Alki’s long-empty Shoremont now subject of “emergency order”
(WSB photo from 2008)
It’s been almost a year since a demolition permit was issued for the 86-year-old Shoremont Apartments on Alki (map), with a new development planned at the site. Since then, as the development climate has cooled, they have sat empty, somewhat battered and “forlorn,” the word used by “S” in tipping us that the city DPD has posted an “emergency order” at the Shoremont after finding it in violation of city codes by being “open to entry” – see the complaint/violation history here. The Shoremont last changed hands in early 2008; we last heard from its owner/developers in October and will seek them out again for comment on this.
Add this to the W(hole) Foods property in the abandoned property group.
Speaking of abandoned properties…what ever happened to the Alki Homestead? They had that little fire 8 months ago. Are the repairs done on this historic property? Or is there still just a tarp up and a ‘pending’ sale?
Whole Foods mini-update coming in a few minutes. Homestead update in the works too. No, the repairs are not done. We are awaiting a reply from owner Tom Lin regarding their status; no permit applications are on the city site – TR
I UNDERSTAND they were in the middle of a sale. That happens. But regardless of whether or not the property is for sale, or not…the current legal owner had a fire 8 months ago and hasn’t started repairs? Does it really take 8 months to get the insurance company to write you a check for a fire? Wasn’t the investigation done 7 months ago? Wouldn’t he have a check from the insurance company 6 or 7 months ago? I’ve never had a car or house insurance claim take 8 months. Something fishy.
Off topic here, but I hope WSB will someday run a piece about that creepy abandoned house that’s covered by a thick layer of moss, has all its windows broken out, and sits ominously like the Bates Hotel (from “Psycho”) on the parcel above and behind the “The Shack” sign parcel on lower Avalon Way near the Luna Cafe Cafe.
Thanks, we’ll check into it. There are enough abandoned properties and stalled building sites that we could probably start a subsite on that topic alone … have several others we’ve been trying to get to the heart of … TR
Humm, Nicholsville has been around for about a year or so.
This building has been empty for about a year.
What a crazy crazy idea would it have been to maybe find a way to put the two together.
While many buildings sit empty in Seattle and rot …. I wish they could be used to help some people.
I know, I know, TOOOOOO crazy.
Oh well, let the hate comments begin.
It’d be nice if whatever’s going on managed to grant this building a reprieve. It’s one of the prettier buildings in that area, and the inside is positively gorgeous. It would be a shame to tear it down.
About the fire timeline…consider that 2508 56th had their fire more than a year ago (July 2008), and NOTHING has been done in the way of repairs. That house isn’t even historic and wouldn’t need as much permitting as the Homestead..
About the Shoremont. It’s not habitable. Putting people in there would not be a nice way to treat them.
I too agree that the Shoremont is a beautiful old building. Other than the obvious vandalism that has happened on the exterior of the building, I am curious as to what makes it unlivable?
Previous reports (you can search the site for “Shoremont”) indicated problems inside, and also, since the demolition permit was issued, there was a police exercise there exactly one year ago:
https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=9911
http://alkinews.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/shoremont-now-subject-of-%e2%80%9cemergency-order%e2%80%9d/
Here are some photos that were recently taken of the Shoremont property.
Pb Elemental in its heyday was buying up land all over Seattle.
They built many interesting modern dwellings in a very short time.
Their lower end designs can be seen near White Center, Georgetown, Southpark & Beacon Hill.
This was one of their acquisitions before Pb went down.
http://www.leadconstruction.com/partners.html
I’m not sure what the problems in the building are but I have a hard time believing that it would be worse than living outside. I know a lot of these abandoned properties have issues but are they really less safe than a box under the bridge?
i think that the key here would be liability. if people were to live here and something happened, pb would be on the hook for it. pb has vacant land like this all over the city, and it is a shame. i think they are still in business, but laid off like half of their staff last year…
I, too, think it would be great if the building could be saved. It still could be converted to condos and have a lot more charm that the many ugly boxes put up everywhere in Seattle. I think the idea of “demolition by neglect” is at work here. If the current owners don’t seal it better it will be destroyed beyond repair soon. Just a matter of time before some pyro starts a fire.
Buy it and do what you want with it. Turn it into low rent/homeless shelter, turn it into parking, a park, a skate park, a vegitarian-friendly kid resteraunt, a Trader Joes, a big hole in the ground, who cares, if you own it you can do what you want with it.
Oh, and if you don’t own it or aren’t willing to buy it, then quit thinking up ways for the owner to spend their money on something you aren’t willing to spend yours on.