August 5, 2016

Mama’s Mexican Kitchen building could be designated city landmark

Photo courtesy of NK Architects [enlarge]

Minglian Realty LLC of Vancouver, B.C., wants to start construction early next year on an 8-story apartment building on the site at 2234 Second Ave.

The owner of the building that houses Mama's Mexican Kitchen at 2234 Second Ave. has asked the city to determine if the structure is a landmark, and that ruling could alter the owner's plans to put an apartment building there.

Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board will consider the nomination at a 3:30 p.m. meeting Sept. 7 in City Hall.

The city requires certain buildings over 50 years old to be considered for landmark status. A landmark cannot be significantly altered without approval from the board.

Minglian Realty LLC of Vancouver, B.C., hopes to start construction early next year on an 8-story, 63-unit apartment building on the site in Belltown.

Studio19 Architects is designing the project, which will have mostly studios and one-bedrooms, 3,200 square feet of commercial space and 16 below-grade parking stalls.

Minglian's plan is to raze the building to make way for the apartments, said Lin Xu, a manager with the company. It is waiting to hear what the board rules, and will go from there, he said.

“We don't have a plan B because it's such a small site,” Xu said.

The nomination application, prepared by NK Architects, says Mama's Mexican Kitchen was one of the oldest Mexican restaurants in Seattle. It began operation there in 1974.

The popular restaurant recently closed, and Mama's Cantina opened there. Xu said the cantina owner signed a lease to be in the new apartment building.

The owner could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

Elliott Bay Crossfit is also in the building.

Xu said Minglian likes Belltown because it a walkable area near Amazon.com, and has many restaurants.

Minglian develops mid- and high-rise condo buildings in Vancouver. Xu said it is difficult to get financing for condos in Seattle, and construction liability laws are also a deterant.

Xu said the firm would like to build other multifamily projects here, but “it's really hard to find deals without getting into bidding wars” for land, and permitting takes a long time.

Besides the Belltown building, the company is developing townhouses and single-family houses in the Seattle area.

According to the nomination application, Henry and Mabel Schuett hired their son-in-law George Wellington Stoddard to design what is now known as the Mama's Mexican Kitchen building.

The one-story commercial structure was constructed in 1924 at Second Avenue and Bell Street on a parcel that is 60 by 108 feet.

NK Architects writes that the building is representative of the kinds of low-scale, commercial and light industrial buildings that were developed in Seattle in the early part of the 20th century. It has housed a number of uses including an auto repair shop, sign company, and the Communist Party and Young Communist League.

The application notes that Stoddard was active in Seattle from the 1920s to the 1960s. His work includes Park Court Apartments, the Metropolitan Printing Press and Seattle Memorial Stadium. He was also part of the design team for Yesler Terrace, with William Bain, J. Lister Holmes and others. Outside Seattle, Stoddard's work includes Winthrop Hotel in Tacoma.

Written comments about the landmark nomination should be received by Sept. 6 at Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, P.O. Box 94649, Seattle, WA 98124-4649.

The application is at http://tiny.cc/4h5kdy under “Current Nominations.”

For information on whether your building might need to go through the landmark process, go to http://tiny.cc/1cfldy/.