## Meeting Overview On the afternoon of November 5, 2024, the City of Bellingham Design Review Board convened for what would prove to be a landmark moment in Old Town's redevelopment. For the first time since establishing their new early design guidance process, the board was conducting a second-round review — the final opportunity to shape a project before it moves forward. Board Chair Ryan Van Straten, joined by members David Heck and Coby Jones, reviewed the proposed 84-unit mixed-use building at the corner of Holly and D Streets. This six-story development represents the first major residential project in Old Town's emerging transformation, with developers planning eight more buildings over the next six to eight years. The meeting carried particular significance as the applicant team had thoroughly responded to the board's June feedback, demonstrating how the city's design review process can genuinely improve projects through constructive collaboration. The session unfolded with an unusual spirit of satisfaction — here was a development team that had truly listened, made meaningful changes, and returned with a significantly improved design that honored both the board's vision and the neighborhood's character. ## The Refined Design Response Ali Taysi, the project's lead representative, walked the board through a comprehensive set of revisions addressing every major concern raised during the June early design guidance meeting. The most dramatic transformation occurred along the Holly Street frontage, where the team had eliminated a chaotic arrangement of three staggered awnings at different heights. In its place stood a clean, single awning providing weather protection over the two commercial entrances — a move that both simplified the facade and better complemented the adjacent historic building. "We had three different awnings, and they were kind of at different heights and it was busy," Taysi explained, sharing before-and-after renderings that clearly demonstrated the improvement. The board had specifically referenced the simple, elegant lines of the neighboring 704 West Holly building, and the design team had taken that feedback to heart. The masonry treatment received equally thoughtful attention. Acting on the board's recommendation to give the Holly frontage more "strength and attention," architect Colin Fuller had extended the brick cladding up to the fourth floor on the corner of Holly and D Street, and to the fifth floor on the opposite corner where a covered roof deck creates architectural interest. This created a substantial masonry base that anchors the building to the street while creating visual continuity with Old Town's historic brick structures. Board member David Heck, who had been present for the initial review, expressed clear approval: "The brick was huge, I'd say that's a really great move with the masonry on the main facade along Holly Street, and then kind of wraps around those two sides." This seemingly simple change fundamentally transformed the building's street presence, giving it the gravitas befitting a major corner in the district's evolution. ## Addressing the Human Scale Perhaps the most significant design evolution addressed the board's concerns about balcony projections and building modulation. The original design featured protruding decks across multiple facades, creating what board members had described as a repetitive, mechanical appearance. The revised design demonstrated sophisticated thinking about how buildings meet the street and how residents experience their private outdoor spaces. On the C and D Street sides, the team had recessed most balconies into building modules that project over the sidewalk, creating a rhythm of solid and void that adds visual interest while providing weather protection for the decks themselves. "You can see that this blue line is the building modulation, and so the decks that are on the C Street side and the decks on the D Street side are now set back into these modules," Taysi explained, using the architectural drawings to illustrate how the building facade now breathed with calculated variation. The corner balconies remained partially projecting, but this became a conscious design decision rather than a default approach. These corner decks take advantage of views toward Bellingham Bay while serving as architectural markers for the building's most prominent locations. With glass railings planned to minimize their visual impact, these elements would read as transparent layers rather than heavy appendages. Fuller, the project architect, addressed board questions about materiality with enthusiasm for craft details: "The plan is to wrap everything with black, dark gray, black metal," he said regarding the recessed deck fascias, ensuring visual consistency across the building's various projections and recesses. ## The D Street Transformation One of the board's strongest criticisms during the initial review had focused on the D Street frontage, where a significant portion of the ground floor consists of the parking garage entrance and ventilation. Rather than simply screening this utilitarian necessity, the design team had created a layered landscape strategy that transforms what could have been the building's back door into a thoughtful urban edge. The solution involved multiple landscape strips: plantings at the curb edge, then the sidewalk, then additional landscaping between the sidewalk and the building. This created depth and visual interest while acknowledging the practical needs of the parking garage. Fuller had also redesigned the ventilation louvers, making them taller and recessing them into the brick walls with masonry trim that creates shadow lines and architectural depth. "He added deep louver details, and then set those back into the masonry so that they have almost like a brick trim around them," Taysi noted, describing how functional elements could become design features when treated with care and intention. The team had also added subtle vertical pilasters between the louver sections to break up what Fuller acknowledged was "a long, flat wall." These elements would be executed in a different shade of brick, creating