cliffside

Modern City Living – A Locals Guide to Fremont

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 21:39:44 GMT

Modern City Living – A Locals Guide to Fremont

As a team of designers and urbanites, certain aspects of city living are paramount to us. These include walkability, freedom from dependence on cars, access to local amenities, proximity to major institutions , a wide array of cuisines , living in a thoughtfully designed environment , and—perhaps most importantly—being immersed in the buzz of urban life .

With BUILD’s recently completed Fremont View Apartments , we had the opportunity to design with all of these elements in mind and it’s worth exploring how good physical design emerges from the right balance of intangibles.

The Fremont Vibe
Few communities offer what Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood does. It’s part of a thriving city yet separated just enough to maintain its own vibe and character. Fremont still feels like an urban village, home to one-off shops like Pipe & Row , Ophelia’s Books , Les Amis , and a host of vintage markets. Right in the very center, Picklr is set to open a 10-court indoor pickle-ball facility in the previous Theo Chocolate headquarters.

A Food Lover’s Haven
Fremont’s food scene is incredible, offering a diverse mix of local favorites:
• Revel dishes up bold Korean comfort food—don’t miss the short rib wontons.
• Sea Wolf delights with its artisan baked goods.
• Local Tide serves fresh NW seafood, while Le Coin offers high-end French cuisine in a classy setting.
• Craving fish and chips? Head to the iconic Pacific Inn , made famous by its feature on No Reservations .
• If you’re looking for a seafood inspired date night, head over to Rock Creek .
• For Oaxacan-inspired dishes, El Camino delivers vibrant flavors in a lively space.
• Café Turko serves delicious Turkish fare alongside the strongest coffee in town.
• The Cuban sandwiches from Paseo are legendary.
• Got a late-night sweet tooth? Midnight Cookie Co. stays open until 1 a.m.
The list of must-try spots goes on and on, making Fremont a true haven for food lovers.

Coffee, Cocktails & Brews
When it comes to beverages, Fremont delivers:
• For artisan-crafted espresso made with fair-trade, organic beans, stop by Fremont Coffee Company .
• Need a spot to work and sip? Head to Stone Way Café .
• Want to see the beans roasted on-site? Lighthouse Roasters has you covered.

For after-work drinks:
• Check out The Triangle or Aslan Brewing , where you can conveniently order a fish sandwich from Local Tide next door through a pass-through window.
• Grab a beer and a Reuben (of course) at Reuben’s Brews while they’re in the neighborhood for a limited time while the property is in design. We’re looking forward to what the new mixed use building will bring!
• Enjoy live music at the High Dive or soak up the sun at Fremont Brewing ’s outdoor beer garden.

Seamless City Connections
When it’s time to catch a show or visit an exhibit downtown, getting there is a breeze.
• Hop on the #40 or #62 bus from Fremont Ave N—buses run every five minutes, and the ride takes just 25 minutes. Minutes required to find parking: zero.
• You’ll be dropped off two blocks from Pike Place Market, where you can grab fresh produce from Sosio’s or specialty groceries from DeLaurenti (don’t miss the pizza counter!).
All this, without the headache of hunting for parking. Did we mention the freedom of living car-free?

Fitness & Outdoor Adventures
For the fitness-focused, Fremont has plenty of options:
• The Bouldering Project , just off Stone Way N, offers bouldering terrain for all skill levels, with drop-in sessions most evenings.
• Gas Works Park is a short walk away, perfect for outdoor activities. The hill provides a front row seat for Duck Dodge , the weekly summertime sailing regatta on Lake Union.
• A little further east, visit Agua Verde Paddle Club , where you can rent kayaks and explore the city by water.
• After paddling, refuel at the Agua Verde Café or Saint Bread .

Fremont’s Quirky Spirit
The neighborhood brims with quirkiness and counterculture:
• Don’t miss the Fremont Troll , an 18-foot-tall, 13,000-pound sculpture lurking beneath the Aurora Bridge.
• Nearby, the controversial statue of Lenin , shipped from Czechoslovakia after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, sparks curiosity and conversation.
• In the heart of Fremont, the “ Waiting for the Interurban ” statue captures the neighborhood’s playful spirit, regularly dressed to reflect local events, holidays, and social causes.
• A new sculpture was unveiled right at the base of our Fremont View Apartment project – be sure to check out the Yoga Bear teeter totter .
The Fremont Bridge, one of the most frequently opened bridges in the U.S., reflects the neighborhood’s commitment to sustainability by counting daily bike crossings. It also supports local creativity through an artist-in-residence program hosted in its tower, coordinated by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

Urban Exploration & Cultural Gems
Urban activities abound in and around Fremont.
• The year-round, weekly Sunday Market is a must-visit, offering art, antiques, and local treats.
• Just next door in Ballard, explore the Fishermen’s Terminal , Ballard Locks , and the scenic Golden Gardens Park .
• For cultural enrichment, the Nordic Museum hosts outstanding exhibits and engaging community events, celebrating Scandinavian heritage year-round.

Designing for Urban Life: Fremont View Apartments
All of these urban and cultural experiences create an exceptional environment to live, explore, and flourish.
Which brings us back to the Fremont View Apartments .
It’s a rare opportunity for an architecture studio to design a building so deeply embedded in a neighborhood they know and love .
Perched on a bluff rising from Fremont, the building was carefully designed to take full advantage of views of the neighborhood, downtown Seattle, Lake Union, and the mountains beyond.

