Full Circle

Two years ago, the block-long lot on 2nd between Stewart & Pine was a parking lot, plain and simple. It had been that for years, if not decades. Then developers moved in with grand plans of a hotel-condo-retail complex that was to be called the One. Kind of Matrix, innit? They came in fall/winter of 2008-09 with their metal monsters, dug a big hole and promptly ran out of money. For months, the site looked like this:

It was just a big hole in the ground with a fence around it. That's how it remained until around last November when the heavy equipment showed up again and work began to fill it in. Things seemed to progress in fits. Sometimes there was a long line of dump trucks waiting to drop off tons of dirt; other times the equipment sat unused for days or weeks. Well, apparently things have come full circle. It is once again a parking lot, plain and simple. The fence still stands around it, but that is bound to come down soon. Here are some very Zen-like photos:



A filled-in hole... There's nothing like it!

OK, so it is a tiny bit beyond Belltown's borders, but its saga has been intriguing. But now it's at an end. May it now enjoy its once and future life as a (comparatively) bucolic and pastoral parking lot.

Fixing a Hole

Even though the dead project formerly known as the 1 at 2nd & Stewart isn't in Belltown, it's close enough to be a source of fascination. I walk past it every day on my way to the gym, and for months and months, it languished in a state of abandonment and neglect. Here you had big plans to build a large hotel and condo complex on the site of a perfectly serviceable parking lot. Well, things didn't get past the hole-digging stage when the developers ran out of money, shut down operations and possibly left town in the dead of night. I was really beginning to believe that the hole would be there forever, but recently they've brought in heavy equipment and much dirt. Observe:



It looks like the site will become a parking lot once more. It's about 2/3 filled now. All they need is more dirt. Although its reversion to a parking lot is probably not the most desirable path for the property, it's still a much, much better alternative to the large hole.

Is the End Near?

I happened by 3rd & Battery the other day and couldn't help noticing the fence around the building:

This is usually what they do prior to tearing a place down. Is that what they mean to do? Given this city's high office vacancy rate, do we really need another office building? And honestly, what the hell is Martin Selig doing anyway? I still stand behind my diagnosis that this is a dead project. If that's so, why demolish the building? Why not just let the Free Sheep Foundation run it until the economic climate improves? Yes, I've learned what the Free Sheep do since I wrote that dead project post and I fully support it. Belltown has precious little studio space, and if we want to be known as this artsy district, we've either got to put up or shut. So I say let this tiny, pathetic building stand, let some artists have studio space and have Martin Selig take a few deep breaths before doing anything unwise. I have spoken. I am Igor.

Dead Projects: Kung Fu Tower

Down at the corner of 3rd & Cedar, in the Rollerball Building's backyard, there is a group of humble one-story structures. Observe:

One part is occupied by the Musicians' Union, whom I hate (but that's a story for another time); the other belongs to a martial arts school which shares with a salsa dance academy and I'm neutral about them. Yes, they're very unimpressive structures, especially the Musicians' Union, which has the look and feel of an elementary school portable building. Apparently, someone thought this arrangement was a little too small-time, so they made some very big plans. Here they are:

Sorry about that stupid tag in the middle of things, but for those of you with failing eyesight, the goal is for them to construct a 17-story apartment building right on that very spot. That would mean farewell, martial arts school, farewell, salsa academy and good riddance, Musicians' Union. But never fear, this project is just plain old not happening. That notice has been up for years and it's time for somebody, like maybe me, to call them on it. Although it would be a pleasure to see the Musicians' Union reduced to rubble, it's not gonna happen. So if you've always wanted to learn spider monkey or praying mantis style kung fu, you still can. There will never be a Kung Fu Tower.

Dead Projects: It Ain't Necessarily So

Across the street from the mighty twin Westins at 5th & Stewart, like so:

...there is an unassuming parking lot, like so:

Somebody obviously has some pretty big plans for this property, because they've announced a joyous event with a sign:

True, the region's taggers haven't given the announcement the mad respect it deserves, but the long and short of it is that this undersized parking lot is totally gonna be the site of not one, but two 44-story towers. Really, the sign says so. Look:

OK, wait a second! That sign has obviously been there for quite a while. Could this be - yes, I think it is - a dead project?? Yeah, just putting up a sign doesn't make it so. They're gonna have to show me a lot more to convince me that this site won't be anything other than a parking lot in ten years' time.

And although the thought of two 44-story towers right on the edge of Belltown is really exciting, this project is not happening - not now, not ever. The signs fool no one.

What Unsightly, Block-Long Hole in the Ground?

