City pushes landlord to fix up Madison Street storefronts

The final blocks of Madison Street on the way to Lake Washington are lined with well-kept shops and trees, giving the Madison Park neighborhood a charming, small town feel.

But there is one property many community members feel is an eyesore — and a potential hazard.

Between 41st and 42nd Avenues sits a white building with green accents. The building has three storefronts, one of which is safely occupied by Spa Jolie.

The other two are vacant and have failed multiple inspections since July 2014. According to city documents, part of the roof is collapsing and one of the walls is bowed.

Some community members say the property has been in rough shape for more than 20 years and have approached the owner about fixing or selling it to no avail.

But earlier this year, the city attorney’s office stepped in, and plans to rehabilitated the building are in the works. The owner, Constance Gillespie, hired an architect out of Issaquah, and the city is reviewing the plans.

While this is substantial progress after community members have tried for years to convince Gillespie to do something, people are still not sure the plans will come to fruition.

“I have absolutely no confidence that anything will happen until I see a construction company out there doing something,” said Gene Brandzel, the former president of the Madison Park Community Council.

Brandzel began to get involved with the property when he served on the council and people told him something had to be done about it.

“It’s in the middle of a vibrant business community. … It’s not consistent with the rest of the neighborhood,” Brandzel said.

Brandzel wasn’t the only local leader to hear complaints. Former Madison Park Business Association president Terry Short said that, during his eight years in the position, community members regularly stopped him during walks around the neighborhood to discuss the property.

“That was the number one subject: that building and how bad it is,” Short said about his tenure. He had recently been replaced when he spoke to the Madison Park Times.

Brandzel said he tried to write Gillespie letters. He managed to speak with her a few times, as did Short.

It seems strange to Brandzel that Gillespie let the valuable property get run down.

“From a businessperson perspective this is beyond unusual,” Brandzel said.

Short said the community has just been interested in improving the property.

“It’s definitely a blight on the block,” Short said.

East Precinct Neighborhood Liaison Nyjat Rose-Akins said the city first became aware of the deteriorating property in June 2014 when a citizen filed a complaint. Inspectors checked out the property shortly after that, and it failed the inspection. The city mailed a notice to Gillespie’s post office box.

After sending multiple notices about failed inspections and not hearing from Gillespie, the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections handed the file off to the city attorney’s office in March 2016.

The attorney’s office posted a notice on the property as well, eventually tracking down Gillespie and speaking to her about the property.

“In the Madison Park area they are very prideful about the community and how it looks and take great effort to make sure that it looks nice,” Rose-Akins said. “I think, especially on that street, you walk by all the different shops and stuff and you get to that building and it does look different than the others.”

Gillespie was receptive and cooperative when contacted by the attorney’s office, Rose-Akins said. She isn’t interested in selling, and one of Gillespie’s biggest concerns is making sure Spa Jolie is not displaced.

Gillespie told the Madison Park Times she couldn’t discuss the plans to rehabilitate the property at this time.

Rose-Akins went to a meeting in Madison Park in June where she learned about the frustration the community had been feeling for years about the property and many wanted the city to go in and fix it or tear it down.

“Understandably, I get that from a neighbor perspective, but from a government perspective, we do have to follow procedures,” Rose-Akins said.

If Gillespie doesn’t continue with plans to improve the building, as part of its procedures the city will sue to bring the building into compliance, but that is the last recourse, Rose-Akins said.

While some community members may be skeptical that the building will be brought up to standards, Rose-Akins is encouraged by Gillespie’s progress so far.