Here's a brief recap on last night's meeting for those that couldn't make it.  I'll perface by saying that those that went on the tour had far less questions than those who didn't.  So if you didn't see the buildings and have lots of questions, one source is those that did.  Another, of course, is me, Debbie Sabey, or any of the rest of us Sabey folks.  Also, this forum is not very good to explain an hourlong meeting with lots of technical data.  Below is a link to way more detail. 

In the meeting, we recapped the history of the property, primarily focusing on the changed use of the Stock House from a beer cellar (1903-1916) cooled at 37F to a cold storage freezer cooled at -12F (1937-2002).  It wasn't designed as a freezer and this is now destroying the building as it thaws.  On the west side of the building, the freezer froze the ground under the foundation 24' down to the bedrock over several decades.  An "ice ball" was formed that heeved the building about 12".  Since turning off the cooling system in late 2002, it has been settling unevenly.  Further, the building was used to produce ice on the 3rd floor, which involves the use of caustic heavy salts.  This has leeched into the masonry and reinforced concrete to destroy the structural integrity of the east side of the building.  We took numerous soil samples under the Stock House, measured movement in the wall on Airport Way, and installed 53 crack monitors inside the building in late January.   Our engineers (KPFF, represented by Paul Diedrich and Bryan Tokarczyk) measured the movements while we assessed redevelopment possibilities, with an emphasis on trying to save the building.  In June it became clear that the building was too unstable and deteriorating to save.  Further, on July 18 KPFF told us that it had become very severe in that settlement was now measured at 1/4' per month in some areas.  They emphasized that the forces that caused the heeving, settlement, and cracks in the 2 1/2' walls are immense.  Coupled with the life/safety issues involved, they advised us to immediately vacate the the building tenants and move to demolition of the building.  They emphasized that they want long term people out, but that walk throughs are permitted.  Further, danger to Airport Way isn't imminent, but is of sufficient concern that it is prudent to expedite demolition.  Therefore, we have applied to the Landmarks Board and are working on a permit application with DPD to proceed accordingly.  The Landmarks application with much more information and background (280 pgs) can be found at our website at www.sabey/rainiercoldstorage.com .  This site has been established as a community site to follow along with our notices, filings, info, et al.

This is a sad event for this building and we certainly didn't buy the property with this in mind.  However, it's the culmination of events started 70 years ago resulting frankly from the aftershocks of prohibition that shut down the brewery in 1916.  The silver lining here is that a new building can be placed of equivilent mass, setback off the street to create pedestrian room, allow reasonable vehicle access and circulation, and open up the "great wall" between the east and west sides of Airport Way.  This building is in the process of being designed.  The emergency nature of the building status shortened our time for public notice and announcement.  However, we revealed that the Bottling Plant will be redeveloped with a very light touch and have many of the same uses as are present today.  The same holds true of the south end and lower floor of the Malt House.  The upper portion is currently planned for residential use.  The Brew House will be retained as a home for a very unique tenant as it is an unusual but cherished structure.  The new building will be about  2/3 the size (sq ft) of the Stock House volume, but generally equal in height with retail at street level and office above.  The General Office will remain virtually unchanged.  Our plan will be rolled out in about 2 months after our architect, Steve Johnson of Johnson Architecture + Planning, works his magic.  The new building is envisioned to be complimentary in style, not shiny, glossy but low key.  Another public meeting will be hosted for those plans.

We don't know the timing of when a permit could be received for the demolition.  We appear before the Landmarks Architectural Review Committee tomorrow morning at 8:30am, Room 4070 in the Seattle Muni Tower for our first of many meetings.  We will post updates and info on our website to keep the community informed.  We apologize for the short notice -- it was quite a struggle to try and coordinate the appropriate notifications to the tenants, community, public officials, etc.  in a short timeframe.  We've done the best we could under the circumstances.  And we're open to any suggestions for better communication and interaction.  My e mail is jimh@....  Thanks to all in the community for their understanding of this situation.

Jim Harmon, Sabey