• Most flats offer extraordinary views, and the 8th-floor community rooftop deck is the perfect place to hang out with like-minded urbanites, sip a drink, gather by the firebox, and watch the sun set over the Olympic Mountains.
• The flats themselves feature a modern aesthetic and a sophisticated palette of materials.
• Unlike big-box apartment buildings, the clean, simple design of Fremont View Apartments allows residents to fully enjoy everything the neighborhood has to offer, without unnecessary embellishments or ornamentation.
With a few units still available, it’s a project—and a philosophy of urban living—that we invite you to experience.

Cheers from Team BUILD!

This post originally appeared on the Build LLC blog .

Fremont: Seattle’s Best Neighborhood for Art, History & Modern Living

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 20:20:04 GMT

Fremont: Seattle’s Best Neighborhood for Art, History & Modern Living

Fremont has always been a place for creators, craftspeople, water and nature lovers. And since the beginning, it has been at the Center of the Universe.

The Fremont neighborhood and its surroundings have always been part of the ancestral homelands of the Duwamish people , a Coast Salish tribe whose presence in the area stretches back thousands of years. The Duwamish established seasonal camps along the shores of Lake Union, which they referred to as XáXu7cHoo (sometimes pronounced “Ha-Ah-Chu”), meaning "small body of water," a name that spoke to its cultural and geographical importance. The Duwamish established canoe routes on the lake where, long before the digging of the Ship Canal and the Montlake Cut, foot trails connected Lake Washington, Lake Union, Puget Sound, and nearby villages. The Fremont area likely had access points along these ancient routes, including trails used by the Duwamish to portage canoes between waterways. These paths were eventually used or transformed into roadways, traces of which appear even today in Fremont’s modern streets.

Fremont’s geographic location, set between salt and fresh water, continued to be a significant factor in its rapid growth post-European settlement. A navigable stream connected Fremont to the west, and Lake Union sat to its east. Initially, the heavily-wooded neighborhood was not only a residential suburb, but it was also a center for the logging and lumber industry. Seattleites seeking to establish residence in the new neighborhood either paddled canoes across Lake Union or rode the 12-passenger steamer, Maude Foster to reach Fremont’s shores. The late 1800s brought more change, with the arrival of streetcars and in 1910, the Interurban Railroad chose Fremont to be the transfer station for travel north to Everett. If you look carefully, you can still see traces of the railway under some of the neighborhood’s streets. In 1917, the Lake Washington Ship Canal and the Hiram Chittenden Locks opened, allowing easy transit from the lakes to the Sound. The water connection spurred new business and Fremont community shipwrights crafted vessels for the Navy as well as built-to-order pleasure boats for Seattle’s rapidly growing population.

It wasn’t all about work though. Beginning in the 1960s, the culture of Fremont shifted to embrace the counterculture movement sweeping the nation. Free-spirited residents crafted and installed public art, created beloved traditions such as the Fremont Solstice Parade and of course, installed a giant troll under the Aurora Bridge. In 1978, Waiting for the Interurban , a statue by Richard Beyer and one of the community's oldest public artworks, was installed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Fremont's founding. Today, Fremont bustles with a mix of business and pleasure: bright minds creating new technologies, small business owners creating unique goods and services, and artists adding fresh and fun ways to engage in our city. The community is a melding of new and old, brimming with vibrant creative artwork—and creative residents.

You can experience Fremont’s history – and even live in it – thanks to the efforts of locally-owned Cliffside Properties. Our collection of early-Seattle bungalows and restored vintage apartment buildings preserves the historic texture of this beloved community. In addition, we recently opened 29 brand-new modern apartments in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood.

Introducing the Fremont View Modern Classic Collection , the latest chapter in the rich history of creativity that defines Fremont. These brand-new apartments in Seattle are inspired by their mid-century sister buildings and offer new amenities including a rooftop lounge, modern design and a community that is infused with art.

Some of the art within the new building honors our city’s history as well, with Yoga, a restored kiddie toy from the 1960s worthy of the Seattle World’s Fair Fun Forest . Living near the Seattle Center , Gas Works Park , the Fremont Troll, the Fremont Sunday Market and the Burke-Gilman Trail , residents of Cliffside Properties’ new apartments at Fremont View will experience the culmination of the Fremont neighborhood’s history – a perfect blend of art, culture, outdoor lifestyle and urbanity.

Fremont's Hidden Staircases

e.krigsman@windermere.com (Edward Krigsman) — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 20:20:09 GMT

A Seattle Treasure

Two secluded staircases link Fremont View Apartments to the urban village below. To locate their entrances just ask a local resident. Seattle boasts 650 public stairs (more than any US city except Pittsburgh and San Francisco), built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to funnel hillside passengers to trolley routes. Long after the trolley has disappeared, those in the know still use the stairs: for exercise, including dog walking; as shortcuts to work or amenities; or to access a scenic space for reflection and solitude. Learn more about Seattle’s public staircases – and how they enhance the city’s early neighborhoods – on this podcast .

A Porthole into your Future

e.krigsman@windermere.com (Edward Krigsman) — Mon, 04 Sep 2023 20:09:01 GMT

Original graphic artwork inspired by science fiction

Each door at Troll Eye is an original porthole into the future as well as the past. At a moment when technology is booming in Fremont, you will be greeted by graphics inspired by 1960s space exploration, science, and technology. Enjoy this gallery of Troll Eye front door graphics.