The core business district of White Center has been in the process of change for the last few years with the arrival of Noble Barton and Bok A Bok chicken, a Starbucks store and training center and soon Drunky Two Shoes BBQ. Those changes are picking up pace with the impending opening of Beer Star by Seattle bar and restaurant owners James Weimann and Deming Maclise. The new business takes up residence at the corner of 16th SW and SW 98th Street which in recent years was home to a marijuana lounge, and other restaurants but for most of its history was the Epicure Restaurant. Their partners in the venture are Deveaux Hill, Galen Krohn, and Patrick Riggs.

The new family friendly beer outlet will offer 46 taps pouring local beer and at least two hundred more beer selections in cans and bottles.

Weimann who is partners in more than eight other restaurants, including Bastille, Stoneburner, McLeods, in Ballard, Poquitos on Capitol Hill, and plus the Ballroom and Talarico's sees White Center as an area ripe for redemption.

His experience in Ballard is useful. "Those guys in the 70's and 80's had all these storefronts that were sitting with For Rent signs, exactly what's happening here. Classic properties. How can we get some business owners to do some rejuvenation here. Gentrification I think is a tricky word. I'm not all about rip it all down and build all these new residential units. This street, 16th SW from Roxbury to 100th I think is a gem. I love the history of White Center. I love that in 1912 there was a street car that went from here down to Spokane Street."

Weimann's original idea was to create something called the Spark Cafe, and have it be a place for and run by youth. He is deeply involved in an organization called Community for Youth which is involved in mentoring youth through workshops and community building activities. CFY chose not to go ahead due to potential liability issues so Weimann switched gears and went forward with Beer Star.

"I want this to be a community centered business," Weimann said, "The idea is a nice safe place for people to bring their families."

He salvaged the lighting from a Winchell's in Ballard and is flooding the outside with lights. The rear deck will have rows of string lights adding even more. "All these guys in White Center, Full Tilt and Proletariat Pizza want the same thing, a well lit area where families feel safe so we can activate this street."

The building has been extensively retrofitted and modified for both earthquake and aesthetic reasons, a process that has taken the better part of a year. Weimann also owns the land and building across the street the new home of Drunky Two Shoes.

Beer Star will have a large bar area and serve snacks like cheese and crackers in the retail area but they won't prepare food themselves. In the space just adjacent there will be two restaurants and a seating area for 40 people. Li’l Woody’s a high quality burger spot will open its fourth location there and C.T.O. a Chinese takeout spot created by the chef, sous chef, and operating partners of Poquito's. There will be no restrictions on bringing in your own food. Seven large screens will show games and other content and there is a children's area in one corner. The bar will seat 22 people. They expect to open near the end of May.

A large deck out back will hold 80 people and have an area for kids too.

Weimann said there are two clearly limiting factors to making White Center a safer and a more active retail area. "I think Amazon has made that a lot harder," he said, "They've been really tough on main streets across the country. Retail stores don't have the same pull. JC Penney closed 136 stores a couple of weeks ago. You can get nearly everything online." He pointed out that in Asia the more expensive real estate goes to the restaurants. "It's the way we live now."

The second factor limiting change in White Center's core is absentee landlords, with several of the buildings on 16th SW being owned by people in California. "I guess they are satisfied with the rent they are getting out of it, but it's probably more the long play. They are thinking that at some point property values will go up. In Ballard, Fremont and Capitol Hill we are paying $34 to $40 a square foot. Here they are paying $18 and some of it here is as low as $12." He believes it would be a pure positive for artists to come in to the community. One day he said he saw the absentee owner of one of the main buildings on 16th SW prying off some of beautiful tile fascia while standing on a step ladder, " And this whole thing fell down on him and he fell off the ladder. He could have gotten killed."

The White Center business district on 16th SW is zoned Commercial Business Special Ordinance (CBSO) and can't be built any higher than 35 feet. "Once you get off of this street you can go up to six stories," Weimann explained. "But this street is going to stay largely as it is. The buildings here were built in the early 1900's. These buildings are beautiful in nature."

"What I'd love to see here, whether this gets annexed or not," he explained, is that we figure out some more low income housing. I think Greenbridge is an amazing asset for this neighborhood."

"I keep trying to think of what viable businesses could move into these spaces," suggesting schools, training academies, or even a multi ethnic food court could work in some of the now shuttered storefronts. "But if you think that rent here is one third of what it is elsewhere and that the access to downtown is great," he suggested that a wide variety of ventures might work.

White Center's future, whatever it is will likely reflect it's demographic make up. It's the most ethnically diverse neighborhood in Washington according to Niche.com which means both the customers and employees of businesses that will form the foundations for change will reflect the community. "I think it would be great to see an Ecuadorian restaurant next to an Ethiopian restaurant and see all these people getting along."

Weimann said, "I think with the right business people that's an opportunity."