April 7, 2017

Ruling paves way for Row House demolition

Photo by Row House Cafe [enlarge]

The Row House Cafe building is located at 1170 Republican Street in South Lake Union.

Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board on Wednesday voted to designate the Campbell Building in West Seattle as a city landmark, but declined to do so for the Row House Cafe building in South Lake Union.

The vote was unanimous to designate the exterior of the two-story brick Campbell Building at 4554 California Ave. S.W. in The Junction business district.

Wilson & Loveless designed the building, which was partially erected in 1911 and completed in 1920 under the supervision of architect Victor W. Voorhees, according to the landmark nomination application prepared by Florence Lentz and Sarah J. Martin.

The board voted 5 to 4 to designate the Row House Cafe building at 1170 Republican Street as a landmark, but six “yes” votes are needed to pass a motion on designation.

Chinese developer Plus Investments has filed plans with the city for an eight-story, 91-unit apartment project with 50 underground parking stalls at that site. The developer, which has a Bellevue office, has said it would demolish the Row House Cafe building to make way for the project.

The cafe's landlord is an LLC associated with Plus. The LLC acquired the site in 2008 for $1 million.

MZA Architects is the architect for the Plus project, and Geyer Coburn Hutchins is the landscape architect.

The Row House is made up of several 1911 Craftsman-style bungalows that were originally separate structures, but combined in 1980, according to the landmark nomination application prepared by The Johnson Partnership.