Interesting stuff turns up in our comments. This from neighbor Calhoun regarding the coming development project at the old Broadway Bank of America location:
Also, I have heard “via the grapevine” that the 2 properties south of the BOA (including the bagel shop, pho restaurant, and Septieme) will be a part of the development, so those businesses will be gone. Hopefully, they will have a chance to relocate in the retail part of the new building. I, for one, will really miss Septieme…it’s a good restaurant with interesting, affordable food.
I’ve got calls out to the developers and restaurant owners to see what I can confirm. Calhoun also notes that the project map includes the two homes at the corner of 10th and Thomas.
Reps from the companies behind the development projects, Runberg Architecture Group and SRM Development, will be at next thursday’s Capitol Hill Community Council meeting for a public presentation, btw.
UPDATE #1
Linder confirms sale of Septieme’s location at 212 Broadway E to the developer. That leaves the other two buildings surrounded. Will the owners pull a Edith Macefield?
The Stranger talked to the architect: “There is at least one [parcel that could be included in the apartment project] and the owner is in negotiations with some of the tenants in there, so the design is certainly fluid at this time,” says Brian Runberg, owner and principal of Runberg Architecture Group, which is designing the apartments. The project had previously been scoped at 113 apartments but now “is in the 180- to 190-unit range,” he says. The new building would include commercial space on the ground floor.
Update #2
Just got a call from Andy Loos, the manager on the project for SRM Development. He said the Septieme property purchase is a good buy even if SRM doesn’t go through with plans to expand the project. “We’re long-term holders,” he said, “if it [212 Broadway E.] ultimately fits into the project or not.” Loos said his company is in the process of trying to acquire the other properties but nothing is finalized yet. “We’re not exactly sure how far south we’re going,” he said.
i’d really miss septieme. noah’s and pho i am ambivalent.
Checking in parcel viewer, the Septieme property (212 Broadway) was just purchased last week (1/9/09) by the same people/group/LLC – RDMSRMB230 LLC – that owns the B of A property.
Here’s the link to the record.
The other 2 properties (216 & 220 B’way) do not currently show recent sales.
linder, you outdo me again — i checked the city’s GIS but it didn’t have that info yet. You are the CHS CAR (computer assisted reporting!) all-star!
wow that’s going to be a big development. I hope they keep the cool looking old First Security Bank facade that you can see in the street view shot above. I don’t know the history behind it but it looks like it’s been there for a long time.
Interesting. I rent an office in the same building as the pho restaurant, as well as a number of other folks. I was planning on renewing the lease, but maybe not if there isn’t going to be a building anymore.
haha, thanks Justin! Happy to snoop around on behalf of CHS.
Are they nuts? Yup, that’s JUST what Broadway (let alone Seattle) needs, is another apt/condo development. We just don’t have enough half-vacant or half-constructed developments with people lining up to pay sky-high prices.
Broadway didn’t start to become run down UNTIL they started tearing down the old QFC, and ruining the old Broadway Market, all out of greed. Andy Loos should go have a talk with the folks who are struggling to finish the disasterous “BRIX”, a project 9 months behind schedule, and three years in the making. That project alone destroyed businesses on both sides of it — a simple fact.
Interesting how the Broadway Business Association folks who were SO pro-development 5 years ago are now struggling to survive…like Bway Video and Bailey Coy Books. Sure the economy is in the tank (another reason not to build), but both businesses have been struggling for years. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bailey Coy goes under within six months.
Sheesh…it’s just incredible how blind these people are.
If Pho 900 goes, methinks my heart will go with it. Sure you can get a good bowl of noodles just down the road, but I challenge anyone to find a yummier, freer cream puff. Plus, the vegan pho is heaping with veggies and always ready in just a jif. Fight the power and pass the plum sauce!
Kelly, I have to disagree with your comments. First of all, I think that the Brix development is fantastic! It replaced an old, ugly Safeway (and a large parking lot) with a beautiful new building and three great, local businesses (Dilletante, Vivace, and Hour Eyes). It did NOT destroy any nearby businesses….they are alive and well on Broadway, just south of Brix. The only thing gone is the Safeway, and there is another one of those just a few blocks away.
I too kind of miss the old Broadway Market, but the reality is that many of the small businesses there were not doing well. There are still quite a few small businesses around the periphery of the new QFC. And I have hopes that the new development at the old QFC site will be as successful as Brix.
As far as the redevelopment of the BOA site, that too will be a big improvement…it will replace a poorly-maintained parking lot and an ugly, 50s bank building with new apartments/condos and new retail spaces. I hope the latter will incorporate at least some of the businesses currently there (Septieme, etc.).
Your perception that Broadway is becoming “run down” is not shared by many. To the contrary, most people who have lived here a long time (me included) see many signs that our neighborhood is definitely on the upswing. The Sound Transit project will be a real pain for a number of years, but the end result sholuld be an asset to the community, IF the above-ground part of it is done well.
You seem to be a person who thinks that all re-development is bad, but you are a distinct minority. Change is good (usually).