Big surprise... The condo developers buy up, push out, and destroy the local landmarks and now can't even afford to build, or if they have built can't sell the damn things. I would rejoice if not for the fact that the damage has already been done.

So we're left with redundant, empty, demolished sites where we once had a landmark, a bowling alley, and oh is Archie McPhee still getting pushed out too?

Can't someone please regulate these people next time we have a development boom?

Financing is available for companies with profitable business plans. Condos are not in that category right now!

Economy get better in a month? wtf? I guess it's dead...good riddance.

The Manning’s building was no loss to me and I have no issue with condos but I am saddened by yet another empty lot in Ballard. Likely in a few years we will see rentals built on the site which is a good thing but they will have to be affordable or they will also sit empty. Developers do eventually catch up to reality, if they want to remain in business that is. Rental prices historically follow owned houses in price and we will see a drop. Already rental prices are dropping on the east side and incentives are being offered.

Jamie: that's what the spammer scammers all say. Krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk, krawk!

You hominids could build a shelter for the homeless there. You're probably going to need one.

wow Raven- why the rancor? Jamie's point is valid.

m, it's not true, or only in very, very few cases. There's very little money available for anything--the banks are sitting on their bailout payments, and they didn't have money to lend to begin with--their books are still full of uncollectable loans.

Gonna be a cold spring.

CK, you can regulate this yourself. Step up with you wallet and not your mouth. then you can build the beautiful mannings or dennys back. i'm kinda hungry for a grand slam breakfast about now.

That thing is so ugly. I hope they don't ever get financing.

I think of a word when I look at those renderings, and it sure isn't "iconic".

But then again this is America, where we like to build the same garbage over and over again, tell ourselves it "fits in" with the older garbage, and watch the rest of the world kick our butts with good design.

Agreed. Why do we get so nostalgic over brick walls?

thanks Raven - a much more civil and relevant answer. I agree with you that there is very little money available out there at the moment, but the financing does exist for those few with the appropriate track record and a profitable long-term business plan. If the financing industry had demanded high standards before, we wouldn't be as deep in as we are now.

and for those missing Denny's : Moons Over MyHammy = the ultimate hangover breakfast! (or so I've heard)

Cookie-cutter design + small gazebo roof = "iconic" design inspired by local landmarks.

I agree too. Go to any European city and you'll see sleek modern buildings butting up to old brick and stone ones, yet somehow it all works and looks great. And those old buildings deserve way more respect than any of ours!

Thanks for the great reporting My Ballard!

Dennys was such a melting pot. I met so many of my neighbors of all ages there! I also miss having a 24 hour meet-up place near my home.

They were in such a hurry to tear down a lively (if tacky) restaurant. Sunset Bowl was a happening place too! (Not that I bowled there, but still - active and making money is better than closed up and collecting graffiti...)

I want a bumper sticker that says "Developers Eat Their Young."

The credit "freeze" is the decrease in the rate of lending. Ever accelerating lending was the nor so a contraction in the rate created the panic, it signaled the end of the debt bubble and asset-backed securities ponzi scheme. Lending is still occurring but very little is going to real estate ventures.

Where were all you whiners when the property was for sale and you could have put your own money on the line? Where was your plan for preservation? Let me guess, tax me for your preservation sensibilities.

I hope they get the financing and move forward, but it sure seems like a long shot. Would you rather have them sell it to Target? A larger Mars Hill? If they fall on their faces, who do you think has the money to buy that property? It's not going to be some cool independent developer anytime soon.

I really like the design of the building. All you people who spent one semester abroad in Europe really need to sniffing Europes jock.

Frankly, they should be forced to make it a green space if they can't build. The cost of ripping it up and putting some grass in can't be much. I say have the city fine them until they do something productive with the land and tell them that a green space is a viable option. If they want to sit on a park while they get their financing in order that's fine by me. I have no problem with building more condo's (as long as we have roads to support it) but the run down abandonned areas completely brought about by these guys makes me sick.

Could we please have some moderation for inappropriate language and trolling? I'd like to see all of "Joey's" vowels would fall out.

Jamie, m: no. The bad mortgages were converted into financial instruments which obscured their basic weakness and distributed throughout the economy. The bad paper is still everywhere, and will be until we see financial regulation reimposed. Yes, some people and organizations are still lending, but only very rich people and organizations and only to highly trusted borrowers. There's not much money even for good investments, these days.

