… is in the Letters to the Editor section: The Charlestown Cafe folks say they may be staying months longer than they thought. (Their letter includes a reminder of tomorrow night’s Design Review Board meeting on the site’s future project, reportedly the relocated Petco.)
I’m not a huge fan of Charlestown St Cafe but I am very confused as to why the land lord would kick them out just so a Petco could move in. I can only think it is money related. I can’t see a Petco surviving at this location. The Petco in the Junction is big and I never see that many people in there so I don’t see why they would want to move. The Junction is more of a prime real estate spot. Does a potential Petco make sense to anyone else?
Well, I hope that Petco moves out of the Junction. Why use up all that prime space for a pet store? That space would be a great strip club….Think the Mayor would go for that?
I am a HUGE fan of Charleston Street Cafe. It’s a great local place to go with kids and I know it’s a HUGE draw for retirees in the area. I’m assuming that the reason is that PETCO will be larger and pay more per sq.
We shop at Petco all the time for our various pets and hope it doesn’t move. There are always plenty of people shopping while we are there. Plus, we can walk to the junction from our house.
It’s so clear how important The Charlestown is to seniors/retirees in the area; I would almost characterterize is at as providing essential services to that demographic. So I’m happy to hear it’ll stick around for a while. Plus their clam chowder rules!
yeah, I’m glad they will be around for a little while longer too. Seems like from what people are saying, they confirm my belief that the cafe and Petco should stay where they are.
Maybe someone can refresh my memory, but isn’t this trickle-down from the monorail project? I seem to remember that when the property (incl. Petco pkg. lot) went back up for sale the Harbor Steps development people bought it…displacing Petco…displacing Charlestown Cafe and so on. Anyone?
Word has it that Petco has considered the site but it looks to be too small. I think their current stores are much larger than the one in the Junction. The Charlestown site is about 22,000 sq. ft., an I think Petco needs a bigger site, both for the store and for parking.
Honestly, if a single-use, one-level store goes on that site, it will be a disaster. A nice neighborhood restaurant (can you say Charlestown Cafe?), some nice small stores, and some nice, affordable apartments on top would be the best solution.
Petco used to be a bingo hall way back in the Junction. Its a lot of space. Maybe 50,000 sqft(not sure)
And back before bingo it was a Tradewell, and before that an A&P. Any else able to take it back further in time?
And at the Charleston Street Cafe–before the restaurant building went in there was Penny’s Doghouse and a Seattle Times Paperboy Shack.
The Petco store in the Junction is a little over 14,000 sq. ft. Their newest store format isn’t much bigger (around 15K, I believe), but they do love their parking.
The Charlestown Cafe “property” actually has two owners. The building and northern lot is one parcel of about 20k sq. ft., and the southern lot is about 10k sq. ft. Both parcels together might provide enough space, but like I said, they love their parking, so who knows.
We’ll have to see what the scoop is tomorrow at the EDG.
Nice history lesson on the Petco and Charlestown Cafe! Thanks!
And just for reference, the Admiral Safeway – a pretty big building – is only 35k sq. ft. The new proposed Whole Foods at Alaska and Fauntleroy is about 45k sq. ft. There aren’t too many huge buildings in West Seattle…
I love hearing about what businesses used to be where. Thanks. I heard from an old neighbor that YEARS ago the corner of Charlestown and CA had a gas station on 3 of the 4 corners.
Chet…there used to be a Chevron station on the northeast corner of Calif. and Charlestown…Schucks was a little independent IGA grocery store back then in the mid 70’s…..and Penny’s Doghouse(burgers and icecream, etc)was in the Charlestown Cafe location…
Chet….when I moved to seattle in the mid-70’s (lived at Calif. and Andover), there was a Chevron station, with a mechanic, on the NE corner of Calif. and Charlestown, and Schuck’s was a little independent IGA Grocery Store. Penny’s Doghouse (burgers and ice cream) was on the Charelstown Cafe site, and for the life of me I can’t remember what was on the 7-11 site before it became 7-11…..anyone remember?
hmmmm…well…neither of my posts posted, and then they both did…hehehe…sorry aobut that…
:)
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