Boom More Capitol Hill Carnage
posted by on December 13 at 11:19 AM
This just in from Slog tipstress Sara:
A few weeks ago the owner of Da Lat, that amazing little Vietnamese restaurant at the corner of Broadway/10th/Roy, told me and my companion that he would be closing early in 2007. Apparently the owner of the building, which also includes Elite (“Seattle’s Oldest Gay Bar”) and the now boarded-up convenience store next door to Elite, is upset that the parking lot behind his building is wasted space. (From my understanding, he currently rents out a few parking spaces to the individuals businesses for staff parking.) The Da Lat owner reported that the building owner believes he’ll make more money by converting the 3 spaces into one mega-space, throw in the parking lot, and charge the new occupant a lot more that what he’s currently getting from the current occupants. The owner does not own the building with Siam Thai (but does own the old Jade Pagoda) so it doesn’t look like Brix2 will be going up anytime soon.I’m devastated that I will no longer be able to get the Best Peanut Curry and Spring Rolls on Earth, but my gay friends are sad that they’ll no longer be able to go to Elite at 10am on the occasional Friday morning. A friend in Chicago is considering a last minute trip to Seattle to say good-bye.
And Broadway continues its rapid downward spiral.
Who owns the Siam building? How can we encourage them to not sell it to the owner of the surrounding buildings?
When are they going to pass an ordinance that entirely prevents property owners from exercising their rights to do with their property as they please? Who cares about free alienability and other bastions of real property law?
On most things, I agree with the Stranger and its staff. But this sickening sentimentality over Capitol Hill development (see, e.g., ChaCha), contrasted with your urban-hipster desires for density/renewal/gentrification, is enough to make my head spin.
Da Lat has a following, which will no doubt follow it elsewhere. If the following is what it purports to be, perhaps an increase in the size of the space and the rent is appropriate. On the other hand, it appears that Da Lat does not or will not have a right (contract or otherwise) to a particular location, particular parking, or low rent. Those are the breaks, I'm afraid.
Who wants to start the betting pool for how long this new space will stay empty? It's not like retail is beating a path to Capitol Hill thesedays ...
Your neighborhood is so dead.
Actually, the Double Header is Seattle's oldest gay bar. Everyone should give it some love. It's worth it just to And now they have cocktails!!!
With that said, I haven't been there in six months. I hope it's still there. If not, disregard everything I said.
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