Crossroads are important. Markets--and that includes Safeway, though I don't shop there--aren't a bad choice for crossroads, but they're not the only possibility. Besides, who wants a condo next to a major arterial which is noisy 24 hours a day? It doesn't make sense. The Denny's did make sense. For that matter, a transit station would make a lot of sense.

Going down a level in scale, the design really isn't there, is it? The cheapest thing to get the floor space and meet code, with a bit of decoration, it looks like. I've real doubts of the integrity of the enclosure system in the Northwestern climate, and suspect that many of the condos built in the last five years will start leaking very quickly.

Man - that is one uninspired design. Landmark character is not relayed through the addition of an oversized Gazebo and brick veneer.

As many of us as possible should plan to attend the DR meeting.

Makes me want to cry--this rape and destruction of our community. FYI re: nostalgia for brick walls--these are not brick buildings--brick building was a skill, an art with many individual laying designs--these are cheap brick facades hiding the cheaply made, mass produced human warehouse buildings. The battle cry of the current mayor and city council is "Quantity Over Quality!" and nieve transplants buy the line while pushing out the very people who made our city one they wanted to move to in the first place. Sad.

Joshua, that is a fantastic proposition.

Joshua for mayor!

I think most of you bloggers are the one who are hanging out in the mannings parking lot now. drinking your colt 45 and throwing yo empties all over the place. Ballard is changing just like the rest of seattle. do you miss the ernst hardware and paysave,tradewell,tux shop, the row of little rat invested houses by wendys. you really need to buy some real estate and put up your own building. and where do you live? i would like to drive by and judge your house or tent or parking lot.

"Iconic?" This guy is supposedly an architect, I can't believe he can say that with a straight face. That design couldn't be more generic. The key word in his quote about playing off the lighthouse idea is "trying." Honestly, I can't imagine living on that corner would be very pleasant. Even if they do get financing to build it, will anyone buy?

Joey, don't be rude. So you like the design. I'm happy for you. Others of us do not. If you can't agree with us, at least do us the favor of curbing your stupid insults.

Lighthouse? this design, well inland is playing off the idea of a LIGHTHOUSE? That makes no sense whatsoever. Instead, it looks more like a guard tower.

That design is just horrendous. Must re-read article to see when/where the DR meeting will be held.

I love this town, it's where I grew up, but what is our aversion to good architecture? We have so little of it...

To CK and anyone else who wants better regulation: that's what design review board meetings are for!

Go the meetings, make your opinion heard and be part of the design process that shapes our communities. Developers in this town are afraid to do anything "risky" design wise. But if enough people comment and make it clear that the current level of design is unacceptable, perhaps the developers will realize that the "safe" approach is actually the risky approach.

You and all of your neighbors are part of the development process. When people go to the meetings and speak their opinion, they are making a contribution. When people choose not to go to the meetings, they are allowing other people, namely the development community, to speak over for them.

As for the zero financing currently, if they get Design Review Approval, they'll just shelf the project for now and build it later when financing loosens up again. And then it will be too late for public comment....

Please note we made a correction in the story to reflect that Rhapsody Partners expects to take this project “through the MUP (Master Use Project)” not the “month,” as we initially reported. While there is no financing, Rhapsody says they have interest in the project, but investors are waiting to see how the permit process plays out over the next several months.

"while pushing out the very people who made our city one they wanted to move to in the first place"

Who pushed them out? Seems to me they voluntarily sold their property at a handsome profit; no one put a gun to anyone's head.

If you don't like that system, of private property and the right to buy and sell it, move to Cuba and cling onto your bitterness.

Is there really need for so many different materials in the design (>3 brick patterns ,multiple colors)? I'd prefer them take more queues from the old city hall ( http://www.seattle.gov/CityArchives/Exhibits/an...) and follow European models of rebuilding town centers in the old style.

Wiggles - they didn't sell the property willingly, the city took it over for the failed monorail and then sold it at auction to Rhapsody. My understanding is that the previous owner was not interested in moving/selling before the monorail came along.

All these new condos are so ugly...people in Seattle are supposedly so creative, why not show it in some of the buildings around here?
Oh, and can we please paint them a different color?? enough with the neutral's already!

