The controversial landmarks board, which established the old Ballard Denny’s building as a landmark, will consider a nomination tomorrow for the historic Sorrento Hotel on First Hill. Some are using […]
Tag: Denny’s
Keeping you on top of the Denny’s story
An update on the continuing debate over the old Ballard Denny’s building. Tomorrow (Friday) at 9:30 a.m., a Seattle City Council committee will hear a report from the city’s preservation […]
Save Manning’s group responds to landmark suit
The group that’s worked hard to save the Denny’s building from demolition has sent My Ballard a letter responding to Benaroya Company’s lawsuit. Save Manning’s calls it an “obvious scare tactic” that’s designed to influence the administrative appeal process. “It’s one thing to try to overturn the Board’s decision. It’s another to go after the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance itself,” reads the letter. “The attack on the ordinance is a vindictive action by those who feel a great sense of entitlement. Rather than braying about how they’ve been ‘injured’ from an economic standpoint or deprived of their ‘rights,’ why not use their seemingly endless energy and resources to propose a win-win solution—one that preserves the building (not as a boarded up Denny’s but as a rehabilitated building), allows for an economically viable new development, and enhances the neighborhood? We have repeatedly shown there is a feasible alternative to demolition.”
The letter continues, “Save Manning’s is not anti-development. We are for sensitive and appropriate new development within the context of Ballard and Seattle’s existing built environment…. Let this decision stand; it was made thoughtfully, appropriately and legally.” The full letter follows below…
Benaroya sues to challenge Denny’s vote
The Benaroya Company has filed suit in King County Superior Court to challenge the Landmark Preservation Board’s vote to designate the Ballard Denny’s building as a historic landmark. The lawsuit aims to reverse the board’s decision. “The boarded up former Denny’s is not an important historic or architectural building, nor the work of a significant architect,” said Marc Nemirow, spokesman for Benaroya, in a press release emailed to My Ballard. “The landmark board agreed with these conclusions, but incredulously decided to designate the building a landmark anyway. This action isn’t legal.” Crosscut’s Knute Berger writes that the lawsuit “alleges, among other things, that the Landmarks Board action is ‘illegal and erroneous,’ that it violated procedure, and that it violated the owner’s constitutional rights.”
Meanwhile, Nemirow says Benaroya will move forward with the administrative process and “assist the board in a proper evaluation of the economic impacts of its decision.” We’ll post reaction from the building’s supporters as soon as we get it. The press release announcing the lawsuit follows below…
Fence now surrounds Denny’s building
A chain link fence has been put up around the Denny’s building and the parking lot nearby. Probably for safety and insurance reasons, as we’ve seen some homeless folks behind […]
Denny’s story in Newsweek.com
Newsweek.com just posted a story on the Ballard Denny’s landmark vote. It says it’s a web exclusive, which probably means it won’t be published in the magazine. But still, Ballard […]
Could Denny’s help save Memorial Stadium?
Seattle PI columnist Robert Jamieson doesn’t mince words about the Ballard Denny’s. “The Denny’s site is run-down, a nostalgic eyesore,” he writes. “It carries little historical heft and has debatable […]
Vintage photos of Manning’s Cafeteria
Anne Forestieri, who helped lead the effort to landmark the Denny’s building, sent us these photos from 1983 of the Ballard Manning’s before it was converted to the Denny’s. Anne […]
Commenters lash out at Denny’s decision
Have you seen the Seattle Times’ reader feedback on the Denny’s building? Nearly all of it opposes the decision. “Rebuild the Kingdome and put this garbage on top of it,” […]
Ballard ‘bought themselves another Kalakala’
Crosscut’s Knute Berger, who has written a great summary of why the board voted to save the Denny’s, just posted a very pointed reaction he received from architect and preservationist […]
It’s a landmark, but what’s next?
As we reported below, the Benaroya team is moving forward “rapidly” with an appeals process that could go all the way to the Seattle City Council. But is there a […]
Board votes 6-3 to landmark Denny’s building
After over two hours of presentations, comments and debate in front of a standing-room only crowd, the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board voted 6-3 to designate the exterior of the Ballard Denny’s a city landmark. “I’m very surprised,” said Allan Michelson, who spoke out in favor of saving the Denny’s. “I couldn’t tell which way there were going. It was tortuous.” Before the vote, many of the board members admitted they were “on the fence.” The building “has a hard time crossing the integrity threshold,” board member Ronald Martinson said. Christine Howard said she was “struggling with the integrity.” But board member Stephen Lee (on the right below) led the charge in favor of saving the building. “To me this building bookends Ballard and still has enough integrity,” he said, noting that he lives nearby.
After ten minutes of discussion — which followed a lengthy presentation by land owner Benaroya Companies as well as public comment — the board reluctantly took it to a vote. Martinson and Howard were among the six board members who ended up voting in favor.
John McCullough, the attorney hired by Benaroya and Rhapsody, made it clear after the vote that they’re weren’t done fighting. “The issue is not to build on the remaining property,” he told the surrounding media (photo below). “The issue is what the land owner paid for (it).”
McCullough said the next step is to show that the board’s decision “deprives the property owner of economic use of the site,” which goes to the Hearing Examiner and ultimately the Seattle City Council. When asked about an alternative plan suggested by Grace Architects that would incorporate the restaurant along with the same number of condos (below), McCullough said it’s “highly unlikely to obtain the 125-foot rezone” that the plan would require.
Meanwhile, a group of Denny’s supporters who gathered down the hallway after the vote proclaimed they were ready for the next stage of the fight. “There will be plenty of opportunity to rehabilitate the building effectively and make it an integral part of the community,” Michelson said, who’s the head of the architecture library at the UW. “With minimal effort,” he added.
The room was packed for the board session. Only a small handful of the public who addressed the board spoke out in opposition of landmarking the building. One of them was Ken Alhadeff, the owner of Majestic Bay Theatres. “If you choose to designate, you must be part of the solution,” he told the board. “And then what? What’s the next step? Who will restore it? What will it be?”
Our minute-by-minute coverage of the meeting follows below…
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