Although technically not in Belltown, the dead project at 2nd & Stewart formerly known as the One is a source of fascination to me. For more than a year, it floated in construction limbo, a big empty hole surrounded by a flimsy, portable chainlink fence. Obviously, the developer was in denial. But since I started writing about it (yeah, ME), many changes have taken place. First, they had this big crane come in and lift out the former construction offices. That was moderately spectacular. Now they're getting rid of the flimsy chainlink fence in favor of a more uniform, painted plywood look. Observe:

Though it's not exactly visually appealing, it does mask a myriad of sins. There's obviously one thing this developer believes: if the public can't see it, it no longer exists. I have to say, it's pretty effective:

As you can see, it's just a wall. That's all. What lies beyond it is none of my concern.

More wall. I'm bored, hungry and a little sleepy. I want food and beer. Let's just go around this last corner and...

Wait a second! The wall is hiding an unsightly, block-long hole in the ground! The people must be told! They can't cover up something as ugly as this and get away with it! Call the mayor! Call the governor! Hell, call the president! Give them a piece of your mind! They can't fool us with a plywood fence! Tell them all about it! The tree of liberty! The blood of patriots! And so forth!

Dead Projects: Selig's Folly

Back in the seventies and eighties, Martin Selig's name was everywhere. If any given project was worth developing, Selig & Co. were in on it. Things have changed quite a bit in the meantime. Personally, I haven't heard Selig's name mentioned in years. So it was interesting to see Selig's handle on this project at 3rd & Battery:

If you look close enough at the artist's rendition you'll how inaccurate it really is: there aren't any bums pushing shopping carts full of garbage down the street, no obviously crazy people anywhere and nobody's looking for a sheltered nook where they can smoke crack. Come on, people, we're talking about 3rd Avenue here!

So Martin Selig's big dream is to build a towering three-story thingamajob here. Well, he'll have to demolish the existing building, a one-story brick structure from the fifties that used to be home to the famous Exotique Imports, a record store that had a few very weird things. Observe:


Now it looks like the only business left, if any, is something called the Free Sheep Foundation:

Everybody knows that free sheep are the most dangerous. Anyhow, these signs have been up for a long time. This project isn't happening. It's dead. Even 3rd Ave. doesn't need this puny effort at legitimacy. Martin Selig, this project is lame and you know it. If you're gonna build, build big. Three stories is ridiculous. I mean, even an 11th-century English peasant wouldn't be impressed. To the best of my knowledge, this project won't be happening. But if it does, we'll lose a really trippy piece of parking lot art:

Somebody call M.C. Escher. Tell him to get real scared!

Dead Projects: One Big Hole

We've been having some pretty decent weather around here lately, but sunshine wasn't right for photographing this dead project. I wanted rain and gloom. Yesterday was totally perfect. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the One!

With a name like that, you'd expect to see Neo, Morpheus and Trinity being chased around by Agent Smith, wouldn't you? Well, no such luck. Although this project is just a little past the Belltown-downtown border at 2nd & Stewart, I'll feature it anyway, as it's an eyesore worthy of note. When you approach this place on 2nd, it looks like any other active construction site:

But when you cross Stewart, the ugly truth comes out:



There's no construction going on at all. It's just a big hole in the ground. Well, at least they didn't have to tear down something to make this; they simply dug up a perfectly good parking lot, ran out of money and left. And like many an abandoned site, this one is now being decorated by graffitists - particularly inept ones at that:


Yes guys, everybody wants to see your blobby, illegible sprayings. We think they're really cool.

Here's a prediction: The former construction office on Pine, though uninhabited now, will have people living in it by this fall.

Count on it.

Yep, it's One ugly piece of real estate.

Dead Projects: Insignia

This project was ambitious; two towers to occupy the entire block between 5th & 6th, and Bell & Battery. It used to be the Frederick Cadillac dealership (back when Cadillac was synonymous with class), then it belonged to Teatro Zinzanni. They're a Euro-cabaret dinner theater. Even though they were just four blocks away, I saw them a grand total of zero times. They've moved all the way to Mercer Street and I still have no plans to go and see them. Anyhow, they got evicted to make way for this Insignia-thing, whose onsite promo boards slated it to look like this:

And:

With estimated views such as this:

And if you lived there, at least one woman would laugh at your jokes. There would also be alcohol:


Unfortunately, reality has caught up with their marketing. This project is dead for the usual reason: no money. Otherwise, they would have started construction. For the last two years, this lot has only managed to accumulate stuff that seems entirely unrelated to constructing twin condo towers. In fact, the whole block is just a yard fulla crap. Observe:

From 5th...

A little further down 5th...

From Battery. You get the idea. The place is a mess. But there is one redeeming feature of the lot. See, about 20 years ago the Frederick Cadillac guys had the good sense to plant some Mt. Fuji cherry trees along three sides of the lot (Bell, Battery and 6th). Every spring they look just spectacular. Check it out:

Yes, lovely indeed. So honestly, why do we need this Insignia place when we have these really nice cherry trees instead. I think it's a pretty even trade.

Insignia: R.I.P.