texture without overwhelming the facade. Fuller hinted at even more elaborate plans: "We're trying to figure out who's going to get the contract to do that... some artistic format, powder-coated metal design" for the louvers themselves, potentially creating thematic connections across the nine-building development planned for the district. ## Resolving the Plaza Controversy The private plaza off Astor Street had generated heated discussion during the initial review, with board members expressing skepticism about a semi-public space that showed a food truck in the renderings. The revised design completely reimagined this area as a private amenity for residents, with landscape screening for the garbage enclosure, tree wells with seating, and controlled access that makes the space's private nature clear to passersby. Equally important, the team had relocated the building's primary residential entrance from the plaza to face the street directly, with proper weather protection. This change honored the urban design principle that buildings should engage the public realm while maintaining appropriate boundaries between public and private space. "We redesigned that corner so that the primary entry faces the street and has weather protection there, so that folks coming down the street can enter the building without having to go through the plaza," Taysi explained. The plaza would still provide access but no longer served as the building's primary address, reducing confusion and improving the street activation that board members had sought. ## The Three Departures Debate The refined design required three departures from city design standards, each representing a thoughtful response to site-specific conditions rather than simple cost-cutting measures. The weather protection departure proved the least controversial, reducing coverage from the required 75% of the Holly Street frontage to approximately 42%. The board engaged in nuanced discussion about this departure, with Van Straten noting that "the spirit of this rule seems more aligned with a true shopping downtown area" and that the requirement might be less critical "as you're getting a little further out here." The rule made sense for densely commercial streets where continuous weather protection supports pedestrian activity, but seemed excessive for a mixed-use building on the edge of the commercial core. David Heck suggested the awning could extend slightly wider to provide more weather protection for pedestrians, but ultimately supported the departure: "I think it's fine as well, but I think it could be a little bit wider... but I don't have a really strong opinion about it overall." The existing design clearly served the building's users while maintaining the clean facade lines the board had requested. ## Bay Window Engineering and View Corridors The second and third departures related to bay window projections on D Street, revealing the complex interplay between design ambitions, building codes, and urban planning policies. The team requested permission for a center bay window module that exceeded the standard 12-foot width limit, extending to approximately 22 feet to accommodate back-to-back one-bedroom units in the building's center. Van Straten questioned whether this double-wide module was necessary, suggesting that flipping one of the units could maintain the single-module rhythm. Fuller and Taysi acknowledged this was worth exploring: "Sometimes you go down a road and it's hard to get out of the rep. You can't remember what the reason was at the beginning," Fuller admitted with the honest self-reflection of an architect willing to reconsider design decisions. The third departure addressed D Street's designation as a view corridor to the historic train depot. The projections would extend nearly four feet into the right-of-way starting at the third floor, potentially impacting views of this civic landmark. However, Taysi presented compelling photography showing that existing street trees already substantially blocked views of the depot, and that future streetscape improvements would likely prioritize columnar trees that maintain visual access while providing appropriate urban canopy. "The street trees are going to create a much more significant impact on the view corridor than the bump outs," Taysi argued. "Even if we choose a columnar type tree or a smaller tree, it's still gonna generate a more substantive view impact. But we really can't eliminate the street trees." ## Technical Constraints and Design Opportunities The discussion revealed fascinating insights into the technical constraints that shape urban architecture. Fuller explained that the bay windows couldn't extend down to the second floor due to right-of-way clearance requirements: "We have a restriction on the public works side for clearance from the right-of-way. We're about two feet too short." Building code interpretations further limited projections below fifteen feet to ancillary structures like balconies rather than enclosed bay windows. These constraints had actually improved the design by creating visual breathing room at the pedestrian level while allowing more dramatic articulation at upper floors where the projections would read as architectural rather than infrastructural elements. Board member Heck expressed some regret about these limitations: "I think it creates much more visual interest and intrigue and texture, and all that kind of stuff, by extending those down closer to level 2." But he understood the regulatory reality while noting that balconies are "pretty permanent" as well, suggesting the distinction between permanent and temporary projections might be somewhat artificial. ## The Corner Balcony Refinement One of the meeting's most constructive exchanges emerged around Heck's suggestion for further refinement of the corner balconies. Rather than leaving them fully projecting, he proposed partially embedding them by extending the kitchen areas into small bump-outs that would provide weather protection while maintaining the decks' corner prominence. "It's a big pet peeve of mine when these balconies are sort of attached on the side of buildings rather than sort of