When the Guild 45th theater closed suddenly and mysteriously this past Spring, nobody really believed their story of “renovations planned”, and with good reason, it turns out. Jen Hurley spotted this listing recently for a “Seattle Urban Investment Opportunity“:
The two lots, owned by Los Angeles-based Landmark Theaters, total 11,359 sq ft but are separated by the Octopus Bar in the middle (which has a different owner). That, plus the fact that the fact that theChanges and Silver Tray Thai buildings are all owned by different people, will make this a difficult sale.
If the separated properties don’t make sense for you, you could put your bid in just one or the other. All are listed at “Best Offer”. They’re presently zoned NC2P-40, but the HALA “Preferred Alternative Plan” proposes to upzone them to NC2P-55 (the 40 and 55 refer to the maximum allowable height in feet: NC2P-55 means we could be seeing a five-story building there.)
On a positive note, you, dear readers, are identified as an “attractive demographic”: “490,000 people and average incomes of nearly $108,000 within a five-mile radius.” It is unclear from the phrasing whether all or just some of those 490,000 people are considered attractive. Regardless, I’m flattered.
I was also interested to see this summary of Wallingford’s population. The “1 mile radius” column covers us pretty closely:
From 2,000 to 2017, Wallingford has grown from 31,000 to 45,000 people. Yes, things have changed, and more is on the way.
In the 25 years I’ve lived in Wallingford, I saw a movie at the Guild exactly once, so I can’t say I’m personally impacted by this loss. It’s also been looking increasingly derelict recently (even before the closure), so getting something new in its place isn’t an entirely bad thing. Still, it’s sad to see this old icon go. The Seven Gables theater was recently designated an official Seattle landmark (making it more difficult to develop), but the Historical Landmark Review Board declined to give that status to Guild. Nonetheless, it will always be a landmark (lower case “l”) in my heart.
My favorite hand-lettered marquee at the Guild 45th was in 1992, a rare occasion when both theaters were playing the same movie … it read:
SINGLES:
featuring “FOOD GIANT”