Monorail land sale nets $14 million

Published 9:00 pm Friday, April 21, 2006

SEATTLE – The Seattle Monorail Project has made a $14 million profit selling off land purchased for the now-defunct transportation system, enabling the board to stop a Seattle car tax two months earlier than expected.

The Monorail Project board voted Thursday to end the 1.4 percent vehicle excise tax on June 30 instead of late August after learning that 31 of the 33 properties had been sold for $70.6 million. The agency purchased the properties for $56.2 million.

The board expects to sell all of its property for $72.5 million – about $15 million more than it paid.

The Seattle Monorail Project was formed in 2002 to build a 13.6-mile monorail system. The agency bought land for stations and an operations center for the elevated transit line, which was supposed to run from Crown Hill in northwest Seattle through downtown to West Seattle.

But in November, Seattle voters defeated a measure that authorized the project to continue planning. No tracks for the project were ever built.

Money raised by the land sales will help retire the project’s debt. Monorail project manager Jonathan Buchter said if all sales are completed as scheduled and all vehicle license fees are collected, the board should have an ending cash balance of $4.4 million.

The license tax brings in about $4 million a month. Butcher shot down the idea of ending the car tax earlier than June 30.

“If we tried to cut off the (car tab tax) any sooner, we would be right at the razor’s edge, and I don’t necessarily think that’s a good idea,” Butcher said.

The board needs to keep a reserve to pay for potential costs such as legal challenges and relocation for affected property owners.

One affected property owner wept tears of joy Thursday night when she learned she would be able to buy back her little cafe, which had been condemned for a monorail station.

Caffe Appassionato, across from the Space Needle on Broad Street, will be resold to the Lee family for $650,000 – $70,000 more than the Seattle Monorail paid last year to Taiki Hong Lee and her husband, Young Lee, in a forced buyout.

“I’m so glad I’m getting my property back,” Lee said. “They made a mistake, but they tried to clean it up for us. So I’m glad.”