For most Seattlites, we walk past most of the city's trash-strewn, foul-smelling alleyways and think, "Yuck," unless there's a giant gum wall in it, to which we say, "Wonderful!" Amazon and Vulcan Real Estate see that same alley and think to themselves, "Cha-ching!" That's why they're our real estate overlords.
The Seattle City Council recently agreed to vacate a South Lake Union alley (which seems redundant) so that Vulvan can build two new Amazon.com buildings. As part of the deal, Vulcan is going to build a pedestrian galleria between the two buildings at 500 Ninth Ave. N. and 515 Westlake Ave. N.
One great thing to come out of the story was Seattle City Council Member Tom Rasmussen saying, "We do not give away alleys. If we sell an alley, they have to pay full market value." Begging the question...there is a market for such thing? Apparently so.
· City will vacate alley for Amazon [DJC]
· New land for sale: alleys in Seattle [KING5]