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I can't believe that Seattle isn't making the developer reuse the old building.

Believe me, as a Seattleite, I wish that the city would make the developer use the building facade or the bricks. This isn't the first instance of a great neighborhood landmark being torn down in favor of new construction.

It really is a shame that more couldn't be saved but there were - reportedly - major issues with settling that made the main building unsafe. I don't know how much of that is true and how much of that is just the developer making excuses to tear down the existing building. On the bright side, there are several building in this facility, some of which (and one facade) are being saved. Georgetown has character very different from the rest of Seattle and it will be interesting to see how well, or if, the developer and architect picks up on that.

This is a very touchy subject in Seattle right now. Some of the most unique and vibrant old neighborhoods around town are being torn down and re-developed to make way for hideous "one size fits all" condos. Developers are moving in on several different local neighborhoods (Ballard, Capitol Hill, Freemont) to capitalize on the "hip" vibe of the neighborhoods and in the process are ruining the very essence that made these places so unique and desirable in the first place. I guess that's progress for you.

littlebrownbird, I too am living in Seattle and it's so sad what is happening all over the city. One specific block on Capitol Hill used to be home to four bars and two shops and was torn down for condo construction - they ended up backing out of that plan and now it's a parking lot :(

I entirely agree that a lot of what is going up in Seattle is just plain awful. Sure, much of it is ugly, but from a planning point of view, it just doesn't work in the long term. A lot of the blame obviously lies with the developers who are looking to make a quick buck. Blame can also be placed on Seattle's design review process and guidelines which are too prescriptive and result in a fear of experimentation and real design. For a city as progressive and well-educated as Seattle, there is a notable lack of interesting architecture, especially multi-family residential.

The other issue I see here is Seattle's lack of density. While it's of course important to keep some of our architectural history intact, lest we lose our inheritance, it must be noted that the only alternative to density is sprawl. New construction with higher density levels usually requires the demolition of an older structure. It would be nice if it historic preservation would mesh better with new, high density construction as is often the case with European preservation schemes, but there doesn't seem to be much of that happening here in the states.

There's definitely a line to be walked here, and Seattle still needs to find that line.

Oh as a seattilite, I see this as well and I live on Capitol Hill. Oh how ironic that the block on Pine where the Manray used to be is now shelved and is a parking lot. There was a lot of bruhaha over that when it happened, now that it's gone...

As Joni Mitchell once sang

Don't it always seem to go
when you don't know what you've got until it's gone...
Paved Paradise, put up a parking lot.

And another thing, I do agree that with some exceptions, Seattle has done a piss poor job of ensuring reuse of old buildings whenever possible and to thoroughly review the developer's requests for we, I think have way too many condos in the city as it is and I do wonder if they may remain empty for a good while after being built.

Well said ciddyguy. This city has changed drastically in the eight years I have lived here, especially with the endless condos going up everywhere - wonder how much of the it will be left before it's all over.

I was sad when I saw this half torn down the other day... It's in a great part of town. I hope the area remains a little more "undiscovered" the Central District (for instance). If they're putting ugly generic condos up where the brewery was they won't fit into Georgetown's character AT ALL.
This city is turning into something less appealing every day.

I'm the Mary who wrote that post for Shelterrific. I totally agree. From what I've read, being used as cold storage stressed the structure so much that it was no longer sound. Whether it could have been reinforced or saved? I don't know. I will say that a large portion of the entire facility remains. Of course, what's going on the old cold storage spot? Condos.