The recently begun demolition work on a derelict Seattle property owned by billionaire Mark Cuban in the heart of Wallingford’s commercial center hasn’t brought any clarity to the future of the prime, mid-block site.
What is known is the original, 102-year-old Guild 45th building at 2115 N. 45th St. is safe from the wrecking ball at least for now as there is no demo permit approved nor under review, a city Department of Construction and Inspections spokesperson said Monday.
The demo permit was issued for the Guild 45th II, which is two doors to the west of the original theater. The permit also includes the former Octopus Bar building that was scraped in recent days. The bar moved to the east end of the same block long before the demolition.
Due to the long history of the cinema, shuttered since 2017, thousands of Seattleites have their Guild 45th stories. So there’s high interest in what will become of the property, where Francis Ford Coppola and Woody Allen screened previews of their new films.
A representative of Home Care Contractors LLC, the Bothell company listed as the contractor on a city permit application, said plans for the property “are still up in the air.”
He added trespassing on the property had created a hazard, leading to the demolition. “It got really bad,” he said.
The property owners, Mark Cuban and fellow billionaire Todd Wagner‘s Los Angeles-based media and entertainment company 2929 Productions LLC, did not respond to a Business Journal inquiry.
The property isn’t listed for sale though it was on the market in 2018, according to the Commercial Brokers Association’s multiple listing site. Listing brokers were Paul and Billy Sleeth, now with Newmark. Billy Sleeth declined to comment Monday because “the sellers are very private.”
The Home Care Contractors representative hung up when asked if Cuban’s company had hired his company.
The Guild 45th was part of the Landmark Theatres arthouse chain, which 2929 Productions acquired in 2003 and sold three years ago to Cohen Media Group, according to a Deadline report. Cuban and Wagner’s company retained ownership of the Wallingford real estate.
In 2016, Landmark asked the city to declare the original Guild 45th a landmark, which the Landmarks Preservation Board denied. During that process, a Guild 45th representative told city officials that Landmark Theatres was looking at turning the big theater into four or five smaller ones.
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