Seen in North Delridge: ‘Eyesore’ coming down; Youngstown Flats crane going up

That rusty industrial building at 28th and Yancy often pronounced an “eyesore” is about to come down, we’ve learned, after noticing a demolition permit was granted Monday for the building, and silo, just south of Allstar Fitness. A few years back, it was supposed to come down as part of a development project that was shelved; there’s no active development plan now, so we went over to find out more in person. A worker at the site told us the building and silo will be razed – probably within days – for a “parking lot.” (Whose parking lot, we’re still checking – certainly parking can be a crunch in the area, with Allstar, Nucor, and Longfellow Creek in the area.) A crew is doing prep work at the site right now.

While in the area, we followed up on a story from earlier today:

The big construction crane is indeed going up right now at the 193-unit Youngstown Flats project. 26th SW will be blocked between SW Yancy and Dakota till the work is done at some point this afternoon. We talked with developer Maria Barrientos at the site; she said it’s scheduled to be done by day’s end (only one piece remained when we left around noon, in fact). The crane is expected to be on site for four months.

21 Replies to "Seen in North Delridge: 'Eyesore' coming down; Youngstown Flats crane going up"

  • Been There February 14, 2012 (2:15 pm)

    On one hand I liked the old building on Yancy and its industrial connection to the past….yet I will not miss the graffiti and garbage dumping it attracted.

  • M February 14, 2012 (2:25 pm)

    What was it anyway? Foundry?

  • gonna miss it February 14, 2012 (2:40 pm)

    I for one am going to miss it. Even with all the tall weeds and lack of maintenance over the years I always saw great potential for that building as a cool industrial rehab/renovation. That site is zoned for industrial use, but I thought for years it would make a great live/work building right next to the park to live and run a small architectural office, although all the costs to fix it up would probably never pencil out to be worth the investment. Sad to see it go though. Almost wish I had known earlier it was on the chopping block to come down.

    • WSB February 14, 2012 (3:38 pm)

      Gonna miss it – The demolition permit was applied for the same day it was granted (click through to the link and you’ll see). Total surprise to me, I watch local demolition, development, land-use permits on a daily basis. So there really was no heads-up in this case – aside from (if you look at the city page for the entire address) the past proposals …

  • Mac J February 14, 2012 (3:24 pm)

    I remember at one point there was a company there that made cereal, like in the mid-2000s. Old fashioned oatmeal type stuff. I was working for a local business and was surprised when I was sent to pick some up for stock and it was that run-down looking place!

  • steve February 14, 2012 (3:55 pm)

    Stone Ground Mills

    If I recall someone I knew in high school worked there in the early 70’s

  • SeaChanty51 February 14, 2012 (4:04 pm)

    Stone Ground Mills was one of the former companies.

  • DF February 14, 2012 (5:44 pm)

    Keep your eye out lots like this that are going to be basically leveled can be a great source of native plants like sword ferns.

  • Ian February 14, 2012 (6:16 pm)

    Been making the occasional drive past this building for years. Never remember seeing any activity there, just enjoyed the industrial funkiness of it. Would love to know when it was originally built and its function. Definitely not an “eyesore”.

  • Been There February 14, 2012 (9:35 pm)

    According to KC records the building was built in 1954. http://info.kingcounty.gov/Assessor/eRealProperty/Detail.aspx?ParcelNbr=9358000825
    =
    I think those are grain silo’s and or cyclone’s on the roof and in the foreground. Maybe it was affiliated in someway with the old mill on Harbor Island?
    =
    Would be interesting to utilize parts of the silo or cyclones in one of the commissioned art pieces for the new Youngstown Flats Apartment building going up across the creek.
    =
    All in all I am glad it is coming down. The owner was very irresponsible with cleaning up graffiti and illegal dumping, and if you can’t maintain your property then sell it to someone who will.