I'm always amazed at how good some people are at spending other people's money.

Ahh....look honey. Its the "light house" on the shore of fail.

There probably is a need for historic reservation in Seattle, but I doubt if that location met anyone’s criteria. There were no residences on that corner, so nobody was forced out.

I agree with Philk. When I looked at the drawing, I too saw guard tower, not lighthouse. Ominous. Sorry, but I see nothing "iconic" about this design, and nothing about it says "Ballard".

There’s a history of unattractive apartment buildings scattered throughout Ballard.

Is that a prison guardhouse at the top of the tower? It seems ironically appropriate for a building that looks like public housing.

Kudos to myballard.com for the reporting though.

Nobody's spending other people's money here.
We're just baffled by the decisions of those who have it. Why can't someone with bucks build something like this in Seattle:

http://www.laceydc.com/

...a building currently under construction in Washington DC. Yeah, that's right, our nation's capital. The sad thing is that there are plenty of great architects in this town, but they dont' get the juicy jobs. And 15th and Market is definately a juicy job!

My sentiments exactly, it looks like some sort of prison and the feel is very oppressive. Did the genius "architect" of this thing graduate from the Wal-Mart design institute or what? It's beyond terrible. A bunch of 5th graders could probably come up with a better design.

I'm tired of the "if you don't like it, why didn't you buy it" approach. One can have and share an opinion about something without taking ownership of that something.

True, that opinion has no power...but what is the point of a open to the public comment section if not to share powerless opinions?

My disappointment is not so much with the fact that these condos will be ugly--they're always going to be ugly.

My disappointment was in the rush to tear down active buildings when replacing them was in no way imminent.

Even if you didn't think that the Denny's/Mannings building was worth saving--an open Denny's restaurant, however ugly, is still more attractive and valuable to the rest of us than an unusable concrete lot.

Oops. Looks like the story has been edited/corrected since my original post.

Regardless, if it is one month or six months I'm guessing that the project eventually gets canceled. I hate to be doom and gloom but the economy is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. The condo boom is over. Banks are not out of the woods yet and job losses continue to grow in our region. Yes the building is ugly but it will never be built.

It reminds me of the Eastern State Penitentiary:

http://www.easternstate.org/

Right , i get it. you don't like the approach" if you don't like it why don't you buy it". you can have your opinion. but i want your address, so i can you my opinion of your investment.i am sure i won't find it "ugly anyways". maybe the new owner didn't want to own and or manage a dennys. why don't you see if they will lease the dirt to you . you could buy some grills and make a run at it. so that corner would be more attractive and useful to ME.

That new design is depressing and ugly. Nothing new, nothing unique. The Denny's was at least a functioning part of the community, now there is a gross empty lot that will fill with garbage and be a blight on the neighborhood. See I told you "depressing".

Based on current market conditions, evolving lending practices and general permitting time from the City, I would say there is no way any type of work will begin on that site for two years at a minimum. I personally think it will probably be more like 5+ years. Instead of leaving several derelict structures that are attractive nuisances - or even open space, how about making it a temporary art space? This very same thing is about to happen in Burien where due to the changing economy a 1 acre condo site is on hold and is about to be the home of a temporary sculpture garden. Ignition NW and the Burien Arts Commission has obtained permission from the developer (Urban Partners) to build what is being called the Burien/Interim Arts Space. I kind of know some of the people involved in that project as well as the Architect on this one and if there is local interest maybe we can put something together. It may be a bit premature (from the developer's perspective) but if we can start fleshing out some ideas now maybe we can have something viable to present when the iron is hot. Anyone interested?

The building is designed to be an apartment building and not Disneyland. Depressing? Seattle often fights and resists things that are new and different, so what do you want on the site?

Who's going chip-in some extra money to hire the architect Frank Gehry?

i think disneyland sounds great. but you're buying. but i can tell you what i like. cuz i won't be vested. and only my taste is valid.

The design is no good, if the architect wants to give the impression of a lighthouse he needs to add taper. The architect should take some inspiration from the house on Seaview avenue that flies a pirate flag. I think the city should allow the developer to build taller on that corner pending an aesthetically pleasing lighthouse design.

What happened to the giant Leif Ercison sculpture idea?

