Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Macklemore played there, as did the greats of an earlier era, such as Duke Ellington and Muddy Waters. Now, there’s a plan to tear down Seattle’s iconic Showbox theater to make way for a 44-story apartment tower -- and the city is erupting.
For a town that prides itself for its outsize musical history, from Jimi Hendrix to the Grunge scene of the 1990s, the proposal represents the ultimate growing pain: Should a venue that helped make the city so cool be razed to build more homes for tech workers? It’s a question that keeps arising in one of the nation’s hottest property markets.
Since the plans were made public in late July, more than 90,000 people -- equal to about an eighth of the city’s population -- have signed an online petition to designate the venue a historic landmark. Dozens of prominent musicians -- from Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard to Katy Perry -- have voiced their opposition to the demolition. The city council scheduled a vote Monday on a measure that would protect the theater. The mayor is trying to broker a deal with the developer to save the venue.
As an employee of the Showbox told the council at a hearing on Wednesday, “It’s literally a battle between culture and profit.”
That may be.
But lost in the public uproar is a more nuanced tale -- full of contradictions. The city paved the way for taller buildings on the site just last year as part of a broader plan to ease an affordable housing crisis. And the theater itself is far from a charity case. The building is owned by a strip-club magnate who leased it to a global concert promoter and now wants to cash in, selling to a Canadian developer.
Rallying Fans
“There’s no little guy that we’re rooting for here, other than musicians who get to play the Showbox,” said Kevin Schofield, a former Microsoft Corp. manager who now writes a blog about city council. “This is a big business deal between big corporations.”
Seattle was primed to have a debate like this. For nearly two years, the city has had the fastest home-price increases of any big U.S. metro area. More cranes tower over its skyline than anywhere else in the country. It’s drawn tens of thousands of transplants -- many highly paid professionals -- over the past decade as companies including Amazon.com Inc., Facebook Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. built out operations. As new offices and apartments go up, dozens of local haunts have been forced to relocate or close.
What’s so striking about the reaction to the Showbox, however, is how swiftly the opposition mobilized, spurring elected officials into action. Adding to the pressure, Pearl Jam led chants of “Save the Showbox” during its sold-out show at Seattle’s Safeco Field on Friday. Popular musicians have also taken to Twitter to voice their opposition.
Plans for the site leaked in the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce on July 25, outlining how Vancouver-based developer Onni Group filed with the city to build a 442-unit residential tower on the site after buying it from Roger Forbes, a businessman who has interests in strip clubs. A division of AEG, a powerhouse in the global concert business, said it plans to continue operating the music venue while the proposal progresses.