BlueStar Management said last week it would build Gateway Center, its second large mixed-use building on Fauntleroy, this one across 39th Avenue form their Fauntleroy Place complex that will include a Whole Foods store and Hancock Fabrics.

The mix-use project is planned for where the now-closed Huling Bros. Buick showroom is, with construction expected to begin late next year and be finished by early 2011. The developer says there are no current plans for a large anchor tenant.

Gateway center is planned for six stories and three floors of underground parking for 250 individual parking stalls. The first two floors will be 47,000 square feet of retail space, and the top four floors will be "100-plus market rate" apartments.

Fauntleroy Place, the next major mixed-use development scheduled to break ground in West Seattle, is building in an area ripe with similar projects planned that will bring in altogether more than 1,100 new residential units.

Capco Plaza, a seven-story, 160-unit apartment/retail building is under construction on Southwest Alaska Street between 41st and 42nd avenues southwest.

Harbor Properties recently announced its plans for three apartment buildings, which will total 550 units.

The Mural, being constructed on 42nd Avenue Southwest across the street from Jefferson Square, will have 136 rental units and should be completed by spring 2009.

The second and third buildings will each bring another 200 apartment units. One is located at the former Huling Brothers Chrysler Repair center on Alaska Street and 38th Avenue Southwest, and the other just east at the site of the West Seattle Inn and Suites.

Both projects should start next year.

Conner Homes plans to build an eight-story apartment building at California Avenue and Alaska Street, with a six-story apartment building next to it at Alaska Street and 42nd Avenue.

Conner's development would be kitty corner from Capco Plaza and include retail. It's still in permitting stages and construction may not begin until 2010.

Groundbreaking for Fauntleroy Place, a six-story, 170-unit mixed-use apartment building at the key intersection of Alaska Street and Fauntleroy Way, is delayed at least two months to start sometime in May.

Developers BlueStar Management are waiting for finalized design changes to entryways for its main tenant, Whole Foods Market grocery chain.

The West Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the West Seattle Junction Association have voiced support for the developments and increased density.

According to BlueStar's Web site, Whole Foods Market will make up a 47,000 square foot retail footprint on the ground level of Fauntleroy Place, located at the corner of 39th Avenue Southwest and Southwest Alaska Street where Hancock Fabrics is now.

There will be four floors of underground parking, 566 total spaces with about half dedicated to market customers. The existing Hancock store will be torn down and rebuilt as a tenant on the site occupying the other 14,000 square feet of retail space.

Five stories of apartments will be above the retail center.

Eric Radovich, managing director of public relations for BlueStar, said there were a few "minor tweaks" to work out involving the shape and dimensions of Hancock's retail and parking space. He expects to announce a groundbreaking date and release renderings of the development in the next few days.

But there's a chance the project may have to go back to the city's Southwest Design Review Board for approval, which could further delay the project, said Radovich. Also, Hancock could decide to enact its right to 90 days notice before vacating, another possible delay.

"The best you can do is give yourself a big, strong target," said Radovich.

Radovich said projects of this size tend to be more challenging with multiple larger retail tenants, noting it's been in the works for nearly four years. Getting the right city permits and going through design review, citizen-led boards that review private development projects, can also lead to unexpected delays.

"We are approaching the four-year mark and we haven't even turned a shovel full of dirt," he said. "It's complicated and it does take time."

The deluge of new residential buildings will mostly be apartments, rather than condos, which, until recently, were more popular to build.

Radovich said BlueStar was leaning toward building condos and had described the project as "residential units" until they could do thorough market analysis. What they found was a market saturated with condominiums and a city with a plummeting vacancy rate, mostly due to apartment-to-condominium conversions.

BlueStar is currently seeking permits for Spring Hill, another mixed-use development in the 5000 block of California Avenue Southwest.

Alan Justad, a spokesperson for the Seattle Department of Planning and Development said the city doesn't track the market shifts like whether or not more apartments are being built now than condominiums.

"We treat both as multifamily development under both the land use and building codes," said Justad. "We have no reason to track the change."

What the city does keep record of are condo conversions, of which Justad said there's been a "big drop-off."

"After three very busy years, with over 5,000 units in for condo conversions, we've seen applications for only 30 units total in the past three months ..." he said. "That part of the market seems to be slowing down."

The public is invited to the Southwest Design Review Board meeting April 10 to review designs for the Harbor Properties and Conner Homes projects. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at Chief Sealth High School.

Rebekah Schilperoort can be reached at 783-1244 or rebekahs@robinsonnews.com. Jack Mayne contributed to this report and may be reached at jmayne@robinsonnews.com or 932.0300.