Joshua's idea is great! The site is just a heap o' ugly now. Why not put it to good use until they get financing and start building. An open greenspace would be beautiful and they wouldnt'have to constantly repaint the frequently tagged walls.

Boardbrown - while that is a very nice design, it is also very expesive. the units start in the 300's. that is for a 500 sq ft studio which means the the majority of the homes will be in the 600 to 800K range! That is not practical for the size and scale of our corner. If you dont like the design go to the meeting and voice your opionion. Due to the credit freeze in the financial markets, Nothing will be built on this site for some time. I was glad to see Denny's go but was optimistic that a nice community would be built in its place. looks like we will have to wait a VERY long time before something is built.

DC is more expensive than Seattle by far, particularly in the U Street cooridor...so that's a big part of the price difference. I'm just making a point about progressive design, not suggesting a cut and paste.

I would like to see some Parks Levy money go to tearing up the concrete and planting some trees there...The silver lining in the economic cloud might be more greenspace and more neighborhood gathering spots. Like Bergen Place east....Oh, and the design as posted is horrible!!!! Needs setbacks from the sidewalk....look at the hugh ugly thing next to the firestation-lets learn from our mistakes-

boardbrown-

now those look like a prison. also, can you give your definition of old and new ballard since you seem to be salty to both. as i recall you've been "around" for about 13-16 years now? just wondering how you arrive at your definition and why.

I like the design. Kudos to the architect for attempting to make a landmark, since this building will be the most noticeable gateway to the neighborhood.

And as a former resident of The Ballard (that first big condo development, on 57th) who had a condo overlooking Denny's, the neighborhood is better off without that place. Believe me, it was no fun being serenaded every day of the week as the drunks were turned out of that place at 2:00. They simply whipped out flasks and kept the karaoke going.

That said, it's sad that Sunset is empty. Bowling is a cheap, fun activity, and (based on The Garage, and Lucky Lanes in Bellevue) still popular. It would have been good to see that place continue as is, or get a facelift.

Yes, the neighborhood certainly is better off with an empty, fenced-off lot than the only nearby 24-hour eatery. Progress!

Bergen East? Yes, what a quaint park that'll be. Tip toe thru' the used syringes, step over the condoms, squeeze past the packs of drunken bums ranting about 'condos' destroying Ballard and then sit back and inhale the stench of urine and feces. I'm sure the little ones will really enjoy it.

Yes trees with park levy money. is that just until the work begins? then we can cut them down and start up the bitching process agaian of how unfair life is. how about go buy some chalk and draw some hop scotch squares, and make some fire pits to burn our bras in. thanks god they haven't touched the other landmark the goodyear tire store. i have so many great memories there. and wasn't there a old chinese drive in right by there that was also a beautiful landmark. with really good 18 hour food that was cooking under heat lamps. please i can't handle anymore change. pass the prozac.

Maybe next time Dink you won't buy a condo overlooking a 24 hour restaurant. Sorta like the owners in Belltown whining about the bars that existed long before they came along and bought right over a bar. Not prudent.

Certainly the design is without any creative design quality at all but hey everyone likes something different. Lots and lots of people buy those cookie cutter houses in Bellevue and appear quite content. Up until the bottom fell out of the economy this type of condos were selling like hotcakes.

That is so freakin retarded. I guess that means they won't be cleaning up the homeless or dog shit around it either.

Kim, I'm not salty to either. I love all sorts of buildings, old and new...as long as they're designed in a thoughtful manner and are era appropriate. It's the new buildings designed to look "old" that I have the most issue with. Should we really design a condo building in 2009 that supposedly looks like the old Ballard city hall built in 1899? Or a light house?

It never works to fake it.

"Iconic?" As the man said, I do not think that word means what you think it means.

And my schadenfreude at the thought of an arrogant developer pushing through a teardown no reasonable person wanted is only outweighed by my sorrow at seeing yet another empty lot getting squalid in Ballard. Dink, you weren't on the ball enough to notice an entire 24-hour restaurant when you bought your place; have you gotten sufficiently with the program to notice the trash, suspicious activities, and lack of cops hanging out now that the restaurant's gone? The rest of us sure have...

i think the idea of drawing inspiration from ballard's past - the courthouse and our maritime culture- is great - i'd just like to see them take it farther than they did.

