above-ground portions will be demolished, and the Port will take measures – under Ecology oversight – to not disturb potentially contaminated soil.

The Department of Ecology will be hosting a public meeting about the site and the cleanup at 7pm on Thursday, July 23rd at the Highline School District’s Educational Resource and Administration Center, located at 15675 Ambaum Blvd. SW. The Lora Lake agreement will be available for public comment through Aug. 10th.

The Agreed Order is available for public review at:

• http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/tcp/sites/loraLakesAps/loraLakesAps_hp.html
• Burien Public Library 400 SW 152nd St., 206-243-3490
• Dept. of Ecology’s regional office in Bellevue – by appointment, 425-649-7190 – 3190 160th Ave. SE.

For technical questions or to comment on the plan, please contact David South, Ecology Site Manager, 425-649-7200; e-mail dsou461@ecy.wa.gov.  A fact sheet on Lora Lake Apartments site is available at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0909175.pdf.

BURIEN – The Port of Seattle and the King County Housing Authority (KCHA) have mutually agreed to rescind their agreement for the sale of the 162-unit Lora Lake Apartments to the KCHA following the completion of environmental testing that revealed significant soil contamination at the Burien property.

The estimated cost to remove and dispose of contaminants and restore the site to the residential standard could potentially reach $8 million.  Cleanup standards for residential use are much more stringent than standards for industrial use.

“Despite everyone’s considerable efforts to preserve Lora Lake as much-needed affordable housing for the region, given these findings it is not in the community’s best interest to continue forward with this project,” said King County Housing Authority Executive Director Stephen Norman.  “We appreciate the Port’s cooperation in rescinding an agreement to purchase an apartment complex that would have been financially infeasible to operate as housing.”

Because the price tag to restore the property for use as affordable housing is prohibitively high, the Port and KCHA have mutually agreed to rescind their agreement obligating KCHA to purchase the apartment complex. The Port will also refund the initial $1 million payment for the property to KCHA.

“The primary concern of the Port Commission with Lora Lake has always been the need to find regional solutions to regional problems in the best interests of our community’s most vulnerable families,” said John Creighton, Port of Seattle Commission President. “The Port regrets this site is no longer the best investment to help address our region’s desperate need for affordable housing.  The Port is committed to returning this site to a productive use for our community, and stands ready to help our region respond to important housing issues.”

Earlier this year, the Port and the Housing Authority suspended the transfer of Lora Lake Apartments pending the outcome of further environmental testing at the site.  Prior to the Port and KCHA transfer agreement, the Port initiated the original testing of the property to inform future developers about site conditions.

The property, which is situated atop a former barrel cleaning facility that became an auto wrecking yard around 1950, showed soil contamination in just completed tests that are consistent with its historical uses. The site underwent a soils investigation and cleanup in 1987 in consultation with the Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) prior to the construction of the Lora Lake Apartments by a private developer.

However, since that time, testing and clean-up standards have been made more stringent.  Results of the recent environmental analysis revealed soil contamination of dioxins and other contaminants that exceed current standards for residential use.

Though remediation will still be necessary, the lower environmental standard required for industrial purposes means eventual redevelopment for an industrial use, rather than a residential use, likely remains financially feasible.

What this basically means is that:

• There’s no way that anyone will ever live there again
• This entire thing started when 72 units were torn down the for the 3rd Runway
  
• The future of the site is…unknown? (Yeah, right – from what we understand, the main intention has always been to tear down the affordable housing and build either a megastore or industrial/cargo facility)

MORE INFO:

• The apartments have been vacant since July 2007.
• The apartment site was used for commercial and industrial purposes from the 1940s to the mid-1980s.
• The site was mitigated and the apartments were constructed and owned by a private developer in 1988.
• In 1998, the Port purchased the property because one-third of the apartment complex was located within the runway protection zone of the new third runway at Sea-Tac Airport and would need to be demolished.  The Port provided relocation assistance to residents in 1999.
• With delays in the airport project, the City of Burien, the Port, and KCHA entered into an agreement transferring the ownership of the apartment complex to KCHA and allowing the apartments to be reoccupied on a temporary basis.  The agreement called for the complex to revert to the Port by mid-2005.
• In 2004, the agreement with KCHA was extended for another two years, with the apartments to be returned to the Port in July 2007, when residents were required to vacate the apartments.
• In August 2007, KCHA was granted an injunction against the demolition of the apartments.
• The Port and KCHA have been working since late 2007 to transfer the property back to KCHA.

SOURCE:

• City of Burien

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