$3 million, a love for Market St. in the heart of Ballard, and a desire to own a really old former library? Look no further, friends. Carnegie Library is on the market, and owners Katherine Morrison and Dennis Beals are willing to sell to pretty much anybody. So you're in luck, right?
Maybe not so much.
Morrison's been renting portions of the library out as offices, pilates studios, restaurants, and the like for the last few years, and she's interviewing potential buyers and wants to make sure your vision for the space matches hers.
Though it's not an official historic site, the library's got a decent amount of Seattle street cred going for it. It was originally built in 1904, became a branch of the Seattle Public Library system in 1907 with the annexation of Ballard, and stayed in the system until 1963. After renting in the building for awhile, Morrison snatched up the lease in 1977 and has owned the place ever since. And man, she is attached.
She wants to rent an office in the building after she sells it and is currently working on finding a new tenant for the first floor (and apparently she favors leasing to nightclubs, with the requirement that she gets to do five-minutes of standup schtick every now and then), and she wants a new owner who plans to keep the building pretty much intact, update things that need immediate fixing, and then let tenants keep on rolling.
Still down? The building isn't listed with a broker, but she's taking face-to-face interviews. Worth a shot, right?
· Next Chapter For a Landmark Library Building in Ballard [Seattle Times]