Ballard Developments

[WESTSEATTLEGUY]

LMAO.

[CityView Jim]

Ballard certainly does dance to the beat of a different drum. And what roofline are we immortalizing here?!

[mhays]

That's an old lady that wouldn't sell.

[CrazyAboutCities]

I'm amazed that developer had the gut to do that. I would never want to live in the house with mega complex surrounding it with very little sunshine. I just showed this picture to my friend. He thinks that kinda mean to do that to the old lady who lives in that house.

[CityView Jim]

She could have been rich and happy. Now she's comfortable in her familar surroundings with more shade than she ever envisioned. Maybe some ivy!

[AzChristopher]

Originally Posted by CrazyAboutCities

I'm amazed that developer had the gut to do that. I would never want to live in the house with mega complex surrounding it with very little sunshine. I just showed this picture to my friend. He thinks that kinda mean to do that to the old lady who lives in that house.

They had an article awhile ago about how the construction workers drove her to her doctor appointments and her cooking for them and such. She bought the house for her mom years ago and took over when her mom died. She seemed happy by the writing. Should be interesting what happens to it when she passes away.

[CityView Jim]

I'm almost certain there is a plan. The developer probably has a signed agreement to purchase upon her death. That space will likely be incorporated into the (then) existing structure.

The tell will be if units above her back and side 'yards' have windows. If they do, her space may just be converted into a common area. If they don't, then they had plan for more units all along.

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by CityView Jim

She could have been rich and happy. Now she's comfortable in her familar surroundings with more shade than she ever envisioned. Maybe some ivy!

For many elderly people, familiar surroundings are a major touchstone in their lives and change is unwanted and often terrifying. At 80-something years old, money can't buy happiness. Familiarity and comfort are worth far more than any amount of cash to someone like her.

[mhays]

Originally Posted by CityView Jim

I'm almost certain there is a plan. The developer probably has a signed agreement to purchase upon her death. That space will likely be incorporated into the (then) existing structure.

The tell will be if units above her back and side 'yards' have windows. If they do, her space may just be converted into a common area. If they don't, then they had plan for more units all along.

Units? This project has no "units".

[CityView Jim]

Oops! I forgot what this project was.

[CityView Jim]

Yeah! Common sense prevails!!

Landmarks Preservation Board gives owner OK to tear down Ballard Denny's
By Stuart Eskenazi

Seattle Times staff reporter

Three months after declaring the defunct Ballard Denny's building a landmark -- which, for some, put into question the very meaning of the word -- Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board unanimously said the owner may tear it down.

The change of tune Wednesday night came after the Benaroya Companies, which purchased the property in 2006 intending for condominiums to be built, convinced the board that it could not achieve a reasonable rate of return on its $12.5 million investment if the Denny's were left standing.

The landmark designation for the Denny's, which Benaroya shut down last year, sparked passions because it touched on property rights, historic preservation, growth and the continued evolution of once-quaint Seattle neighborhoods. Hundreds of Ballard residents banded together to try to save it.

Their efforts worked at first, but Wednesday the board was required to consider its decision's economic impact on Benaroya -- a factor that by law it could not take into account three months ago.

"I just don't see how I can not only hold their feet to the fire, but put them into the fire," said board member Thomas Veith, an architectural historian who voted for the landmark designation in February.

John McCullough, Benaroya's attorney, said the company looked at a dozen redevelopment alternatives that would have preserved the building, but no plan was feasible.

Even the rosiest option -- turning the Denny's into a high-end restaurant and building condos on the rest of the site -- posted a near 25 percent loss for Benaroya, he said. That's because the number of units built would have to have been reduced from the original redevelopment plan.

Board member Alyce Conti, a real-estate finance expert, agreed with McCullough's assessment.

"No lender is going to lend on this project, especially in today's environment," she said. "It's impossible."

Supporters who pushed to turn the Denny's into a landmark pleaded with the board to consider that the building could be preserved if the property were rezoned, thus giving the developer an opportunity to build higher and build enough condo units to financially satisfy the owner.

But Veith said a rezoning might not fly with Ballard residents: "If they are against having the condos, why would they support extra height?"

Benaroya officials had characterized building supporters as more interested in using the landmarks process to stop the proliferation of condos in Ballard than in the building's historic or architectural virtues. Alan Michelson told the board that was not the case, and said city officials were open to a rezoning.

Eugenia Woo, another Ballard resident, said all the money Benaroya has spent to fight the landmark designation could have gone toward restoring the restaurant and that by now "we all could be drinking martinis at a swank bar."

Benaroya purchased the property as part of a surplus auction of the failed Seattle Monorail Project. The building was to be demolished to make way for a monorail station but had not been vetted through the landmarks process.

The board's decision in February to designate the Denny's a landmark was criticized by those who believed the building had lost much of its original Googie-inspired architectural integrity. In the end, the board designated it a landmark not on the basis of architecture, but rather on its visual prominence at Northwest Market Street and 15th Avenue Northwest and its distinctive quality in Ballard.

The building was constructed in 1964 as a Manning's Cafeteria. It morphed into a Denny's but today stands boarded up behind a chain-link fence.

While the landmark ruling three months ago led some to poke fun at Seattle's sense of aesthetic, others used it to debate whether midcentury buildings merit landmark status. It also has shone light on the often-misunderstood city landmarks process.

Board chairman Stephen Lee, an architect who voted for the landmark status three months ago, said members having to vote to tear down a landmark was "a very sad situation for us to be in," but he and other design professionals on the board needed to defer to colleagues who are number-crunchers.

Board member Ronald Martinson, a structural engineer, said the process requiring the board to consider Benaroya's financial hardship had to be followed. "I think it's worth noting," he said, "that we're a board of rules."

[BoulderGrad]

So how soon do they start tearing the thing down?

[PDXPaul]

So is that the final decision or is there a chance of an appeal?

[Mtoes]

Originally Posted by BoulderGrad

So how soon do they start tearing the thing down?

If I were them I would turn that into rubble as fast as possible.

[silence.kit]

Yay, another condo... Too bad they couldn't turn that building into something worthwhile.

[NW Mike]

That Landmarks Preservation Board will have a black cloud hanging over their heads for a while after such a stupid mistake. More and more of these groups around the world are making asses of themselves trying to keep these old relics from being replaced. What a waste of money and time that was spent on this.

[mokocoko]

Originally Posted by NW Mike

That Landmarks Preservation Board will have a black cloud hanging over their heads for a while after such a stupid mistake. More and more of these groups around the world are making asses of themselves trying to keep these old relics from being replaced. What a waste of money and time that was spent on this.

I was disappointed to see that the proposal for taller buildings that included the denny's didn't pencil out. But as long as something's going in, I'm satisfied.

[mhays]

Yes, common sense prevails.

I love the density coming to central Ballard.

[SteveM]

Originally Posted by mhays

Yes, common sense prevails.

I love the density coming to central Ballard.

Yeah, it's pretty remarkable how much denser Ballard is getting. It seems crazy that this project and the Sunset Bowl project and the apartment project south of Market at 14th could all go forward. But even if none of them happen, central Ballard will soon have about 1000 more housing units than it did 5 years ago. Wow.

Now if only there were a better way to get to and from Ballard on mass transit...

[mhays]

They'll be getting significant bus improvements by 2009. From Ballard Bridge service will be very good at that point.