FOLLOWUP: Here’s what new owner of former White Center Chase Bank plans to do with it
(WCN/WSB photo, Thursday)
It’s been a year and a half since Chase Bank closed its White Center location in that distinctive round building at 1616 SW 100th. At the time, we reported here that Chase planned to put the half-acre site up for sale. This week, a reader asked us about fencing that has gone up around the site, and whether that indicated the building’s future had been determined. Our subsequent research revealed that the site has been purchased by the owner of West Seattle’s Evergreen Learning Center, a preschool and day care. ELC’s current location at 6007 California SW has long had a redevelopment plan – mixed use with ~50 apartments – so the center needed a new home. Contacted by email, ELC owner Cassie Ragsdale confirmed that the former bank building is ELC’s future home: “I just recently closed on this location to move Evergreen Learning Center to, since the location that we are currently in will be redeveloped. We are in the permitting stage but are hoping to begin construction this fall. We’re excited to be bringing our school to the White Center community!”
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August 18th, 2023 at 7:11 pm
Welcome!!!
August 21st, 2023 at 10:13 am
This is exciting news. I am glad the empty buildings are being used for something else. My preference would be for redevelopment for upgraded facilities and densification for residential purposes. I’m wondering if developers are waiting until the White Center/North Highline Subarea Plan is completely finished in 2024 to get the up-to-date up-zoning details.
Is there a way to find out what else is being planned for all the empty ex-bank buildings empty lots in the downtown White Center strip? I know Seattle has “Shaping Seattle” to see all the planned development permits, but King County doesn’t really have something like that. Thanks for the info!
August 24th, 2023 at 9:11 am
The county does have a lookup tool but it is difficult at best to use (I haven’t checked it lately, I’ll admit, and the county has been doing some web overhaauls) – my research on this involved finding the new ownership via Parcel Viewer, and then tracking down contact info for them. (For the city BTW, Shaping Seattle is not comprehensive – I look up addresses via the Seattle Services Portal.)