DEVELOPMENT FOLLOWUP: Demolition work at 5249 California SW

Thanks for the tips. Above is the alley-side view of demolition that’s under way at the long-idle development site adjacent to past-and-future Ephesus Restaurant. What’s being demolished is the foundation constructed almost eight years ago for a never-built mixed-use building. We reported two months ago that the site’s current owners received a key approval for a subsequent proposal for the property, a nine-unit project of townhouses and live-work units, but first they have to clear the remnants of the previous plan. The nine-unit project has been on the drawing board for three years. The site has changed hands twice in the past 2 1/2 years, sold for $1.6 million in August 2022 and then for $2 million two months ago; Ephesus’s proprietor owned the site before that and had pursued the mixed-use-building plan in the early 2010s.

11 Replies to "DEVELOPMENT FOLLOWUP: Demolition work at 5249 California SW"

  • J January 21, 2025 (3:46 pm)

    Ouch.  What a waste of framing materials and concrete.

    • Alki resident January 21, 2025 (4:09 pm)

      Yes but they were very weathered so not safe to use. 

      • Steve January 21, 2025 (6:08 pm)

        It’s also a completely different design.

  • Michael Waldo January 21, 2025 (4:00 pm)

    Any update on the reopening of Ephesus Restaurant?I stopped in back in October and the proprietor said he was done with getting the place ready and was just waiting for his cook and wait staff.

    • WSB January 21, 2025 (4:02 pm)

      Nope. I meant to add that line, guessing someone would ask.

  • anonyme January 21, 2025 (4:29 pm)

    What a disgusting waste of energy and materials.

  • UndergroundParking January 21, 2025 (6:13 pm)

    I walked through the alley behind this structure last week and noticed that what I think would have been the underground parking for the original use had been sealed up.

  • J January 21, 2025 (10:40 pm)

    No more housing, West Seattle has more than enough people. We need restaurants!

    • Bbron January 22, 2025 (1:46 am)

      Need staff for and patrons to visit these numerous restaurants you want, J. Those folks gotta live somewhere; preferably nearby so we don’t have folks wasting their lives in commutes. West Seattle is growing and will continue to grow aplenty. Although you’ll have to bear through having to be a part of a larger community, you’ll get your pick of resturaunts.

    • Joe January 22, 2025 (9:15 am)

      The restaurants need customers and, more importantly,
      desperately need housing for service worker wages.  

      Waiting for the refrain,
      “none will be affordable…”

      Anticipating the response,
      “Econ 101, Supply vs. Demand.”

      As more housing becomes available, the inequities will lessen.  
      More housing.
      More restaurants.
      Better community.

  • Aaron G January 22, 2025 (8:43 am)

    Happy to see this project get started again (3rd time). I hope they finish it.

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