UPDATE 3:00 pm

The on again, off again restoration plan for the Alki Homestead on 61st Ave. SW could be back on again following a meeting between owner Tom Lin and developer Dennis Schilling on Feb 3. The plan was cancelled as of 1/30/15 when the feasibility period for the original work expired. But now, according to Lin, Schilling (who has remained in contact with The Southwest Seattle Historical Society SWSHS said he would be willing to go ahead if certain conditions are met.

The crux of the issue is the number of parking spaces that would be allotted SWSHS and the Log House Museum if Schilling goes ahead with both the restoration and the construction of an apartment building in parking lot space just south of the historic building. According to Lin, Schilling wants SWSHS to agree to a total of 14 spots. There are currently 23 in the lot, and they were previously accorded 20 in a memorandum of understanding between the society and previous owner Doris Nelson.

NOTE: The full proposal document by Schilling and his architect are available for download at the link. Schilling's top scenario is "E" on pages 7 and 8.

Schilling also needs the city to clarify the exact number of spaces the Log House Museum needs based on its square footage, a number he reads as 10 total.

Clay Eals, Exec. Dir. of SWSHS said he has not had a chance to bring the question before the board but expected this would happen in the near future.

"10 members must be consulted. We are quite willing to amend that easement on parking spaces in return for an agreement that the building will be restored.

When our board met on Dec. 29 and a previous meeting we were looking at the plan which provided rearranging parking spaces which included 16 spaces. The covenant with the city specifies 20 spaces."

Based on what the SWSHS Board determines, the Alki Homestead may yet once again welcome visitors.

Original post
A plan by developer Dennis Schilling to restore the long dormant Alki Homestead has been cancelled in a letter he sent to owner Tom Lin. Lin supplied the letter to the Herald.

This puts the historic structure back on the market and once again in limbo.

In the end the four parties involved, owner Lin, the City of Seattle through the Landmarks Preservation Board (and the Architectural Review Committee), developer Schilling, and the Southwest Seattle Historical Society apparently couldn't agree on all the parts of the plan to make the project work.

Schilling had proposed the construction of an apartment building over the parking lot adjacent to the Homestead in order to keep the historic structure's footprint the same, and planned on using the revenue from the apartments to offset the costs of restoring the Homestead. He put forward a plan that called for a test of restoration methods on the Southeast corner of the building which, under the purview of the Architectural Review Committee (ARC), fell under building maintenance.

Efforts to get Schilling to comment further were unsuccessful.

His construction plans and methods were discussed in a meeting of the ARC last week.

But Schilling had said from the outset that if he couldn't get the support of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society (SWSHS), the Department of Planning and Development and others for his plans that he would pull out. He had a contingency period to make a decision which expired on 1/31/15 and he sent his letter the day before the deadline.

At issue for Schilling was both the number of parking spots he would have for the apartments (and the Homestead) and how many must be assigned to the Log House Museum one block south. Under an easement granted in perpetuity to the museum, some parking must be provided to them The easement is for historical society's use 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays.

Executive Director Clay Eals of SWSHS said there is no fixed number of spots required under their easement. While no clearly defined reason for his cancellation was offered, Schilling indicated in his letter of withdrawal to Lin that the response from DPD to his plans and other reasons combined to cause him to pull out.

The building, declared a historic structure in 1996, suffered a fire in 2009 and has since sat boarded up.

Previous estimates on restoring the building have exceeded $2.5 million.

Owner Lin said, "It seems that he couldn't make it work economically." Lin is asking $1.4 million for the building.

Lin said he spoke to Erin Doherty, Department of Neighborhoods and expressed his disappointment to her while recognizing her contributions. "She has done more work than anyone else in the City of Seattle to go through the process of getting the Homestead restored."

Lin said Doherty told him the permitting to do the restoration on the basis established by Schilling goes with the property, not the developer, meaning a new buyer could pick up where he left off.

"It's a surprise that he sent that letter to Tom Lin, Eals said and continued, "We have been thrilled by Dennis Schilling's plan to restore Fir Lodge/Alki Homestead and have been working with Dennis in good faith for the past two months to come to agreement on a written understanding that allows for the modification of our parking easement in exchange for an assurance that the Homestead building will be restored. We have had regular communication with Dennis, and we expect that communication to continue. We remain optimistic about his plan, which keeps everyone's eye on the prize of preserving the Homestead building. We're not counting Dennis out."