Reshaping Rainier Cold Storage

Last week Seattlest whined about the pending doom of the Rainier Cold Storage Stock House in Georgetown, a building that is a Seattle Historic Landmark. "'Historic Landmark' might as well be a death sentence in Seattle," we said, meaning that any building so labeled in Seattle would be quickly demolished (although later in the week the Seattle Weekly would have a different take on the phrase in an article about Peter Steinbrueck and his recent Landmark-a-thon Downtown).

We emailed Jim Harmon, Sr VP-Investments and Treasurer, of the Sabey Corp. with a few questions about the Rainier Stock House:

Can you explain the situation with the Stock House building?

More than is explained in the first 10 pages of the Landmarks filing? Wow, that’s a lift. Please read it over and then let’s talk. You can find the link after the Aug 9 update at http://sabey.com/home/index.php?id=262 .Your question, although appropriate, is really general.

Are you performing similar surveys on any of the other Rainier Cold Storage structures?

We have evaluated the other 4 building structures and they work. So the Stock House is the only building with a structural problem, albeit a fatal one.

Is there a schedule for the demolition of the Stock House?

It depends on city approval timing. So we don’t know right now.

Any idea what the structure that will replace the Stock House will look like? Is there any plan to preserve the facade or at least the overall look and feel of the original Stock House building? Or is there a plan to replace the Stock House at all?

The plan is to build a new building on the site that is of like bulk, although the square footage will be somewhat smaller. The reduced volume will come out of the back so we can circulate cars around the building. This will be an office building with street level retail. The design will be complimentary to the remaining buildings. In terms of preserving the façade, we don’t see that as feasible as the wall has sustained extensive damage and is out of plane. However, we’re trying to retain those elements that are feasible.

What's in the works for the rest of the Rainier Cold Storage campus? What kind of businesses are you looking to get in there? Anyone in particular you're wooing?

No wooing yet, just getting the place straightened up before we invite guests over. The tenant mix will be varied, as it is now. Some industrial, office, artists, storage as we presently have it. But also adding some retail and we’re looking at residential too. The remaining buildings include the Bottling Plant (mostly elbow grease and paint needed), the Malt House (more significant work needed as the brick needs to be cleaned up well, the windows are too few, ingress/egress need to be addressed to modern standards, some structural steel issues to a much, much lesser degree than the Stock House, etc), the Brew House (very unique building requiring very unique touch—this will be tenant centric in design, but retain as much of the old building as the city will allow), and the General Office (very cool building as is-not a ton to do here).

Are there any plans to get residential units into the Rainier facility in Georgetown?

See above. We’re working on it.