Community Outraged at Safeway's Plans to Demolish Beloved Silver Fork Diner

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What's the incessant 404 errors lately?

Joe Szilagyi on August 15, 2012 at 9:00 AM

Don't all the people who will be moving into TOD apodments there need a Safeway more than this restaurant the way the downtown Target is a symbol of a "Better Urbanism".

You guys are the ones manning the bulldozers.

More hypocrisy.

Supreme Ruler Of The Universe on August 15, 2012 at 9:04 AM

As Sims noted, Safeway is pretty famously hard-nosed - if sustained, focused action results from this initial outragedness it's possible the company might be stirred to reconsider, but if it's a brief flurry of noise they are not likely to give a fuck. I hope Silver Fork can find a suitable location nearby if worse comes to worst. Plenty of underutilized space around there - fingers crossed that when the Pottses' purchase deal fell through back when, they kept an eye peeled for a suitable relocation space such as Griffin is thinking of.

gloomy gus on August 15, 2012 at 9:19 AM

@2 Read. There's already a Safeway there. They're planning to knock down the Silver Fork to add a gas station.

Goldy on August 15, 2012 at 9:20 AM

@4

A gas station? Why...LINK is right there!

Also, if it were in fact, a 75 story building full of apodments, wouldn't SLOG turn cartwheels...as they have so many times in the past.

Aren't diners -- and SFHs -- "standing in the way" of the density?

Supreme Ruler Of The Universe on August 15, 2012 at 9:24 AM

I don't think there's anything in the land use code that can stop them. Safeway just need to be shamed into giving it up. Or maybe buy a property on the other side of their story.

Another option would have been for the landlord to offer to sell the building to the tenants if they could match Safeway's price, but that's not how Job Creators operate, is it, republicans?

Max Solomon on August 15, 2012 at 9:26 AM

Supreme @ 5
I think Goldy adds a different note to the otherwise Capital Hill Centric voice of Stranger/SLOG, one in which middle aged people with families and maybe SFHs are also part of the "community". It's too simplistic to think of Stranger/SLOG as a unified front.

Having said that, your "A gas station? Why...LINK is right there!" even if tongue in cheek, was priceless - well done!

JAT on August 15, 2012 at 9:33 AM

"[T]here are pancakes and eggs and bacon and other breakfast standards, but you'll also find biscuits and gravy, chicken fried steak, and the most authentic diner grits in the city[.]"

I want to go to there.
.

And who is this douchebag landlord who: 1) Backed out of selling the property to the Potts family 10 years ago; and 2) Just sold the property out from under the family and didn't even bother to inform them?

Maybe if Safeway can't be persuaded to back down, the landlord could be shamed into backing out of the sale? Goldy said the property "was being sold," not "has been sold."

Chelydra_serpentina on August 15, 2012 at 9:54 AM

Why doesn't Safeway just buy that dismal vacant lot directly to the north of the Safeway store, on the east side of Rainier for their gas station? Anything would be an improvement over that mess.

Catalina Vel-DuRay on August 15, 2012 at 9:57 AM

Cue the race card in 3.....2......

on August 15, 2012 at 10:08 AM

@8, the property owner appears to be an LLC connected to the Banchero family, Rainier Valley for several generations now.

gloomy gus on August 15, 2012 at 10:12 AM

People buy land to maximize their benefit from it.

Renters, take note.

tiktok on August 15, 2012 at 10:15 AM

If you would like to send me a comment, please also provide your phone number because I am happy to have a discussion about this matter. Also, out of interest in setting forth truth, I would like to correct a couple comments attributed to me. First, with respect to Othello, I said, "You don't want to invest too much money in a store that is already standing when it is under consideration for a new replacement store in the same community in the future." I also stated that Safeway has "a lot" of experience constructing fuel stations in Seattle, as oppose to "no experience."

I look forward to discussing the Silver Fork with anybody who wishes to send me a comment.

SaraOsborne on August 15, 2012 at 10:17 AM

malina bash, larkin and estella potts...LOVE those names !

reverend dr dj riz on August 15, 2012 at 10:18 AM

@13 Thanks, Sara. I've updated the post to reflect your feedback. Not sure how I got the experience comment backwards: must've typed "not" instead of "lot".

Goldy on August 15, 2012 at 10:23 AM

@12 for the win.

Wouldn't a homeless shelter with a ground floor diner be better?

