Assume your PSA refers to the Public Stadium Authority, not the Pioneer Square Alliance.

The building of the football stadium (and as the article points out) the luring of Pioneer Square businesses to South Lake Union has been nearly fatal to Pioneer Square. When the stadium was proposed, the art galleries in the Square banded together to argue that the sports crowds would muscle out the art-goers. Most unfortunately, that has proved the case, and most all of the galleries there then have now left for other areas of the city, or gone out of business. This is turn has left empty storefronts, which means that restaurants and cafes that depend on strolling visitors to the area, have also closed. The move of Elliott Bay Books to Capital Hill, and the recent announcement by Masin's Furniture that it is leaving the Square are further evidence of the damage done by the stadium.

Kevin Daniels is to be strongly commended, and the support for his proposal by the county and city to be applauded. Without the infusion of people living in the area, Pioneer Square cannot hope to redevelop. Occidental Square is undoubtedly the best proportioned, human-scale, non-vehicular public space in the entire city. It is very sad to see the empty windows onto its tree-lined space. That Vulcan would have put up such a resistance to the Daniels plan is yet another sign that their heart is in their wallet. A vibrant city is not a zero-sum game- a strong Pioneer Square is not a threat to South Lake Union. There is plenty of room, and hopefully plenty of business, for both. That a billionaire's company would operate, and be commended for doing so, as if the city belonged to them is bad enough. That well thought-out planning decisions for the good of us all, are held hostage, is reprehensible.

"Should the deal somehow fizzle before then, it can be recast as a rally, and an angry mob of Pioneer Square architects, liquored up on chardonnay and armed with very sharp-looking eyeglasses, can storm the stadium."

What a great line. Fair warning that I'm going to borrow it, with credit of course. :)

The argument that the current economic condition of Pioneer Square is due primarily to the building of the football stadium seems highly problematic. The Kingdome occupied nearly the same footprint as the present stadium, and hosted as many football games (8 regular season, 2 preseason) annually.

The economics of Pioneer Square are likely quite complex. Years ago, when NBBJ, Elliott Bay Books, and Masins were all still in Pioneer Square, the collection of Pioneer Square buildings owned by Sam Israel were in generally poor condition and some were vacant above the first floor. Since then Samis has restored/renovated many of these buildings and has seen the level of commercial and residential use increase. Similarly, buildings like Tashiro-Kaplan have been expanded adding users/residents. Shouldn't these changes have improved conditions?

On the other hand, newly rehabilitated buildings, like new buildings, must bear the costs associated with new construction through increased rents. This point (the importance of old buildings to diversity) was made by Jane Jacobs 50 years ago. Have the rents in Pioneer Square buildings increased as a result of these improvements?

One might wonder what effect the loss of the Waterfront Streetcar has had. I realize this may seem minor, but the Waterfront Streetcar did serve as a conduit for tourists visiting Pioneer Square--it provided an easy way to get to Pioneer Square from Pike Place Market and the Aquarium. Do tourists now skip Pioneer Square because there is no easily understood direct and engaging conveyance?

Another question: Decisions by NBBJ, Elliott Bay Books, and Masins may seem similar, but might each have been driven by independent considerations? NBBJ moved to Pioneer Square when historic preservation and adaptive reuse were the new "big thing." Now the new "big thing" in architecture is the return to modernism and an emphasis on building performance, especially energy and resource conservation--Alley 24, where NBBJ is now headquartered, is a demonstration of just these issues. Publishing and book selling are clear in transition--many independent booksellers have disappeared. Elliott Bay's decision may have been as much about its perception of the future of book sales as it was about Pioneer Square.

Nonetheless, what the sources of the current condition of Pioneer Square, I fully agree that building on the North Lot is a significant positive development and is to be applauded.

