July 15, 2026

Old Westlake candy factory, later home to FOX 13, could be yours to redevelop

Photo by Brian Miller [enlarge]

The offering from CBRE, pictured last winter.

Anyone wanna buy a used candy factory? As the DJC and others reported in December, FOX Television is preparing to leave its longtime home at 1813 Westlake Ave. N. for the Denny Triangle. By the end of this year, it should complete its move to the Axis9 building in the Denny Triangle.

CBRE manages the heavily modified old building on Westlake, once home to the Vernell's candy factory, and just put it on the market, unpriced.

FOX bought the sloping, 1.5-acre property in 1999, then sold it in 2016 to Allstate Insurance in 2016 for $19.5 million. Its lease-back agreement ends this year.

Historic photo via DJC files [enlarge]

And the sweet, sweet site, as it appeared in the 1950s.

The three-story building is now 74 years old, and spans about 66,462 square feet. After Vernell's departed, subsequent tenants included Rowan Northwest Decorators and Kelly Television Co., which then owned Channel 13.

Zoning allows commercial construction up to 75 feet. The city would surely approve a rezone to residential; eight stories could be achieved with some combination of affordable units and green incentives. The county values the land at over $18 million. The building is more of a white elephant.

Selling points? The property is close to Lake Union, the Cheshiahud Trail and SLU's many tech firms. There's also the sweet legacy of Vernell's Fine Candies, a business founded in 1947 by Vern and Eleanor Fortin. (See how they got the name?) UW Libraries index materials say their specialty was buttermints from the family recipe book. There were offices in Bellevue, on Westlake and in Chicago. “Eventually, Vernell's became the largest buttermint manufacturer in the world,” says the UW. The business was sold in the 1990s.

L.H. “Vern” Fortin (1915-2009) was also a founder of QFC, per his Seattle Times obituary, and was chairman when that business sold in 1986. He also helped establish Van De Kamps Holland Dutch Bakeries.

And, three decades after cashing out of QFC, the Fortin family sold the QFC-anchored Bellevue Village for $145 million. That's still home to the grocery store, QFC offices and other retail. And on those 11 acres, just north of Bellevue Square, Canadian developer Pinnacle International is still planning six towers with up to 3,500 units, plus parking and retail. That hasn't yet broken ground.