Free parking, in both senses of the word (Photo: MvB)
Back in June, we first heard that the University Village shopping center was going to pause construction on a new six-story parking garage. Ironically, because the project meant closing off a section of the existing parking lot, merchants on the shopping center’s south side were taking a financial hit.
So the U Village powers-that-be decided to slap a slab on the project when it reached ground level, paint parking stripes on it, and resume work in January 2013, after the holiday shopping season. That’s now accomplished, but as you can see, people clearly don’t know about it. Parking is wide open.
University Village is famous for its free parking, and infamous for the time you generally spend circling the lot looking for a space. To breeze in at lunchtime and find several open spaces…it’s unheard of! We urge you to take advantage of this while you can, because the new parking area won’t stay secret for long.
Stores on the southern edge of the center, just to be obsessive, include: Seattle Sun Tan, Blue C Sushi, Cole Haan, Tommy Bahama, Paper Source, Sonrisa: Modern Mex (which has outdoor seating if the weather is clement), Tall’s Camera, Pallino Pasteria, Boom Noodle, Mrs. Cook’s, and Piatti’s.
Construction site at University Village (Photo: MvB)
The University Village shopping mall is having a Catch-22 moment: They’ve decided to pause construction of a six-story, 700-stall parking garage on the mall’s south side because of how it’s impacting parking, and, consequently, merchant business. Construction has meant the loss of hundreds of spaces in the work zone (not to mention a certain amount of rumbling and clanging), but soon the new garage’s underground infrastructure will be in place.
Once that’s done, the U Village will “cover and stripe (parking stalls, crosswalks, etc.) the area for customer parking” and leave it that way throughout the 2012 summer and holiday shopping season, construction not resuming aboveground until January 7, 2013. [UPDATE: This “quick fix” phase should finish no later than July 31, 2012. Finishing the slab is “quite a bit of work,” a construction worker told us when we visited the site.)
The once and future parking lot.
That can’t be too soon for the merchants near the construction area. Mexican restaurant Sonrisa has a terrifically-priced lunch combination that The SunBreak’s Lunch Team often takes advantage of, but not as frequently the past few months, given the industrial ambiance outside its doors.
And, given that the U Village’s free parking was in short supply to begin with, it’s not hard to imagine cascading effects, as shoppers circle the lot for parking…and circle…and circle. (Tweets from people in the know advise you to avoid the place on weekends, which can’t make anyone happy.)
Wednesday nights, on the other hand, are another matter. That’s when U Village’s 2012 Sounds of Summer Concert Series takes place, starting on July 11, which is, sadly, about when summer begins around here. Here is the lineup for Wednesday nights:
July 11 – Hit Explosion
July 18 – The Dusty 45s
July 25 – LeRoy Bell & His Only Friends
August 1 – Clinton Fearon & The Boogie Brown Band
Kid’s concert at 5:00 p.m. – Caspar Babypants, featuring Chris Ballew from The Presidents of The United States of America
August 8 – Special Guest Appearance
August 15 – The Paperboys
We can especially recommend the rockabilly raveups of The Dusty 45s. The concerts are from 6 to 8 p.m., and besides “gourmet bites” from U Village restaurants, you can also look forward to a “lively beer garden and fun children’s activities in the Land of Nod Play Area.” The concerts are sponsored by the primary care provides of UW Neighborhood Clinics. They have nine locations, the closest to U Village looking to be their Ravenna clinic.
