Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board OK's Tear Down of Ballard Denny's

Months after a contentious decision in which the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board designated the Ballard Denny's building a landmark, it has cleared the way for demolition of the building by declining to impose any protections on the property. The Landmarks Preservation Board agreed that the owner would not be able to achieve a reasonable return on the $12.5 million it paid for the property if the Board required the building to remain on the property. (The Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance generally forbids depriving a property owner of "reasonable economic use" of a property. See SMC 25.12.580). According to a May 23, 2008 article in the Daily Journal of Commerce, Rhapsody Properties has plans to tear down the building and replace it with 261 condominium units over 32,000 square feet of retail.