To answer your question a tad more thoroughly Kim, it's worth noting that old crumbling brick buildings have very little to do with Seattle's architectural heritage. True, there are some fine examples of such scattered about our fair city, but every city in America has them. And most are better than the one's we have.

Seattle's architectural legacy is rooted in Moderism. And by Modernism, I don't mean Frank Gehry. I'm talking about the classic Moderism of Seattle architects like Paul Kirk and Rolland Terry, characterized by plate glass, post & beam, soaring roofs, and yes, plenty of brick and stone to boot. The Canlis Resaurant by Terry at the south end of the Aurora Bridge is perhaps the best surviving example of what I'm talking about.

So my point is, if we're going to pay homage to our built history, let's do so with what's ultimately venacular. If you'd like to see a good example of a new building which does just that, check out the new Montlake Library. It has all the attributes I mentioned above.

http://2008honorawards.aiaseattle.org/node/120

Don't forget Anhalt also. But you have to build to make a project pencil. I think you would be floored to know how much and how long it takes to get a permit. the developer could redo the taj mahl , but the costs are passed on to the consumer. like any other business. would that make sense? i think people don't understand the real costs of doing business. then there are the design review groups. sometime go to a ballard historical district meeting if you want to see some real nonsense.

Hot sauce, it's hard to understand the real costs of business when you have a dead end job at Kinkos*.

*or the equivalent.

I love all these people who think this financial melt down is going to blow over in one or two years.

You just do not get it. This tidal wave is just beginning. The bowling alley property is going to be dead space along with the Denny's property for a long, long, time. How will that make all the new condo's attractive to potential buyers?

It is too bad there will be no bar at Denny's or the bowling alley to go to when things get worse.

Can someone ask Reuven to read this post and ask what he can do about this?

Also, where are these meetings (that nerka specified) to show up at and share your thoughts regarding such properties?

broadbrown-

the clouds have parted and i see the light. much clearer than entry #10. thanks! and i do like the montlake example much so very much much more. and i would eat green eggs and ham.

Thank god there's no money available. The architecture is beyond awful. PLEASE don't let that be built in Ballard.

on another note since this is getting so much attention, have we heard anymore about organizing at LHCC w/crime prevetion for the north precinct about becoming a better community? it was being hashed over after the baseball bat beating(s).....i recall someone was thinking late january.

kim - see the events calendar on the front page. It's the item at the top of the column.

That has got to be the most hideous building plan I have ever seen. My 7 year old son can design a better looking building! A "light house?" Come on!! Looks more like an outhouse. That corner is essentially the front door of Ballard. Thanks for making us look like chumps you no talent architects and developers!

There’s a drugstore on one corner, on the second corner a Safeway parking lot w/gas station and a gas station on the third corner. And all the Ballard curmudgeons are worried about adding more housing? What hypocrites.

Hey Meetio-
Dont be so negative please regarding my suggestion for a park on the Dennys site-Think of the Ballard Commons-Well used reasonably clean-shared by moms and bums alike...We need to be the change we want to see-not find reasons to naysay. Thanks, Chris

Yeah Kim, my comment #10 comes from a great little attribute I like to call frustration. My others appear after a half-day of using my brain. Somehow, it all works together.

And I think ChrisH and Joshua both have good ideas. Why not make the site an ammenity to the 'hood until the construction cranes arrive?

mickey

thanks! right at the end of my nose.

Wow sorry I touched a nerve with some of you.

And that building in DC is downright ugly. It is not "progressive" (whatever that is supposed to mean).

I'm glad that so many people like the greenspace idea. Just to follow up, I think it is very doable. The cost of doing the conversion is A) cheap, B) much of it needs to be done anyway (their going to have to bulldoze and clear the space for construction). All that we are asking them to do is to pay that small amount (compared to the construction cost) right now and then pay the extra amount for planting some grass. I could imagine a very small amount of upkeep, but I would be happy to have the city pay for that, and of course have the city take responsibility for any liability. Hell, trade them an extra floor in the permitting for it, and they would probably do it.

Joshua Why do they have to pay? if its a small amount, why don't you pay. i wouldn't be happy for the city to pay for any of that or take responsibility. where do you think the city gets the money???