Mr. Ochsner is correct that the economics (and I would add the politics and social realities) in Pioneer Sq are quite complex. For example the city and county have for years put social service providers there that were not wanted elsewhere. It is easy to go on-line and look at the quotes from the owners of Elliott Bay Bookstore when they announced the closing of their store in Pioneer Sq. They specifically blamed the negative influence of the sports crowds, how they filled the parking spots and rarely visited the bookstore. When the football stadium was built, there was of course already the new baseball stadium. That there are now two stadia creates a very different impact than from the Kingdome. Pioneer Square was an arts district, it is now a sports one, and that is simply not sufficient to carry the businesses there 365 days a year.
Paul Allen forced the football stadium on the area. It is very good news that he and Vulcan were not able to force development on the North Lot to go away as well.

So much for aesthetics; both the Kingdome and Alaskan Way Viaduct provided decades of events and access to a lively and vibrant Pioneer Square. The 2 new stadiums are essentially placed in the exact opposite sites for best use. Safeco Field should have been located much closer to Pioneer Square and the football stadium further to the south. Timing was not in sync and the Mariners wanted to maximize concessions in house and not have as much competition from the Pioneer Square bars and eateries. As for the new development that will wipe out staging areas, parking, tailgating, etc? It appears forced and contrived and out of place.

"Paul Allen forced the football stadium on the area."
The voters of Washington State approved the issuing of bonds that made up the public portion of stadium financing. Allen put up his own money to buy the Seahawks and to pay part of stadium construction. He also guaranteed that he would pay for any construction cost overruns.

Eric,

Your speculation on why Vulcan might be happy if the development was stopped is way off base. We don't oppose the development, and neither did First & Goal, the entity that has been involved in the negotiations. First & Goal has always supported development of the North Lot and only wanted to make sure that the parking issue was resolved as covered in the original agreement.

I think it is unfortunate that you chose to speculate and address motives as you did. I also don't understand why during our lengthy coversation a few weeks back you never raised these issues or asked about them yesterday when you spoke with someone else at Vulcan. If you think Vulcan is opposing that development because of fear of competition for South Lake Union, wasn't that worth asking us about?
David Postman
Vulcan Inc.

great piece, but I think the history is a little over-simplified. A few more factoids: Pioneer Square has been a baseball, football and exhibition center district since the Kingdome was built in the 1970s, and an arts district since a few years before that. Since that time Pioneer Square has gained competition for prime tenants from Fremont (Adobe), Interbay (Immunex- now Amgen), South Lake Union (NBBJ), and Capitol Hill (Elliot Bay Books), all areas that were not considered prime territory until that last 20 years. In addition, the demand for new space in South Downtown from 1997 until now was mostly absorbed by the Union Station redevelopment.

The point is that as more neigborhoods become desirable, there will be competition among them. The article captures that fact to a degree, but the phenomenon is not limited to competition from SLU.

Hopefully, the players here can make this work because what Kevin Daniels has in mind is what Pioneer Square needs to stay in the game. This article shines some light on Vulcan/1st & Goal and the Public Stadium Authority to do the right thing.

The killer to Pioneer Square's position as the retail place to be was the ruthless parking enforcement by the City. Tickets were handed out en-mass by the city with a get-the-money attitude and the result was that the fine dining establishments fled the area and resettled to the then refreshed Pike Place Market. All the great bars and restaurants of the 70's were sold and re-sold until there was nothing for the owners to do but bring in live music as a last ditch attempt to stay solvent. Hence the Joint cover era got started and Pioneer Square became by default a live music area catering to sports crowds by night and cultural interests by day. Norm Rice was the Mayor who turned his back on Pioneer Square and used it as a dumping ground. The issues that are faced today were obvious problems 20 years ago but little has been done and little continues to be done. King County residents voted against the football stadium but a special vote paid for by Paul Allen squeaked by on less than a fraction of 1% approval. Costs hidden by the Public Stadium Authority-the costs of re-reouting car and train traffic for example-have added to the huge burden that these tax revenue driven business create. Unfortunately I can for see the blight of Pioneer Square moving north through the equally blighted municipal district, along the ghost town of Third avenue and eventually striking into Westlake Mall. Make no mistake, drug dealers rule downtown streets. It's only a matter of time before customers follow the retailers and say enough of the panhandling, the excrement, the vehicle ticketing, the nasty blend of late night bars and social service housing, and they too leave. Is South lake Union the solution? Maybe. But I think it will be a long time before Seattle shows up again on anyone's top ten places to live.