This is such depressing news…word is zipping around the local Intertubes about the announcement/leak that the entire block of Pine Street between Melrose and Bellevue has been snapped up by East Side Developers for “redevelopment”. The retail tenants of that stretch: Mud Bay, Edies, Le Frock, Wall of Sound, Spine and Crown, Scout, Vutique, and Bauhaus, are apparently being told they must vacate by June of 2013. It sounds like the developers will try and preserve some of the facades of the more historical buildings, but basically the block will be gutted, rebuilt and resold/leased. Which basically means, that these 8 retail spaces will be turned into 4 large retail spaces, with huge rents that pretty much excludes the possibility of small, local businesses occupying the new building. In other words, you can probably expect a combo of national chain restaurants, tanning salons, dry cleaners and/or maybe another banal restaurant/club with a shitty, gulag design sense and an east side clientele. In even more words, it’s a death knell for interesting, funky, fun local businesses and a win for the East Side. Good bye, Funky Capitol Hill and Hello, The New Yuppie/Dull Haven for bland, middle of the road suburbanites.
The Capitol Hill Seattle blog has the full, depressing story…check it out.
Time to move to Portland, kids.
