Businesses must soon move

SHORELINE — With a redevelopment project looming, the remaining business owners along Aurora Avenue N. in the block southeast of 185th Street are faced with making their last move a quick one.

While some businesses have already relocated, one owner is still indecisive and another says he will soon be out of the game completely.

The businesses, located on a narrow strip between Aurora and Midvale Avenue N. were given notice a year ago they would have to move and now have less than two months until a March 5 deadline.

One affected business, Monarch Appliance, will not be relocating, but has opted to close shop.

“Obviously, this saddens me. I would like to continue the business,” general manager Alan Alseth said. “We have 11 employees that have to be displaced, most of who live in Shoreline.”

Seattle City Light owns the land where TriVentures, Monarch Appliance, All American Eyeglass Repair, T &T Seafood Restaurant and Cigarettes Only are located. The land is part of a power line right-of-way and although the leases with City Light are month-to-month, some businesses have been there for many years.

The notice to vacate was issued as part of the redevelopment of the Gateway Center, located just east of Midvale. As part of the plan, the businesses will be torn down, that section of Midvale will be closed, Aurora eventually widened and a section of the Interurban Trail built through the area.

Alseth, whose father has owned the business for 33 years, said an alternate location was identified but the deal fell through. A request for additional time to find a new location was denied with city officials deferring to the contractor, SGA Corporation, Alseth said.

“We have to be out by March,” Alseth said. “We tried to use the person the city hired to help us relocate, but they couldn’t come up with any options.”

The business support group Forward Shoreline also is attempting to negotiate more time for the remaining businesses to relocate, Alseth said, but have not had any luck.

The city’s Aurora Corridor Project manager, Kirk McKinley, said he expects the move-out date to remain the same. While the leases only require a 90-day notice, city officials asked City Light for the extended time.

McKinley said the city contracted with Certified Land Services to help the business owners find alternate locations in the city.

“I don’t know how much luck she has had, she has been making the outreach,” McKinley said. “We expect a reminder letter from Seattle City Light to go to folks early this week, telling them the clock is ticking.”

Alseth said TriVentures and T &T Seafood have already relocated, and speculated that Cigarettes Only will likely relocate as well.

John Gutierrez, owner of All-American Eyeglass Repair and who recently purchased the store, has not yet found a new location.

“I didn’t open with a full bank account, so I am now starting from zero,” Gutierrez said. “If I have to pick up and move without any support, I don’t know what to do.”

Gutierrez, who also owns a store in Bellevue, said communication with business owners about the relocation has been lacking. The last he heard was that the moving date had been pushed back, he said.

James Rogers, project manager with SGA Corporation, said their construction permit with City Light gives them full access to the property after March 5.

Rogers said there is no possibility for an extension on the deadline for businesses to be relocated. The buildings need to be demolished for construction of the trail and a new plaza is slated to open this summer, he said. SGA will demolish two buildings, the TriVentures and Cigarettes Only, he said. Agreements have not been made with the other owners, who may have to arrange for the buildings to be demolished themselves, Rogers said.

The design for that section of the Interurban Trail is 30 percent complete, McKinley said. The trail construction is part of the Gateway redevelopment as mitigation for additional parking spaces included in the site design.