  • JoAnn February 15, 2012 (11:03 am)

    Waaay back in the late 50s or early 60s I think they did something there with sugar. I lived in the neighborhood when I was little, so it is hard to remember that far back.

  • John February 15, 2012 (11:03 am)

    I have long enjoyed this property for its industrial ‘steam punk’ presence somewhat akin to Gas Works Park on Lake Union.

    I have been told that the owner of the former mill is the woman that owns the business and makes the good sandwiches to order at the deli at Andover and Delridge, next door to Uptown Espresso.

    I would think that the NDNC would be all over this, with such a historic structure being razed. Will they be up in arms over this? Had the city officials done any outreach? Was this covered in their meeting?

  • dsa February 15, 2012 (12:23 pm)

    Sorry, but that thing is ugly.

  • Aaron February 15, 2012 (1:27 pm)

    Sad to see it go. I too fantasized about turning that place into a cool live/work space. Oh well, another little bit of character gone forever.

  • Creekside February 16, 2012 (8:35 am)

    @ John. Always with the snark:-(

    Why must you badger a neighborhood group that has done much more than you ever could imagine, or do yourself, to improve public safety and the quality of life in the North Delridge neighborhood?

  • John February 16, 2012 (5:41 pm)

    No snark Creekside, and sorry to offend you. I just had a few questions that no one wants to answer.

    No badgering as this is the first post on this.

    I am concerned that your post is pushing the bounds of what is acceptable on WSB. Criticize the comment not the person.

    But I do agree that NDNC is instrumental in Delridge receiving far more than its share of government largesse in the last decade.
    What they have done to DESC is absolutely amazing to me. I have great respect for the few and I mean very few couples that basically get it all done. They have been extremely successful.

    If Creekside is one of them, I applaud you. You are right, NDNC has already accomplished more than I could even imagine, much less do.

    It is do to that success that I plead for their intervention. But to no avail.

    Now I read that NDNC has a full-blown mess on their hands with some sort of financial crisis.

    I truly would like to see something done with this historical piece of West Seattle. As a kid, I do remember my mom taking me there for flour and bulk grain.

    It appears most people would prefer an asphalt parking lot, kinda Joni Mitchell.

  • Creekside February 17, 2012 (9:28 am)

    @ John, If you wanted to see the old mill at Yancy saved or prevented from being turned into a parking lot YOU should have done something and not expect someone else to do it. It is not as if the NDNC volunteers don’t have enough on their plates. And yes, the DESC project has been a large serving of crap on the plate that the NDNC has to deal with. Crap, thats right, you read it correctly, the whole DESC thing is crap. Crap as in crapping on a neighborhood.

    Get your organizations straight. The NDNC is a neighborhood group of unpaid volunteers. DNDA is a non-profit that has the financial problem you mention.

    What is with your comment ‘Delridge receiving far more than its share of government largesse in the last decade’ supposed to mean? If you are implying that a historically ignored and disenfranchised, poor and racially diverse neighborhood being brought up to standards with some parks and a couple of sidewalks that most neighborhoods in Seattle take as a given than wow, that is Classism and Racism at its finest.

  • John February 17, 2012 (11:42 am)

    Thanks Creekside,
    Perhaps I would have done something about it, if I had known about it…
    kind of like the whole DESC thing.

    Of course, I thought the various Delridge neighborhood groups NDNC/DNDA (thank you for the correction) were the liason with the city and their community and I believe both groups cover this area.

    Right I mis-wrote. DNDA is the Delridge organization with the financial issues. Thank you for the correction.