Will in Seattle on August 15, 2012 at 11:13 AM

Even if you assume that the property owner kept the Silver Fork people in the dark (which is pretty far fetched in my opinion), surely they were able to see FAR in advance that their lease was coming to an end. There are plenty of vacant buildings in this neighborhood, with landlords who would LOVE to have such a distinguished tenant.

Hobble D. Hoy on August 15, 2012 at 11:30 AM

@17 Really? Name the available properties in the neighborhood that could accommodate the Silver Fork without extensive renovations, if not building an entirely new structure? It's one thing to be able to pay the rent selling $7 breakfasts. It's another thing to accumulate the capital necessary to build a new restaurant.

Goldy on August 15, 2012 at 11:36 AM

Talk about "shaming" a huge corporation just shows how naive people are about what little power individuals have now.

sarah70 on August 15, 2012 at 11:44 AM

One available spot that comes to mind for Silver Fork is the Colonial Pancake House building a little further down Rainier. It's been vacant for quite a while, so I'm not sure about the condition, but it appears to be about the same size and has ample parking.

TCC on August 15, 2012 at 11:50 AM

@9 That lot is to be transformed into a wonderful self storage center with 40 surface parking spots.

My family are big supporters of the SF. We often laugh at the schmucks waiting in line for an hour to get a sub par meal at Geraldine's. For me this will effectively end our association with the Safeway organization. And now, when a Safeway cart is abandoned on my corner for weeks at a time, I will now chop it in half before returning it.

Gas stations and storage centers is not the TOD we were promised.

Rotten666 on August 15, 2012 at 12:01 PM

Thanks for being on this. I always see these "Proposed Land Use" signs juuust after the comment period ends, as I'm sure is true for many others. The first thing to do should be to ask the DPD to extend the comment period, as noted. I'll do that now.

moo on August 15, 2012 at 12:02 PM

Move the Silver Fork to the Othello Station.

on August 15, 2012 at 12:04 PM

I just emailed Safeway - here's their response:

Hi Harolynne –

Thank you for sending me your comment. The article did not accurately represent the situation. The property is not owned by Safeway. The current owners put the property on the market, and Safeway is one of the interested purchasers. If Safeway does not purchase the property, another party likely will and will also redevelop it. We are not the current landlords, and had no knowledge that the landlords did not inform their tenant that they were selling the property (if that is, in fact, true).

What I hope community members understand is that even if Safeway were not to purchase the property, another buyer would appear who would also likely redevelop it. The best effort now is to try to find the restaurant another location, or this is simply delaying the inevitable.

Thank you again.

Sara

Amaliada on August 15, 2012 at 12:11 PM

First a Target and now a new Safeway gas station? Good to see Seattle is catching up to the rest of the county! Soon you'll have a Super WalMart complete with RV/semi parking lot and neighboring megachurch!

K on August 15, 2012 at 12:11 PM

re: Sara Safeway's reply to Harolynne @24: it sounds like Sara is not accurately representing the situation here. My question to her is is why are their plans at the DPD submitted by reps of Safeway to build a gas station when they don't even own the property yet? Is Safeway a current interested party or are they in contract and awaiting escrow for the money (and property) to change hands? Safeway must be awfully confident about their proposal to have plans already ready and submitted to the DPD. It sounds like they want to move as fast as possible to avoid public back-lash. This proposed development is in the Southeast reinvestment area where projects get higher priority from the city.

kdb on August 15, 2012 at 1:05 PM

@18, there is a way to get capital, it's called financing. Or perhaps some community members would like to start their own LLC and pool resources. And BTW, landlords commonly pay for tenant specific improvements as part of a long term lease deal. Seeing as how tenants currently are few and far between, those landlord contributions are pretty generous these days.

Hobble D. Hoy on August 15, 2012 at 1:22 PM

Maybe the owners could have realized that leases aren't forever, and that entitlement of being in a place for a long time is no replacement for owning property. Its not like this hasn't been happening in every other neighborhood for decades ( belltown, bauhaus etc ) and if light rail isn't I clue I don't know what is.

Its hilarious that the normally loopy bailio is NAILING the hypocrisy on this subject. The only thing he is leaving out is the obvious southern food spreads heart disease, so we should ban trans fats trope.

nimbism to the rescue! clearly Goldy, who lives in mercer island, knows that the soul restaurant tourism is more important to the neighborhood than, well anything else.

