By LEAH WEATHERSBY

It looks like Wallingford will get its steps.

At a Dec. 10 community meeting, Ross Woods, a spokesman for Regata LLC, the developer of "The Regata," a condominium building with commercial space on the first floor located at 1700 N. Northlake Way, announced that the company will voluntarily contribute up to $100,000 to the Wallingford Steps project.

The Wallingford Steps is a planned park which will link N. 34th Street to N Northlake Way via the Wallingford Avenue corridor. Regata's contribution to the steps project will come in lieu constructing a linear stairway on the east side of their building. Tim Motzer, project manager with the Seattle Parks Department, said that simply building straight steps would have been cheaper for Regata, but both the developer and the community agreed that that concept would be much less preferable.

Woods said the $100,000 contribution will be contingent upon the Seattle Parks Department starting construction of the steps next April. The Regata is expected to be completed this coming May or June.

Woods' oral commitment should come as a relief to proponents of the steps project, which was originally planned with contributions from two developments, Regata to the west of Wallingford Avenue and the "Zarrett property" to the east. Developer David Zarrett had also intended to build a mixed-use structure in the area, but according to Motzer, he decided last spring to put that project on hold due to the softening economy.

However, after Woods' announcement, Motzer said that those funds coupled with $412,000 earmarked for the steps project in the year 2000's Pro Parks Levy would be enough to start building a phased design next spring. The next step will be to finalize the architectural plans and get bids from contractors.

The idea for the Wallingford Steps was first conceived 13 years ago by Wallingford resident Vincent Lyons, an architect at the City's Department of Design, Construction and Land Use and a former president of the Wallingford Community Council. Over the years, proponents of the steps tried several ways to get the project funded, however the meeting of two large developments in the area coupled with the passage of the Pro Parks Levy seemed to be the recipe for success. Lyon's said that even if Zarrett sells his property it would be in the interest of future developers to work their design in with the steps.

"You'd be a fool not to connect to the landing even if you were a warehouse," Lyons said. "It's in their own best interest to play ball."

For more information, call Tim Motzer with the Seattle Parks Department at 363-4140. b