May 13, 2024

Edith Macefield house could be yours to lease

Photo by Brian Miller [enlarge]

The forlorn little house as it is today ...

Regency Centers, developer and owner of the Ballard Blocks complex, also owns the celebrated but long-vacant little Edith Macefield house. The tiny home, at 1438 N.W. 46th St., is inset within the north block, since its late namesake owner famously refused to sell. She died in 2008, about the same time the north block was built; Regency acquired the house in 2015 from an interim owner. It's often cited as a design inspiration for the balloon-suspended house in the 2009 Pixar movie “Up.”

Regency and architect Chandler Stever filed an early plan last fall to restore the over century-old house, in an effort to attract a future commercial tenant. That renovation work hasn't yet been done, but Kidder Mathews recently put the building up for lease, with John Chelico as the broker.

The listing says, “We plan to restore and revitalize the Edith Macefield home.” No contractor is attached to the job, which would include new paint, new roof, structural work and new outdoor seating areas suitable for a coffee shop, cafe or some other food and beverage operation.

Rendering by Chandler Stever Architect [enlarge]

... and how it might look after renovations.

The asking rent, triple net, is $48 per square foot per year. What would a tenant get for that money, after the renovations? The house has 583 square feet at grade, a basement of the same size (possibly to be a kitchen?) and a second story with eaves and 233 square feet of usable space. Thus: 1,339 square feet in total, says Kidder. So that's about 60 grand per year plus modest NNN expenses. But terms are always negotiable.

Other possible uses? Cupcakes, ice cream, pizza, a wine bar, a brewpub, Taffy Hut, a vendor of bespoke sardines and licorice? The list goes on. The business would have to be fairly small and boutique-y.

Nine years back, there was fleeting talk of moving the house to Orcas Island. Now fenced and in need of some TLC, it looks to have been empty since 2008. The city has it listed for vacant building monitoring.