August 20, 2021

Bush Garden bound for the wrecking ball, with 17-story apartment tower still planned

Rendering by Otak [enlarge]

In this view, looking northeast, the reddish masonry facade of the podium would be meant to recall the old building.

There's not been much activity over the past two-plus years at 614 Maynard Ave. S. Bush Garden, the sole remaining tenant in that decrepit building, opted not to renew its lease. The pandemic certainly didn't help the prospects for that International District karaoke bar.

Vibrant Cities owns the corner site, at South Lane Street, and with architect Otak is planning a 17-story apartment building with about 200 units, underground parking and retail. To that end, the International Special Review District Board will on Tuesday receive another briefing on the Jasmine tower, as it's called.

The fundamental issue from the last board briefing in 2019 remains: Whether or not to preserve the old Bush Garden building, aka the Elgin Hotel. Otak, structural engineer DCI and construction manager Stoller will argue that the over century-old, three-story building is too far gone to preserve.

They write in their presentation materials, “No reasonable or possible alternatives to demolition exist. After extensive evaluation, the project structural engineer and construction manager have determined that the existing structure at 614 Maynard is seismically compromised and cannot be rehabilitated.”

They also say that the roof is compromised, the weak foundation was designed for a one-story structure (two levels were added after the original 1910 construction) and that there's no shoring in what's essentially Duwamish mud and fill beneath the building.

The building isn't landmarked, and it's outside the National Historic District, but it does have some cultural significance. The namesake restaurant and party hall were operated by the Seko family from about 1953 to 1997, during which time its patrons included Joe DiMaggio, Shirley MacLaine and Vic Damone. Bush Garden thrived during postwar white America's belated discovery of so-called “ethnic food,” none of which was considered remotely exotic by folks who'd been happily eating it for centuries before.

Throughout the restaurant's long run, it was a mainstay for Seattle's Asian American community, which held many meetings and events there. Bush Garden suffered, like the rest of the ID, when the neighborhood was split by the new freeway in the 1960s. Under later ownership, the restaurant closed, and the place became a favorite local dive bar.

TJP, formerly the Johnson Partnership, is the historic consultant on the Jasmine project. In one historical nugget, mined from a 2011 Crosscut story, it writes: “President Richard Nixon wanted to come to Bush Garden. However, the Secret Service deemed it a security risk after an advance visit, on the grounds that the restaurant had too many ‘hidden crannies' to be safe for a visiting president.” That would've been in the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Vibrant Cities is now busy with three apartment projects underway: one nearly done on Capitol Hill; and two under construction in the Uptown neighborhood. Its presentation materials indicate that Jasmine's final design is a long way off. However, renderings on its website, and that of Otak, give a pretty good idea where that design is headed.

Even with the Bush Garden building removed, the basic idea is a three-story masonry podium, then with a modern tower set back within that footprint — thus creating terraces. The podium would be split in a manner to suggest two old brick structures — or a replica thereof — based on the footprints of the two buildings to be demolished. (The second is a one-story warehouse that's partly below grade.)

Three levels of underground parking could have 103 stalls. About 8,300 square feet of “micro retail” is contemplated.

The Jasmine plan carries a nominal value of $70 million. It would be the developer's first high rise project in Seattle. With Otak, it also has a 23-story hotel and apartment plan in Portland.