Joey, everyone has different tastes and that's normal. But I'd like to see some variety in the buildings around me. I'm sick of the homogeny among the condo buildings in my neighborhood. And this building does nothing to raise the bar.

How does the proposed building look anything like the ones adjacent to it?

Or the on Leary?

Or the two on 24th?

Sure they are big and squarly shaped, but the similiarities end there.

Green space? Have you seen the bums around there? Without 24 hr security it'll turn into a massive bum park because the only people who'd use a 'green space' next to a major road, across from 2 gas stations and a butt ugly Walgreens, are bums.

Joey, open your eyes a little wider and you'll see what everyone is complaining about.

'Wiggles - they didn’t sell the property willingly, the city took it over for the failed monorail and then sold it at auction to Rhapsody. My understanding is that the previous owner was not interested in moving/selling before the monorail came along.'

Actually, Benaroya stole , er, bought the property in a 'blind bid' process and is attempting to hold the sale together with Rhapsody. They were allowed to demolish the building, (which they nominated for landmark status) despite it's 'landmark status' because the preservation board felt that Benaroya deserved a 'reasonable return'. Karma.

Good luck Benaroya. You totally blew it. The new design is as bland as the rest of what is being put up in Seattle. Who would buy a condo on that busy corner. Build affordable rentals for any chance at filling the building.

People: Get involved in the design review process if you want to make any impact.

I hope they put up affordable rental housing and have some non fast food options and commercial uses in the ultimate strip mall that they build. Karma.

the real story is still untold. Why did the monorail project get the green light to abuse the eminant domain process and force so many owners to sell.

Anybody else notice how the parcels assembled in Interbay using this same eminent domain abuse applied for and received an upzone to build taller buildings??

There's a story in there somewhere just waiting for a Pulitzer prize......

Ugh, don't get me started on the monorail. I'm still pissed they got hundreds of dollars from me through car tabs. For nothing.

I want my f-ing money back! Not a shitty building to look at.

"zeke you! // Jan 16, 2009 at 11:47 am

Joey, open your eyes a little wider and you’ll see what everyone is complaining about."

Or how about you all quit complaining for the sake of complaining.

@hot sauce

They have to pay because when you buy such visible property and leave it abandonned you are decreasing the property value of all of the land around it. The goal is to find a way to make them pay the smallest amount possible.

As for the city paying upkeep (and of course I understand that means me, I'm happy to pay an extra $0.01 a year in taxes that this would cost), my thinking is that the city already has a large number of people on the payroll to keep the parks in good shape, it would simply be more efficient for the city to do it since they already have the staff and expertise (plus a patch of grass, no facilities, no trees would take the very minimal of upkeep).

The goal is not to excessively punish the people that bought the land, or cost a bunch for us, but to solve a real problem (an abandonned lot that more then likely many undesirables hide out in).

While I agree that I doubt the space would get a ton of use (it is on a busy intersection). It would still be infinitely better then an abandonned, half destroyed lot. And I think it is less likely to have people camping out in it if it is open, than in its current state. It is illegal to sleep out in a park and the cops are going to be able to see you in a big field. Bums sleep in alleys and under bridges for a reason.

"Anybody else notice how the parcels assembled in Interbay using this same eminent domain abuse applied for and received an upzone to build taller buildings??"

Which buildings?

Joshua, i would like to know where you get "they have to pay" i am not sure you or most anybody else on this blog understand Private Property Rights. So if the property was not so visable then this would be ok? With all the revenue not being collected for permitting and taxes on development. i really doubt the city is ganna have any extra money for anything. i understand the county is having forced furlough days off, like 2 weeks mandatory. why don't you go test that spot out for me. see if you can stand there for more than 2 hours smelling all the pollution from the cars. and i still want some addresses of you complainers, so i can go admire your private property. but i excessively punish you if see something that i don't like. Peace

Hot sauce, while I'm not a lawyer I like to think I have some idea of, and a large amount of respect for, private property rights. Unlike a lot of people here I have no problem with the property owners building a condo that I don't find gorgeous. What I do have a problem with is basically making it a trash dump. There are and have always been limits on what you can do with property.

Let me say, once again, that 95% of what I want them to do, they are going to have to do at some point anyway: Demolishing the buildings, cleaning up the lot. They have to do that before they can start building anyway. The ONLY cost I want them to pay that they aren't going to pay at some point in the future is a couple thousand square feet of sod. I want us (the city) to spend the small amount required for upkeep since we already have department to do exactly this.

