How Amazon towers would change Seattle

How would Amazon's Denny Triangle project change Seattle? The pictures say a lot. How would Amazon's Denny Triangle project change Seattle? The pictures say a lot. Photo: Amazon Photo: Amazon Image 1 of / 26 Caption Close How Amazon towers would change Seattle 1 / 26 Back to Gallery

Amazon wants to build three office towers in the heart of Seattle, in a massive land-use deal that would take over about five acres, add 3 million square feet of office space, and change the city's skyline.

But what would it look like?

The public gets a better glimpse of the Denny Triangle project this week. The three-block proposal calls for asking the city to give up public rights to three alleys, a request Amazon will present to the Seattle City Council on Monday.

On Tuesday, Amazon will give its second presentation to a city design review board (pdf, 12.5 MB).

Both presentations include new pictures of how the project would change Seattle, with 3-D images and maps of pretty landscaping, big sidewalks and an altered skyline. (Click the above photos for details).

The project calls for a total of six buildings, with three towers up to 37 stories high and three lower buildings of five to six stories. It includes a meeting hall for 2,000 people and parking for more than 3,000 cars. The project is near Amazon's recently opened South Lake Union campus and would more than double Amazon's rapidly growing footprint in Seattle.

If approved, the new footprint would be undeniably huge. The Seattle Times called it "the largest development ever proposed downtown," and The New York Times described Amazon's growth as "mind-boggling real estate figures."

Amazon said it would space out construction, building one tower every two to four years. It would require demolition of the Sixth Avenue Inn and the King Cat Theater.

An alley bisects each of the three blocks that Amazon wants to build on, in a way that limits development, the company says. Getting rid of them would lead to towers with better design variety and more spacing for views and sunlight, the company says.

But the city requires an exchange in public benefits any time it cedes the right to a public street.

"Make it clear how the design benefits the public and the neighborhood, not just Amazon," the Downtown Design Review Board wrote after Amazon's last review in March.

"Look beyond the lot lines; do not create a situation where the plazas are great, but the streets are dead."

Amazon has since submitted new pictures of what it proposes. They show an improved bus stop and streetcar platform, and nicer sidewalks, pedestrian crossings and bike lanes -- and a lot of trees.

Meeting details:

Amazon's request that the city vacate three alleys is scheduled for Monday's City Council briefing at 11 a.m.

Amazon's second presentation to the Downtown Design Review Board is Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Bertha Knight Landes Room in City Hall.

Visit seattlepi.com’s home page for more Seattle news. Vanessa Ho can be reached at vanessaho@seattlepi.com or 206-448-8003 and via Twitter as @vanessaho.