Amazon faces opposition to possible warehouse near Seattle light rail station

Amazon faces opposition to a new warehouse it appears interested in building on Rainier Avenue. The site is a short walk from the Mt. Baker light rail station in Seattle.

Typically, cities try to encourage things like big apartment buildings or big office buildings near light rail stations.

Dense, walkable developments help mass transit attract riders. But plans filed with the city show this warehouse would sort of be the opposite of that.

Vans and trucks driving in and out all day from multiple entry and exit points could make the environment more dangerous for pedestrians.

A distribution center would presumably attract many employees who could take light rail to work, but with its long blank walls and extensive parking lots, it'd be far from the kind of development that neighborhood groups have been pushing for there.

Amazon did not file the plans, but the company’s name appears on them hidden beneath redacted text, as well as on property records on file with King County. Amazon had previously leased a portion of the site, according to Daily Journal of Commerce Real Estate Editor Brian Miller, who first reported on the property's apparent association with Amazon.

Currently, there’s a Lowe’s home improvement store on the site.

Following a condemnation of the project on the news site The Urbanist, Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales, whose district includes the property, posted a video on Twitter assuring her constituents that a big warehouse at that location is not a done deal.

“The residents in this neighborhood have been working very hard for years on their neighborhood plan, and to make sure that this area – this gateway to the rainier valley – has affordable housing, and that we’re really focusing on safety on Rainier Avenue.”

Morales said in the video that she'd received many calls about the property. She said that any developer building there would need to prove their project meets the city’s larger goals.

Amazon’s goal is to deliver packages more quickly. And the company has said the way to do that is to put more warehouses in urban settings.

Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.