I swear the stranger was just complaining about big companies not taking the neighborhood seriously because of the demographics, whoops.

meanie on August 15, 2012 at 1:22 PM

@28 If it makes you feel better most people I have spoken to are upset that we are going to lose the restaurant, but more so that we are getting a new gas station in it's place.

The neighborhood wants more TOD, not another plot of car oriented sprawl.

Rotten666 on August 15, 2012 at 1:44 PM

This restaurant is a symbol (a symbol with delicious food and tremendous hospitality at that). Its destruction sends one more ominous message to the African-American residents of the Rainier Valley that their presence and the institutions that they've built to sustain their culture are no longer welcome here. I'm willing to participate in an organized fight to save it. The 'just move down the street' solution is hardly realistic for a family restaurant with older owners.

johnhelmiere on August 15, 2012 at 2:27 PM

@28 I do not live on Mercer Island. I live in the same Southeast Seattle house I've lived in since 1997. So stop making stuff up in defense of unrestrained corporatism.

Goldy on August 15, 2012 at 3:12 PM

I live in the neighborhood. We already have gas station/minimarts less than a mile in either direction of the Silver Fork. We don't need another gas station--we need more walkability to go with our Light Rail. Frankly the parking lot at Safeway is HUGE and rarely if ever full. If Safeway really wants to build a gas station, then why not use existing space?

The notice of the project was placed squarely in front of the bushes in between the Silver Fork and the nearby Jack-in-box. To any casual passerby it was easy to miss or to think the project only had to do with the parking lot or the Jack-in-the-box and not the Silver Fork.
If the property has not yet been sold, I would also be surious as to how and why Safeway is getting permits to build on something it doesn't own.

ColumbiaCityResident on August 15, 2012 at 3:31 PM

@goldy oh sorry there tiger, I got you confused with your wife again, it must be all your bitching about driving to her house.

unrestrained corporatism? I mean I know hyperbole is your trade but give it a rest. As balio pointed out, if this was a apodment highrise with SHA in ravenna in it you all would shitting yourselves with praise, but now because its in raineer its a travesty.

They leased the building, if another small business came in for more money or geeze did something crazy like bought the place who would you blame then?

meanie on August 15, 2012 at 3:57 PM

@32 You're absolutely right. That parking lot is never full. (Unlike the parking lot at the Viet Wah, where you can't find a spot on weekends.) And to be clear, nobody would grieve if Safeway tore down the Taco Bell. But the Silver Fork is special.

Goldy on August 15, 2012 at 4:01 PM

@32 Wow, you sound like an expert in the field. You should probably apply for a job at Safeway so you can show them what they're doing wrong. Just for everyone else's benefit, because I'm sure you already know this, it's not uncommon at all to obtain building permits prior to closing on a piece of property. Would you like to buy a piece of property only to discover you can't build on it?

Hobble D. Hoy on August 15, 2012 at 4:48 PM

It really is a shame to see this place go. Sad to see so many places of character all around the city replaced by more faceless urban "progress". I think that the land-owning family may have their day of profit, but their success will be shallow and short-lived as it is clear they do not take the human cost to their own neighborhood into consideration. I understand this is good business, but it is bad humanity, and that will only get you so far.

CameraObscura on August 16, 2012 at 12:42 AM

@36 in that case the more people opposed to the issuance of the permit the better. Safeway won't buy the property if they can't build and perhaps it can be sold to the Silver Fork.

ColumbiaCityResident on August 16, 2012 at 11:20 AM

Another Safeway gas station? Corporate greed at its best. I have always shopped at Metropolitan Market and Safeway as my two main stores. Well... Guess I am down to Met Market while I find another suitable store to spend my family's money. If Safeway chooses to open another gas station here and forces Silver Fork out, I shall spend nary a penny there EVER again. By the way, I do not live in the Rainier Valley, but I support community and I am getting sick and tired of this . Time to put my money where my mouth is...

Cocoyan on August 16, 2012 at 2:21 PM

If they have to build a needless gas station, why can't they tear down the adjacent TACO BELL, a restaurant with NO SOUL, that is not a one-of-a-kind Seattle Landmark? The Safeway company should prepare to be BOYCOTTED if they go through with this.

Can't they just ACT LIKE THEY CARE ABOUT THE COMMUNITY THEY FEED UPON??

Crooner72 on August 17, 2012 at 10:01 AM

Crooner72 on August 17, 2012 at 10:06 AM

It would be nice if that Safeway would spend that $ improving their crappy produce department, keeping the entrance cleaner, and employing a few more people so that shoppers didn't feel completely abandoned when needing help finding items in the store. Traffic already sucks on Rainier, the addition of a gas station is just going to make it more of a nightmare.

