When demolition equipment dug into the century-old house at 4526 41st SW (map) on Thursday, it wasn’t the start, but more like the end to the process. To find out more about the forthcoming four-townhome project, previously mentioned here last September, WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli talked with owner/developer Zoran Brlecic (below left), who lives across the alley:
Christopher reports:
He said the house was built in 1907 and that they spent months dismantling and giving away whatever could be re-used, including the back deck, which was meticulously disassembled over the course of a week before being hauled away. Zoran says he thinks the house may have been one of the first on the block to convert from coal to burning gas. The house’s gas furnace from the 1950s was still in good working order before it was removed.
Zoran and his wife left their native Croatia just a couple of years before the war broke out in the ’90s. They immigrated to Canada, where they were able to get work visas and then later got refugee status. Ultimately they moved to Ohio and then to Seattle. Zoran says that if this goes well he plans to continue developing properties. He said this property is being built green with a number of features to control water run-off from the property. They hope to have the project completed in nine months.
It went through the “streamlined design review” process; the informational packet remains online. When it’s done, Brlecic told Christopher, he plans to move into one of the new units.
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