anchored," Heck explained, articulating a design philosophy about how buildings should feel rooted rather than assembled. His suggestion aimed to create consistency across the building where every balcony would have some degree of embedment while potentially adding usable interior space. Fuller responded enthusiastically: "I like the idea... and maybe that is a discussion we could have with ownership. If it's square footage that makes sense to spend money on." The conversation demonstrated how design review can push projects toward higher quality when board members engage constructively with design teams rather than simply imposing requirements. Coby Jones raised practical concerns about impacts on natural light and mechanical systems, showing how even small design changes ripple through complex building systems. But the team agreed to explore the option, recognizing it could represent a win-win scenario that improved both the building's exterior appearance and the units' functionality. ## District-Wide Vision Emerging Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the presentation involved Taysi's description of district-wide planning efforts that would establish consistent landscape standards, street furniture, and architectural themes across nine planned buildings. The development team had hired a Seattle firm providing both architecture and landscape architecture to create "uniform street trees, uniform benches, uniform garbage cans, and other dog poop stations" that would give the emerging district coherent identity. This level of comprehensive planning suggests Old Town's redevelopment will avoid the incremental chaos that characterizes many urban infill areas. Instead of individual projects responding only to immediate site conditions, the district would develop according to coordinated standards that support both individual buildings and the larger urban environment. The team had also committed to implementing Astor Street as an elevated, curbless shared street after city staff toured similar installations in King County. This represents exactly the kind of innovative infrastructure that can distinguish successful urban districts, creating memorable public spaces that enhance property values while supporting community life. ## Craftsmanship and Local Character Throughout the discussion, Fuller's attention to material details suggested a development team serious about architectural quality rather than merely meeting minimum standards. His description of custom louver designs, carefully coordinated metal finishes, and brick patterning that references nearby historic buildings showed genuine commitment to place-based design. When Heck asked about potential brick detailing that would echo the existing building's subtle relief patterns, Fuller engaged enthusiastically: "I was trying to mimic they've got a basically a band above the windows on level... above the second floor windows." This willingness to study and respond to existing architectural character represents exactly the kind of contextual sensitivity that successful infill development requires. The discussion of finding local metal fabricators for custom louver work revealed both opportunities and challenges in maintaining craft traditions in contemporary development. "Finding local metal fabricators is a little bit harder these days," Heck noted, touching on broader economic changes affecting construction quality and community economic development. ## The Approval Decision The board's ultimate motion reflected both satisfaction with the design team's responsiveness and confidence in the project's contribution to Old Town's evolution. Van Straten's motion accepted the responses to initial feedback while approving all three requested departures, with additional flexibility for the corner balcony refinements the team agreed to consider. The motion also requested "some corner detailing is added to the brick on the first floor," ensuring that the enhanced masonry treatment would include the kind of subtle craft details that distinguish quality architecture from routine development. All three board members voted in favor, with Heck expressing particular enthusiasm: "Well, nice looking building guys. Yeah, it's exciting and exciting part of town, too. So fun project." This represents exactly the kind of outcome design review processes should achieve — not grudging compliance with minimum standards, but genuine collaboration that elevates both individual projects and district character. ## Closing and What's Ahead As the meeting concluded, Taysi reflected on the value of the two-stage design review process: "Having come back, this is the first one where we all came back. It's nice to go through the feedback with the board, because a lot of time we just take it and then try and incorporate it and show it to staff." This feedback loop had clearly improved the project while building mutual understanding between the development team and city representatives. The meeting ended with anticipation for future projects, as Taysi noted that the development partners intend to "keep trucking through Old Town over the next six to eight years" with the district-wide standards providing coordination across multiple buildings. This suggests Old Town's transformation will unfold as a coherent urban district rather than a collection of isolated projects. The 84-unit mixed-use building now moves forward to building permits, representing both a successful design review process and a significant step in Bellingham's urban evolution. When complete, it will provide much-needed housing while helping establish Old Town as a distinctive neighborhood that honors its industrial heritage while embracing contemporary urban life. For the Design Review Board, this meeting demonstrated their process working as intended — not as regulatory obstacle but as collaborative opportunity to achieve development that serves both private investment and public benefit. As Van Straten noted in adjournment, this building will be "something we'll look at all the time" once complete, making the careful attention to design quality an investment in the community's daily experience for decades to come.