(Image: Perkins Glass)
(Image: Perkins Glass)
A family business with a more than 119-year-old legacy in Seattle is leaving Capitol Hill.
How Perkins Glass lasted this long on Broadway is pretty incredible — an industrial shop that arrived on this end of the street 53 years ago when it was dominated by the empty garages and leftovers of its once grand auto row history surviving to have the sprawling electronic dance music nightclub venue Q as its neighbor.
Last week, Perkins announced it is moving to SoDo across from Home Depot.
The Puget Sound Business Journal reported here on the company’s $3 million purchase of its new 1st Ave S home and the division of the family’s Broadway assets that has Perkins moving forward under the family’s fifth generation.
The now former 10,680-square-foot glass shop in a 1904-era warehouse at 1420 Broadway remains held by the family who purchased the property in the 1970s and moved its long-running business to Capitol Hill.
In 2011, CHS talked with the Perkinses about the shop’s long history in the city. What was its first job in the city?
“We built most of the showcases in Pike Place Market—we used to be called Perkins Glass and Fixtures. Our records go back to 1906, but our first installation was probably before then,” Susan Perkins-Savage told CHS at the time. “There are pictures of the Perkins glass truck when it was a horse-drawn buggy. We were originally on 2nd and Columbia, then in Post Alley until they built the Harbor Steps. We bought this building in ’72.”
Thirteen years ago, the coming construction of the First Hill Streetcar and the changing neighborhood had Perkins already considering a move.
“It’s going to be really hard for people to come in and shop with the new trolley set up. We’ve been here so long, and own the building, but we do talk about moving. This neighborhood used to be commercial and now it’s mainly retail. A night club called Q is about to open next door,” Perkins-Savage said.
(Image: CHS)
Today, busted glass is unfortunately a growth industry in the city but Perkins has finally found a new home off Capitol Hill.
It’s not clear what is next for the 111-year-old building. Other holdover businesses from different times remain nearby including the neighboring Aker’s Porsche auto garage and repair shop. At the corner of Broadway and Union, Cancer Pathways continues to hold onto the historic former funeral parlor it has called home for more than 20 years but has faced increased expenses around security and safety at the venue. The neighborhood also faces more immediate major change with the Harvard Market shopping center across the street on the market for $25 million.
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Hopefully the family maintains the building as part of the urban fabric of Pike Pine’s historic auto row rather than sell it to someone that would knock it down and put up a ticky tacky building of micro apartments. I bet they have an attachment to it after all these years and wouldn’t want to see that happen either. It would be a great adaptive reuse project.
yeah how dare we think of housing more people in a dense urban setting. much better to preserve a former glass warehouse
But what about the vibes walking by the warehouse. Have you considered this?
Maybe the “vibe” of walking by homeless isn’t so great either?
We bought a mirror from them years ago. Nice folks. Every time I’ve ridden my bike by them on the cycle track I’ve wondered how long they would stay at that location.
it’d be great to combine this, the porsche place, and the parking lot, raze it all, and build a 30-40 story tower. great spot for lots of density
I can’t even with this comment. Capitol Hill is not zoned for 30-40 story buildings, and honestly likely never will be given the flight path overhead along 15th.
There are literally 30 story buildings 3 blocks from this location UP a hill and closer to the Boeing Field flight path. I can’t even.
Incorrect. The taller buildings are on First Hill, not Capitol Hill, and they are away from flight path. The two areas are zoned differently So you, you literally can’t even understand zoning, can you?
The Boeing Field flight path is directly over much taller buildings on First Hill, when the flight path itself is lower because Boeing Field is closer than SeaTac (flight path over 15th). That was my point.
And “zoning” is not a good reason to deny something when we have a new comprehensive plan being debated now. We could change it all this year.
You’d say in the middle of Cal Anderson park was a great spot for density….
no surrounding a great park is a great place for density – parks and subway stations are the best places to surround with density instead of piddly six story suburb buildings
have you ever even been to a suburb…
Um yes? https://maps.app.goo.gl/v8CVBhAMgTxqHGyM7
🤣 that is downtown Redmond. Sorry dude, even if it’s a smaller city it’s still a city.
Your description is the projects. Redlining and gentrification.
Your reply makes me wish that CHS blog had a “like” button.
I mean seriously… who thinks 6 story buildings are a suburbs thing…
Boris appears to think that “city” means nearly all high rises, like Seattle should be turned into Hong Kong.
And no, turning a small city park into a box canyon in the middle of a bunch of tall light and sky blocking buildings is actually a really shitty idea
yeah letting more people enjoy parks is almost as bad as letting them have housing
Is that your NIMBY argument?
The end of an era. I have been doing business with Perkins Glass for many years, and I will be sad to see them go, but glad to see they are moving not too far away. They always had the glass I needed (BIG pieces) in stock, speedy installs, friendly installers, often Perkins family, and prices that couldn’t be beat. I wondered how long they could hold out in this location and figured they must own the building. Old man Perkins worked here until well into his 90s; he was a kind of a gruff man, all business, and a man of few words. He installed a small piece of glass in my building at least once at no charge. He would often arrive at his shop at 5am, open the big garage door facing Broadway to make ready for the day, then promptly fall asleep in a chair. May I live long enough to be ‘old and in the way’. So long Perkins Glass Broadway location.
What a pane in the glass.