Last week, some of the business owners in the University District's Neptune building—many of whom have been on that block for over a decade—reported that they were increasingly anxious about losing their leases as Seattle Theatre Group expands its real-estate footprint.

On Saturday, three days after the original post, Tatiana Becker of Trabant Coffee and Chai said she got a text from her landlord saying they'd have to be out of the building by early next year and that STG was not interested in partnering with them. (Several months ago, when Becker was trying to figure out what was going on, she says she had a conversation with STG executive director Josh LaBelle in which he asked her whether Trabant had "cocktail recipes" and seemed to express some interest in the possibility of working together to open a cafe or bar.)

Neither STG nor landlord Craig Thompson are eager to take responsibility for the decision.

The landlord, Becker says, has repeatedly told her STG had a written right of first refusal and "things like his 'hands were tied' and that he didn't want to get into legal trouble with STG so he had to offer it up to them when my lease was up." (In last week's post, STG public relations manager Antonio Hicks said the organization made a verbal, non-binding right of first refusal agreement with Thompson.)

Meanwhile, STG is trying to distance itself from the deal. "As a tenant of the building we are in no way responsible for making eviction decisions," STG's director of marketing Vivian Phillips replied by email to a Stranger reader who expressed concern about last week's post. "Somehow, the article seemed to be bent on making STG the bad guy, when in reality this is WHOLLY a decision of the landlord... So this looming bad boys of non-profit arts picture The Stranger wants to paint is interesting, but mostly a sign of extremely poor journalism and absolutely no true research." (Confidential to Phillips: Large institutions almost always respond to unflattering facts by insisting they're not true—but if you know of an actual factual error in last week's post, please let me know and I'll change it. I'm not trying to get you, I'm trying to get it right.)

And on Friday, Josh LaBelle sent a mass emails to STG staff and volunteers about the story, saying that "the many details of our tenancy and right of first refusal on additional space at The Neptune are complicated" and protesting that "STG has only worked to stimulate the economy and vitality of the University District... The Stranger article is exemplary of an attempt to make the good work we have all done and continue to do seem worthless. It is not!"

To be fair, Phillips is technically right—it is officially the landlord's decision who he rents to. But just last week, the landlord confirmed he's only booting those tenants because STG has made him an offer he won't refuse.

Each party wants the other to take the blame—but it looks like there's plenty to go around.