As for whether I would care if this wasn't in such a visible location, my answer is that I would certainly care a lot less. I live near some pretty run down houses and I don't mind that at all. There is a huge difference between something being run down and something being abandonned.

And this is by no means any attempt to get another park (although I do think parks are great), this is a terrible location for a park as everyone would agree. I simply want the land owners to spend some of the money now that they will need to spend in the future anyway to clean up their mess.

I don't hate these guys, I don't want to punish them, but basically leaving a pile of trash and abandonned buildings at the main intersection of Ballard for the next 2-5 years is not good for anyone.

As for how to do it, I see a couple of ways: A) My first idea, divise some kind of fine and inform them that they can either develop the site, our convert it to greenspace or pay a fine every month. B) Ask them, for good will of the community. C) Bribe them by allowing them to build another floor on the building in exchange for this. My order of preference would be B, C and then A. Unless these guys are in such finacial straights that they aren't going to be able to pay the property taxes on the place anyway I think they can afford to do this.

Again, it is their property. If they want to build the ugliest condos in Ballard, that is completely their right. But they were given permits to build the condos there with the expectation that they were going to do it at some point in the near future. What I want is not that expensive compared to the development cost, most of it they will need to pay anyway, and a patch of grass is much nicer then grafitti covered abandonned buildings and piles of trash surrounded by a chain-link fence. With who knows living inside it at night.

Joshua, so who is "they" is it the property owner. or the person under contract to buy the land and build the project. Benaroya/Rhapsody. were they given permits to build condo's? and bribery is ok , just as long as it works for your goals. And i also think you should be in charge of all the vacant and abandonned lots and buildings in the city. thanks for your opinion. peace

I agree with Daisy, thank god they got no money. Like her, I'm happy to see all those construction workers unemployed.

Seems like they started out to develop an apartment building on that site and not the Gateway to Ballard.

Why would you be happy to see construction workers unemployed? They're folks with families and homes just like you. Everyone needs a job to put food on the table.

This fish has rotted from the head down. Greg Nickels is himself a developer, and a destroyer of communities. He opened the floodgates and now we're all drowning.

Well, I'm leaving soon enough. Ballard is dead. Enjoy your boomtown, Ballardites.

Ballard isn't dead. Every year, for 100 years, it's evolving, changing new Ballard.

Miss Denny's was a great place for a old geezer to visit: I would park my van in the close-by parking lot. Inside I sit in a booth and look at the menu but it was usually a piece of pie and coffee or a plain hamberger and coffee I would order. The waitress would make eye contact call "Deary" or "Handsome". The experience would always add to a happy day. Fortunate Ballard has new library.....enjoy visiting plus I can take home a armload of books. I sit in my recliner chair near my 42 inch flat-screen TV. Turn-on TV for short time but decide medium has been high-jacked by corporate america providing ads for stuff I don't want. Ah, I have my books to read with no interuptions.

Be patient Ballardities some structure will rise in former Denny's space, after-all when first settlers kicked out native americans and cleared space for commerce it began a never ending process.

Be of good cheer, Carl

Is there some reason that they have to build something that looks like a maximum-security prison?

The firemen across the street have enough trouble getting their trucks out NOW with all the increased traffic/condos on Market- when there are several hundred more, don't complain if it just takes a liiitttllleee longer to get the fire trucks to your house fire.

A handful of us went to the Design Review monday night. Something that isn't obvious from that one picture of the guard tower corner is that the entire building design is MASSIVE. That entire lot -- the grassy hill, the blue house, the boarded up old print shop, the floor of what used to be the Denny's, and the empty lot behind it -- all of it is replaced by a giant building, right up against the sidewalk. As pointed out by one of the 3 of us who spoke up: it will be like walking by a giant Bartell's. We said: open it up at the ground level; commercial space does not equal public access.

There will probably be another round of work by the architects and another design review. But it sounded like the review board was pretty happy with what's there so far.

Nordic Woman: on the good side, the developers/architects are working closely with the fire station. On the down side: the garage entrances as currently spec'd are on market and 56th. OTOH, if Rapid Transit is going to run along 15th, it would be better to keep the car traffic out of its way.