Those tenants closed down in 2016 or 17 due to pending redevelopment, something that still hasn't happened to this day -- something that's becoming a recurring story in Seattle, leading to a rash of vacant buildings that have caught fire, oftentimes with injuries or fatalities associated, and often related to the buildings use by people who are homeless. As of 2019, the building was only looking moderately derelict, but apparently the redevelopment plans had already fallen through judging by the for sale signs on the construction fence; by 2023, things were clearly much worse, culminating in an entirely-predictable major fire that destroyed whatever was left of the old Safeway. Coincidentally, I just went by this site today, and the building is completely gone, but there's still no sign of the planned new apartment building. (The property did finally sell back in March according to property records, so maybe that's a sign that things will finally start moving, but high inflation and high interest rates have resulted in very slow development progress in recent years.)
Looking around back, it's clear that this was once a Marina store, specifically a later-model one with the up-curving edge roofs. It's a little sad to see this go, but heavily-modified Marina stores like this one aren't something I get all that excited about (compared to real original Marina stores, which are also getting demolished at a much faster pace it seems). The back of the store was still plainly visible until it burned down since it's next to the truck parking lot and repair facility for the Darigold milk plant (which sits right between the former and current Safeways) -- not a particularly great neighbor for the future apartments!
Anyway, that's it for this brief side trip, and we'll be back at the new Safeway next week!
Huh, I wouldn't have guessed there was an old Marina store behind that newer facade! Of course, these photos are all quite sad looking and it seems the fate of the building was even more sad. Then again, perhaps the fire and demolition just got rid of what certainly appeared to be an eyesore.
ReplyDeleteYou may remember that abandoned Kmart fire in NE Portland last year while I was still there (the smouldering Kmart caused haze which kind of ruined some of my photos from that morning, lol). I'm not sure if there was ever a report on that fire, but I suspect it was arson related to homeless people camping in it or whatever.
I'm not going to say that such things never happen in Houston, but abandoned buildings usually don't burn here even when they are in the most impoverished areas where there are likely homelessness and all kinds of illegal activity. Take the Homestead Rd. former Kmart and the neighboring shopping center, for example. It is in one of, if not the, poorest areas of the Houston suburbs. The Kmart closed around 1991 and has been abandoned ever since then. The building has been derelict for decades and there have been many calls for the City of Houston to demolish the building since it is an eyesore for the community and a magnet for crime, but it has never happened. Unlike some other poorer areas which have seen some redevelopment, even if it is just public housing complexes, this area is in such bad shape that I suspect the Kmart will remain standing for at least a few more years. There have been a few news reports about this on the local TV news and here is the latest one I can remember: https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/houston-kmart-shopping-center-redevelopment/285-8004c260-ca43-489d-a1ac-3f6aee741d93
And, yes, the TV station probably did their research for that story at HHR from Mike's history of Kmart in Houston page, lol. At least they got their facts correct which is not something I can say for our local newspaper most of the time!
Yeah, and this place got far worse in the years after I took these pictures (which is why I never bothered to update them).
DeleteYep, I remember that, just like the thrift store fire that happened when I was in Vancouver a couple years ago!
I don't know what the deal is with all of the vacant building fires recently. This wasn't nearly as big of an issue until a couple years ago! Part of that is probably simply that there are more vacant buildings due to redevelopment projects stalling out (as happened here) -- in fact, some of the bigger fires recently have been in-construction buildings that stalled out somewhere in the middle of construction. The homelessness crisis and absolute lack of action on building affordable housing surely plays a role too, but that's nothing new around here. It definitely seems like these fires have been a much worse problem around here than other areas, and I'm really not sure why!