Tully's Closes, Sunrice To Close, Other Spaces Still Sit Empty After Months

Many Laurelhurst Blog readers have emailed the Laurelhurst Blog Staff about Tully's suddenly closing last Sunday.

One neighbors said:

As a long time Tully's customer I was saddened to learn that it had closed. I was told by employees the rent had tripled.  No word what is planned for the space.

 

The Laurelhurst Blog Staff spoke with a Tully's who said that the landlord "wanted to triple our rent." He added that Kinko's will most likely be downsizing in the same space.

King County Records show that the building, appraised at $3,152,600 is owned by William Guimont of Gemo-Guimont LLC.

That appears to be the only building he owns in the area as Property Development Associates (PDA), a division of Safeway that focuses on the leasing and disposition, owns the building where Burgermaster is.

Nearby Baskin-Robbins has sat empty since September of last year. 

The manager and also son of the owner, told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff that the new landlord "wanted to raise the rent by more than 50% with all costs included."








So they had to walk away from the business his family has owned for 15 years, and in which it has been located for 40 years .  

Word on the street is that the rent is $7,000 a month for the space. One neighbor said "Probably the only business that can afford that is Starbuck's."

Also empty is the space that used to house Chloe Bistro which closed in January of last year.  Before that, Union Bay Café was there for a number of years.

The landlords, the Spigers, have told potential renters that they only want offices in that space and no more restaurants.

The Spigers own the entire building, which also houses Epic Barber, a variety of offices and businesses.

The Sunrice Café is also in that building and the Laurelhurst Blog Staff has heard that it will be closing very soon, because the rent has suddenly increased.

Blog readers speculate that these spaces will continue to be vacant as the "loss of rent is a tax write-off so no money is lost" one resident said. "Landlords can afford to have their spaces sit empty as long as they want." 

A reader who is a Tax Preparer and Business Development Specialist, wrote in and said:

Landlords still have to pay property taxes and other costs. They can, in some cases, take the loss generated by the property as a reduction in taxable income and, thus, get some tax savings, but that's not the case for most property owners because their incomes are too high for that.

Undoubtedly, most property owners would prefer to have tenants and it may be worth their time and lost rental income to wait for one that will pay a higher rate or to redevelop the property.