RC Blog

Home free? Not quite.

Our Pioneer Square Saga - posted by Niko Simonson on Monday, May 17 at 5:01pm

Imagine our sense of relief when on April 24th, the Pioneer Square Historic Preservation board voted to approve the use of our new home over the objections raised by the Pioneer Square Community Association (PSCA) who just don’t think that Real Change “belongs” in Pioneer Square.  We were further relieved when on May 3rd the Historic Preservation Board again voted in our favor, approving the minor façade alteration necessitated by the construction of 2 bathrooms for our vendors.  In April, a team from Real Change participated in the PSCA’s Pioneer Square clean-up.  We will be good neighbors in Pioneer Square and our vendors will benefit tremendously from the new space.  Moving boxes have arrived and our Belltown office is littered with the tell-tale signs of relocation.

Home free?  Not quite yet. 

Late last week, Leslie Smith, Executive Director of the Pioneer Square Community Association, filed an appeal to the Hearing Examiner on May 13 regarding the Pioneer Square Preservation Board’s decision to allow Real Change’s use of space on the first and second floors of the New England Building at 219 Main.  You can read their appeal here.
We do not believe that the PSCA will prevail.  We will move this weekend, as planned, and reopen in Pioneer Square on Monday, May 24.  A support rally is being organized for 5 pm that day in Occidental Park.  We’d love to see you there. Please RSVP on Facebook or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to let us know you are planning to attend. 

More details for my detail oriented readers out there: 

The appeal of our move, which could take up to 90 days to finalize, seeks to overturn an April 21 Preservation Board land use decision.  At the April hearing, PSCA Board President and Samis Land Company Senior Property Manager Adam Hasson failed to convince fellow Preservation Board members that Real Change is a wholesaler, a prohibited use in Pioneer Square.  The Preservation Board voted to approve Real Change’s use as office space.  At a second Preservation Board hearing on May 3, to review a first floor window alteration associated with the construction of two bathrooms, Hasson cast the lone vote in opposition to approval, stating of our relocation “This is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.”  He says that Real Change just does not belong in Pioneer Square. 

The PSCA appeal argues that Real Change is a wholesaler of newspapers and thereby prohibited from locating in Pioneer Square and that planned skills-building workshops for vendors is also a prohibited use of space. Real Change sees no substance or merit to either argument.  The PSCA appeal exposes Real Change to considerable financial risk. Hearing Examiner decisions are binding and final. More that $60,000 has been spent to remodel the space and Real Change is bound to a five-year lease at the new location.  PSCA Executive Director Leslie Smith has rejected all attempts by Real Change to engage in dialogue regarding her concerns.

The Pioneer Square Community Association is controlled by real estate interests and does not speak for all of Pioneer Square.

---

Comments

Unfortunately I read about today’s rally too late to attend. Please include me on your email list for future issues. Keep up the wonderful work that you do and I’ll continue to support the vendors that I meet.

Christopher Laing | submitted on 05/24/2010, 8:21pm

I suggested an easy fix for the news retailer business when I found this story on Komo’s website. Have one of your vendor-marketing agents that has valid identification purchase 1 newspaper from RealChange at full retail price, give the vendor a receipt. Vendor goes outside, and sells said paper at full retail price, and gives a receipt. Proof Of Retail Sale. The business is then just as free as any other to assign whatever markup or markdown it deems necessary to move its product. Also, you will find that the businesses around the Square have also lowered prices to sell off merchandise, OFTEN at or Below Wholesale Prices! There was no coalition of concerned ‘businessmen’ trying to attack any of those businesses. Feel free to tell the city council that you will be upheld in federal court, and that you are tabulating damages daily as a result of the interference and discrimination against your legal establishment. Don’t try to take the ‘high road’ with these people, you will lose. Show them you are prepared and willing to get down dirtier than they are, you will win.

quasi44 | submitted on 05/25/2010, 8:37am

Just one more thing. I can’t stress enough that you be prepared. One thing that our society values most highly is the people who absolutely refuse to allow anyone to tell them no. Ever. Make Sure they know your request for protection from the government and injunction against their interference will be on file at the courthouse at 8:15 the next morning. Even if you were to lose, your case carries no damages to them, and your lease will probably be up by the time the court is done, with extensions and creative delays and such. A finding in court of coersion or discrimination against your business automatically opens them up for wholesale lawsuits from your employees and legal vendors. Let them know they risk far more than you. Now. How do I get a subscription?

quasi44 | submitted on 05/25/2010, 9:09am

---

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.