    “What is with your comment ‘Delridge receiving far more than its share of government largesse in the last decade’ supposed to mean?” Creekside

    Please let me respond:
    1)to start we could name the actual creekside
    (which I hope you, Creekside benefit from and
    enjoys it),the Long Fellow Creek Park area
    2) the walkway and signage along the creek
    3)the art installations along the creek (Butterfly)
    4)the new Library
    5)the bulding that DNDA is involved with
    6)the Park and Children’s play apparatus at
    Brandon Node
    7)the new Cooper now Pathfinder School
    9)the Sanislo school
    10)the old Cooper School now community center
    11)the Delridge Recreation Center
    12)brand new state of the art, best in the city
    lighted athletic fields
    13)world class skate park
    14)new Denny
    15)new Sealth
    16)New and totally re-built athletic fields.
    The list go on and on…

    The glove is down, Creekside. You show me another small neighborhood in Seattle that has received such largesse?

    Ironically, Delridge receiving all of this booty was a factor in my choice to invest and work in the neighborhood. The power of these neighborhood groups and the largesse they have extracted from our government is something I truly respect.

    After receiving such bounty, I was appalled by the community’s response to a facility to house the homeless highest at risk or perishing in the streets. Geez! And you talk about the “historically ignored and disenfranchised, poor and racially diverse.” DESC is there to help all of them.

    And you charge “Classism and Racism at its finest.”

    WOW! Wow, that is a truly ugly hurtful charge.

    Since choose to broach the subject (and WSB has passively condoned it). I wonder how many of those actively responding or even showing any interest are “historically ignored and disenfranchised, poor and racially diverse neighborhood?”

    I have attended meetings of all of the major Delridge community groups and the group of a few hard working volunteers generally (with some exceptions) is not consistent with “historically ignored and disenfranchised, poor and racially.”
    I have no beef with that, most of the active leaders seem to have come to Delridge in the last decade, maybe purchased starter homes when home buying was a can’t miss proposition and now feel trapped if not “underwater” on their home.
    I have been around Delridge much longer, but I too looked at the community and invested in it and hope to make a small lasting impact with the homes I build. I wish to out my self as not a proto-Delridgian, i.e. “historically ignored and disenfranchised, poor and racially diverse,” perhaps like Creekside or other Delridge activists?
    But does that mean we can’t be passionate?
    Can’t we agree to disagree without playing the race/class card?

    I appreciate this new wave of activists on Delridge.

    Please let’s all enjoy our own little Delridgia.

  • gonna miss it February 17, 2012 (2:28 pm)

    @John, From your original post I did not read into any of this supposed snarkiness that has fired up Creekside. Like my earlier post, it sounds like we both appreciated the industrial character of that building. disappointed it’s coming down, and somewhat supprised at the speed of the whole process.

    All of of us who read the report Monday and have been folowing it, inlcuding the WSB and I’m sure the neigborhood groups if they track construction news were all suprised by the sudden demo permit.

    It was just an over-the-counter, subject to field inspection demo permit that an owner can apply for and get all in one trip to the city. As much we appreciate the character of that building though, because it’s not a “landmark” building, the owner doesn’t need to go through a lengthy public comment period since they are only demo’ing that building and not proposing to replace it with another one that may have triggered additional review.

    It’s similar to if you want to do work on your own home and get a permit from the city. Homeowners don’t need post a public notice and wait 30 days for your neighbors to comment. You essentially just go down to the city, pay for it, and get your permit with minimal review.

    I’d love to see that building stay, save it, and fix it up but it’s also hard to stand in in the way of property owners’ rights.

    I work in the neighborhood too and just going to miss that great bit of industrial character I’d see everyday.

  • Been There February 24, 2012 (7:38 pm)

    Word in North Delridge is that the demolition contractor discovered a major pot grow set up that had just vacated the building a month or so ago. Indications of what was thought to be a 1,000 plant, give or take. He called SPD and it sounds like they shrugged it off.

  • gretchenF February 27, 2012 (10:40 am)

    The site was owned and operated by Stone-
    Buhr Mills in the 60’s & 70’s. The company still makes wonderful bread flour (the best) but is now based in San Francisco. They also produced a lot of whole grain products, much like Bob’s Red Mill does today. Still have a whole grains cookbook they offered in the 70’s!

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