There’s a hole in our ‘hood. It’s across the street from the Oiselle office and it’s an entire city block. About 4 years ago, it was the home to Vitamilk, a local dairy that used it as a distribution center. But then land prices skyrocketed and the prime piece of land one block from Green Lake became too valuable for the dairy. So they sold it to developers to turn it into condominiums. Hole digging ensued. And then in mid-2008, the real estate bubble burst and construction halted. So we’ve had this hole for two and a half years. We walk by it. We peer into its abyss. We wonder when the recovery will spur action.
Which got me thinking. Condos are fine and good. But c’mon Seattle, what else you got? What do we WANT to see in this space, rather than settle for? A park? A climbing wall? A food cart village, a la Portland? A farmer’s market? Affordable housing? A Green Lake activity center? An indoor running track? (Okay, even I admit there’s limited civic appeal to that last one). No matter what, it seems that somewhere – between dairy distribution and another condo building – there could be something amazing. Something as amazing and cool as Green Lake itself. What would you build in the hole?