KayBee on August 17, 2012 at 10:36 AM

Can someone provide me with Sara Osborne's email address?

I just get the "default email client not installed" message, but I would like to write to Safeway about saving this valuable Seattle institution!

on August 17, 2012 at 3:44 PM

For the record, the Seattle Times sent a reporter to talk with the SIlver Fork owners:

A community effort to save The Silver Fork restaurant is in full swing, but the restaurant's owner said she was thinking of closing it anyway.

"I was relieved when I found out, to be honest," said Johnson, 51, who took over running the restaurant from her ailing parents five years ago. "It's been really, really, really stressful for me, doing this."
Johnson's mother, Estella Potts, opened The Silver Fork in March 1989 after years of operating a diner in the Central District. There was talk about a decade ago of buying the building, at the corner of Rainier Avenue South and South Charlestown Street, from the family that owns it, but the decision was to stick with a lease.
[...[
Johnson plans to meet with Safeway representatives, at their request. She doesn't blame them, she said. Why wouldn't they want to expand their business? That's what they do.
The grocery chain says the gas station is not a done deal, but the property has been on the market for two years. Safeway spokeswoman Sara Osborne said the company was told Johnson planned to retire.
"We don't want to buy a property and then evict somebody who wants to be there," she said.
The sale is not complete. The Seattle Department of Planning and Development is accepting comments about the gas-station proposal through Wednesday. A gas station is consistent with the land's commercial zoning, said spokesman Bryan Stevens.
The property's owners could not be reached Friday. Johnson is upset she didn't know sooner about their plans to sell. Still, she doesn't want to stay in the restaurant's current location.
She would consider moving, she said, "but only if it's beneficial to me."
"Everybody's pushing me to keep it open, but ... I don't know if I would want to stay here if Safeway did back out," she said. "I understand everybody wants to have The Silver Fork. It has made me feel so good, because what has kept me coming here seven days a week ... is my customers."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/lo…

gloomy gus on August 18, 2012 at 12:54 AM

@44 Yet again Seattle's angry white liberals make fools of themselves.

on August 18, 2012 at 11:41 AM

Crooner72, bet u feel stupid now real journalists found out the owner wants to close.

on August 18, 2012 at 11:45 AM

So is Goldensteinenberg and his angry white left wing hooligans out slapping flyers around the 'hood going to apologize for this totally false story?

Goldensteinenberg, what's it like to suck on the Seattle Times's cock this morning? That taste in your mouth? Those are called 'facts'.

But no one asked Johnson if she wanted The Silver Fork saved. As it turns out, she's been thinking of closing the restaurant anyway, maybe as soon as next year.
"
"I was relieved when I found out, to be honest," said Johnson, 51, who took over running the restaurant from her ailing parents five years ago. "It's been really, really, really stressful for me, doing this."

Johnson plans to meet with Safeway representatives, at their request. She doesn't blame them, she said. Why wouldn't they want to expand their business? That's what they do.

The grocery chain says the gas station is not a done deal, but the property has been on the market for two years. Safeway spokeswoman Sara Osborne said the company was told Johnson planned to retire.

"We don't want to buy a property and then evict somebody who wants to be there," she said.

The sale is not complete. The Seattle Department of Planning and Development is accepting comments about the gas-station proposal through Wednesday. A gas station is consistent with the land's commercial zoning, said spokesman Bryan Stevens.

on August 18, 2012 at 1:02 PM

on August 18, 2012 at 1:07 PM

As a long time resident of the southend I will no longer patronize that Safeway. They could have put a gas station in so many area's right near that same spot. Hell, tear down that crappy ass Taco-bell or the little ceaser's pizza. Silver fork has been my favorite breakfast spot despite all the bougie-ass places that popped up in Columbia City. WAY better than any breakfast spot in all of Seattle.

on August 20, 2012 at 3:11 PM

It is always sad to see unique, hometown restaurants close. Just reading the article started me craving the food. With the prices rising and the various regulations imposed-- such ashood exhaust cleaning in seattle -- it is becoming harder and harder to stay afloat in these times. When does the public affairs director need to receive the email?

SamiS22 on October 31, 2012 at 12:28 PM

Community Outraged at Safeway's Plans to Demolish Beloved Silver Fork Diner

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