Taboo Video is gone - to be replaced by microhousing

Former location of adult business will be site
of microhousing
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

The Taboo Video building has been razed and the land cleared and graded in preparation for construction of a "micro-housing" development on the site, which is on the east side of Aurora at 170th.

This will be Shoreline’s first micro-housing development. Micro-housing projects are all a bit different but what they have in common is very small, but affordable rentals. Rooms are small and efficient and some facilities are shared, such as bathrooms and kitchens.

Projects in Seattle have been controversial because no parking was provided and the buildings put a large number of people (with cars) in a compact area. Shoreline has attempted to head off that problem by requiring parking.

Rachel Markle, Planning Director, set the parking ratio at .5 stalls per bedroom. 

"The City is requiring that the project have a parking and transportation management plan that includes such components like requiring the property owner to manage rental of the units to minimize parking demand meaning if parking issues arise the property owner must provide solutions or risk noncompliance (fines); introductory subsidized transit passes for new residents w/out cars; and monitoring of parking on and off site (if applicable) including a report and survey by a designated property manager to be submitted to the City every two years."

With a building directly on Aurora, services are nearby and easy to walk to, as improvements to Aurora added sidewalks along the length of the Corridor. Economic development director Dan Eernissee said that the site is perfect to encourage car-free living

'The former Taboo Video is -- in our opinion, anyway -- almost perfectly situated to make parking off-site difficult. To the east is a cemetery over a fence, and the streets to access on-street parking to the east are hundreds of yards away. Going across the street on Aurora is difficult. In other words, if the tenant has a car but doesn't have a stall on-site, they are unlikely to rent there for long.'

Eernissee continues, 

"We think that the project will provide a nice niche in our housing stock: unsubsidized, affordable housing that encourages car-free living along our best-served transit corridor, Aurora Ave N."

The developer has been in discussions with Shoreline Community College about the possibility of having a portion of the units allocated for college students, many of whom come from foreign countries.