Thanks to Lauren for the picture. Video below
The big snorts are working and the hose guy is busy where the tracks come together at Belmont and E Olive Way. The demolition of the building that housed B&O Espresso since 1976 is underway.
Before we get too nostalgic for the Spirit of ’76 around here, B&O’s ownership has plans to return to the corner in a few years when the mixed-use apartment project is completed. Meanwhile, you can find B&O chilling in Ballard these days. We used to be friends.
It should be noted, also, that B&O wasn’t the only business to call the building home.
The 1976 history post linked above — and here again! — will also do a good job of telling you about what comes next for the corner.
Thanks to La for the video.
The development would be so much more interesting and beautiful in the old facade had been incorporated into the design. The plan makes it look like any building in any new city anywhere with no sense of place.
These are out-of-towners who don’t give two shits and will never have to look at it. Look at their portfolio, it’s fucking gross http://www.nkarch.com/
Worthless
will someone please take the b&O sign off the front of the building and use it as art in the new building somewhere……
I took some video and put it up on FB:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=537301739626717&set=vb.100000406884750&type=2&theater
PAINFUL
Just drove past it. They made good progress today taking about half the property down.
Selfishly, I’ll miss the sunrise Space Needle and mountain views on my morning commute.
Really hope someone kept the train sign pictured above.
i want them to keep the train pic and put it in the new building……
The train pic is toast. The building looks to have already been picked clean for what was wanted. At this point it would probably be deemed too unsafe to approach and remove.
The construction workers took the train sign and put it aside after taking the parapet down. Right now it’s leaning up against the fence.
One of the construction guys says that someone wants the sign and had them set it aside, but he doesn’t know who it was. I’m sure it will get picked up soon.
Can’t stop progress, this is sad. The neighborhood is nearly unrecognizeable from when I moved here.
I live nearby. Seriously, fuck everything about this. And fuck the greedy developers and their gentrification.
The rendering of the new building looks gross. Esthetically, it brings nothing to the table but ugliness. Capitol Hill is losing its identity and soon will blend into Bro-town (Belltown).
Gross.
And very very sad.
The same people who are doing this are going to tear down that great gorgeous white house on 11th and republican. They’re going to demolish it and build a 4-story condo complex within FEET of the neighbor’s house. It’s also going to make the new park next door all shady. Two people offered these developers more money to save the house than they paid for the lot, but they declined. They don’t even live in this city. They’re pretty much scum. I’ve been inside that great big white house and it’s in impeccable condition inside. It just needs to be painted outside before its too late. How can we stop this sort of development? No one wants it.
This crew is directly outside my building right now (11:45 pm) running chainsaws, heavy diesel equipment, hammering, yelling, and working away like they’re not in the middle of a residential zone. Noise complaint filed with the city, I hope others are doing the same…
If you’ve lived there a while, that’s a shame. But if you just moved into 220 Belmont (run by Waterman & Company aka Hamilton Urban Partners http://www.yelp.com/biz/waterman-and-company-seattle ) you should have known this was coming.
[…] The demolition this past week of the B&O building at 1650 E. Olive Way raises questions about the identification of environmentally hazardous material and how its handling is being monitored on a Capitol Hill busy with teardowns to make way for new development. […]