'Downtown core is devasted': Seattle restaurants and shops fight to survive pandemic

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

More restaurant owners are realizing they may not be able to bounce back from the pandemic. That's especially true since Gov. Jay Inslee put a freeze on phases of reopening until July 28.

The Downtown Seattle Association has been tracking the numbers and reports that at least 65 Seattle locations have announced permanent closures. Those locations include retail, night clubs, and restaurants. A majority of the closures have happened downtown.

Downtown is where a majority of Chef Tom Douglas' restaurants are located.

"It is so much busier in Ballard than it is in the downtown core. The downtown core is devastated," Douglas said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodnews/downtown-core-is-devasted-seattle-restaurants-and-shops-fight-to-survive-pandemic/ar-BB16ToXF?ocid=hplocalnews

[Blues Heron]

1. It's hard to party during a pandemic

Boozin is a lot less fun with a deadly virus floating through the air.

[jimfields33]

2. The virus doesn't care!

Lives first.

[LisaM]

3. This started before the pandemic.

The pandemic hasn't helped, but downtown was already going dark. Macy's had closed. Other businesses on Third Avenue had closed because of crime. The tech workers flooding the city shop online and don't do things like go to the theatre, so the theatres were having trouble too. The pandemic was just one more (and worse) blow to a downtown that was already reeling. I work in downtown Seattle and the contrast between now and ten years ago is stark. I counted 23 spots where I used to be able to get lunch that were gone forever, and that was last year.

I don't know what vision the mayor and city council have for Seattle - I don't think they know, either - but it doesn't include a vibrant retail scene.

[SeattleVet]

4. A large portion of those closures are caused by greedy landlords.

I know of several businesses that are now gone (or soon to be gone) due to massive rent increases imposed during this pandemic. I don't know who they plan to rent these places to, or if they will just be taking tax credits as business losses for the vacant storefronts.

Even Jules Mays in Georgetown, which has been there for 130+ years, is now permanently closed. They were on a temp closure due to COVID-19, and their landlord just socked them with a 27% rent increase, so they threw in the towel.

Bluebird Creamery (great ice cream and excellent nanobrewery) in Greenwood was unceremoniously booted from their location when the landlord decided to rent the entirety of what had been a shared space to one entity, after the shop that was a part of the sharing closed. This was soon after Bluebird had put in a lot of time, effort, and money to make major improvements to the shop.

While foot traffic in Ballard, Greenwood, and other neighborhoods is higher than downtown, many of these neighborhood places are also going out of business at an unprecedented rate. There are several closed businesses in what had once been one of the most vibrant blocks in Greenwood, and several others that appear to be barely hanging on.

[LisaM]

5. Yes, it's bad.

The city could impose a vacancy tax or not greenlight every mixed-use six story development project, but they don't seem to have any inclination to do so. I called the mayor's office to see what incentive they gave Macy's to stay, but after re-routing me to three different people, they said, "why don't you call the Mayor's office?" (Which, of course, I initially had). They are all in the clutches of the developers and tech companies. I understand that rent control is under state law, but I have seen no evidence of anyone on the City Council trying to change that by lobbying the state.

That said, online shopping and food delivery services (before the pandemic) have contributed to the poor retail climate. It's complex. Six floors of Macy's were given over to Amazon, and they still couldn't stay in business. I read an article about their last Christmas season, and they showed nice merchandise, displayed well, with good prices, and still very few shoppers. How hard is it to go down six floors on an elevator and buy something in your own building?