City 89th and Roosevelt
posted by on June 15 at 10:54 AM
Maple Leaf
With all of the booming development going on in Seattle, it boggles my mind that this barren patch of cement - on 89th and Roosevelt Way NE - has sat empty for nearly 6 years:
In 2001, on Thanksgiving Day, a fire gutted the building which housed a coffee shop, salon and video store (where I used to work).
Over the next two years, the building came down, slowly, until only a brick-work skeleton was left. Then…nothing happened.
Eventually,the empty lot became a graffiti hotspot so the neighborhood leaned on the the property owner, Sam Voskovich, to clean up the site.
According to Barbara Maxwell, Chair of the Land Use Committee on the Maple Leaf Community Council (MLCC), the neighborhood has had a rocky relationship with the Voskovich. “The community council tried to be patient and respectful of the loss that he had as a property owner and wait for him to do what he had to do. Sam believed he was the victim of arson. He was looking for sympathy,” she says.
The MLCC held several meetings where Voskovich presented plans for a apartment/condo/retail complex but the project never took off. Maxwell claims Voskovich has received offers to buy the site but has held on to the property because of a “sentimental attachment”. I tried to contact Voskovich to talk about his current plans but he didn’t return my calls.
I’m not a fan of the Community Renewal Act (read: eminent domain) Mayor Nickels was pushing earlier this year but I’m tired of driving by this concrete dead zone. I just hope the development fairy stops by my neighborhood sometime soon.
be careful of what you wish for.
an empty lot is preferable to the piece of crap townhomes plaguing the city. for a stark, depressing example, visit the 2 blocks east of aurora & north of 85th.
"i wouldn't live there if you paid me" - talking heads, the great country
Jonah! Don't tell people you drive! You're going to ruin our bike nazi rep.
It's OK, my car is powered by my own sense of self satisfaction.
I agree--Jonah. The government should seize the property of *everyone* who holds onto their property in the greedy and non-productive hope that it will continue to appreciate in value and turn it over to those who will develop it to its highest and best use.
hey Jonah~
Did you used to go to new years eve parties in this neighborhood? Around 92nd and 5th NE? Mike and Kara's place...
Just trying to figure out if you are THAT jonah.
-Sean
I live over in that area too...there's a little triangle where Maple Leaf and Wedgwood meet the north part of Ravenna that is crying out for development. Let it happen!
Looks like the perfect space to put a Walgreens.
I kid.
@ 6- No, I don't think that was me.
@ 8- There's already a Walgreens about a mile away on Northgate. I just wish there was a decent bar in my neighborhood.
i just moved to this neighborhood from capitol hill and i agree that there's no good bars around. the jones? meh. it'll do in a pinch. same with maple leaf grill, which is more like a restaurant. the res is a little too scary for me. am i missing anything? where do maple leafers hang out?
On the other hand there is a place on the otherside of Maple Leaf on 15th that people are trying to save from development, destroying the urban forest that is there. See SaveWaldo.org. Why do we need 40 cottage homes displacing trees and birds already in decline?
I think we should forcibly relocate Jonah S there and use his car to pay for the relocation costs.
I'm sure we can find a FEMA trailer for him.
Wait, relocate me where? Waldo? No.
@ 10- There are no good bars. The res is cheap but totally inconsistent. My last few visits to the Maple Leaf Grill have been disappointing and I just haven't made it to The Jones. It doesn't look like a bar I would enjoy.
@ 11- I wrote about Waldo a few weeks ago. The neighborhood is in the process of getting it declared as a historic site. I'm all for the preservation of the trees but the building is hideous.
I'm more excited/amazed/frightened by the prospect of the city capping the reservoir and turning the area into a massive park.
I almost bought the house directly next to that lot. The house was beautifully designed (by a real-estate agent, even!) so that there were only a couple small windows facing the Roosevelt Street direction. The other windows faced 89th and the neighbors, who had a relatively large lot.
Two problems, though. First, I assumed that a 4-story condo would go up overlooking the very long strip of backyard, making it impossible to enjoy the backyard once that happened, and requiring a year or more of endurance of construction next door.
Second, the backyard is adjacent to Judy Fu's. Now I love Snappy Dragon. Don't get me wrong. But they have reasonably long hours and they deliver. So there would be the constant smell of hand shaved noodles and the constant coming and going of vehicles.
My wife and I opted not to buy the house, as much as we liked it, which was quite a lot. It did get sold and I hope the new owners have enjoyed the relative quiet given that the burned-down area has been unbuilt so far.
This">http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=89th+and+Roosevelt,+Seattle,+WA&sll=47.640288,-122.307173&sspn=0.007605,0.01884&ie=UTF8&ll=47.693326,-122.317786&spn=0.00095,0.002355&t=k&z=19&om=1>This Google link with satellite view is really out of date, as it doesn't show the house, which was built in 2003, I believe.
I've lived next to a couple of empty lots in the past and they can be a nightmare in their own special way. If you don't wind up with squatters or homeless taking up residence, you can often count on jackasses dumping their garbage in the lot.
Even here in thousand-dollar-a-square-foot-shoulder-to-shoulder San Francisco, there's an amazing amount of dead and empty lots, burnt-never-to-be-rebuilt buildings, and unused warehouses.
I'm sure there's a million reasons why these spaces occur, but the only scenario I ever imagine is the proverbial insane property owner, living far away in a huge house, surrounded by piles and piles of old newspapers, who's children will occasionally check in on in anticipation of the day they inherit all that "big city property".
@10: Cooper's on Lake City Way.
Decent food, too!
Coopers has some great sandwiches but it's super obnoxious there on weekends.
It's also a bit far from my place.
I think I'm gonna have to go there and get a sandwich tonight. Mmmm.
LOL Dan. As if him being anywhere near 89th and Roosevelt wasn't a prime indicator that he drives.
While I'd live to defend the guy's right to property, he's doing absolutely nothing with a piece of property because of some mental psychosis. He needs to give it up and move on with whatever life he has left.
That's if his excuse is above board. I think this is just his stated excuse, and he's just holding out for a big sale to the first person or entity willing to make a crazy bid way above its value.
The townhomes a few blocks north are very beautiful. What helps is when they have doors facing the street and a porch or stoop (stairway) -- instead of a blank cedar fence that shows the neighborhood the structure's "backside."
Don't blame townhomes in general -- blame the lack of design review & an uneducated market.
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