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The glass doors on 500 Park Avenue have become plywood. And the beautiful glass wrapped staircases that jet out in front of the building, giving the building distinction, have been repeatedly damaged by vandals.
Those of us who worked for Boeing have great memories of the sprawling company office campus in North Renton, with some of the nicest buildings being 535 N 6th street and 500 Park Avenue North. Both buildings, built in the 1980s, offered excellent work spaces and conference rooms, easy parking, and nice views. Thousands of us either worked-in or visited these warm, inviting engineering and logistics centers, sometime around the clock when big projects were in-work, letting ourselves in using our badges that functioned like key-cards. Boeing always cared for them meticulously, the way the company oversees all of its properties. Company employees affectionately referred to the buildings by their company codes; the larger one was the 10-16 and the smaller one the 10-13.
500 Park Avenue North from near the larger building at 535 N 6th street
These buildings were sold by Boeing to an LLC owned by a San Diego Company in 2021 as part of a property consolidation , and unfortunately the buildings have been vacant ever since. During that time Renton started seeing worsening crime problems throughout the area. Renton also saw dramatic increases in the number of people experiencing homelessness in Renton, a challenge actually made worse by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. The agency bussed hundreds of chronically homeless individuals from downtown Seattle to Renton hotels, and when an individual broke too many rules, the Authority would evict them out of their hotel space and onto Renton streets.
While Boeing never would have let it happen under their watch, the buildings under new ownership are beginning to look abandoned, with broken windows on all sides, doors that appear boarded up and barricaded, metal gratings and fixtures stolen for scrap, and HVAC and electric service stripped of parts.
Two weeks ago there was a fire on the first floor of the taller building, and the Renton Fire Authority extinguished the flames and rescued two people and a dog from the roof. It’s obvious that people have been entering these buildings without authorization. Broken windows have been covered with wood to block intruders, but it does not appear that anyone is currently doing fire repair and remediation work, like drying out the interior before mold sets in. The other building, the 10-13, is missing some of it’s upper windows, letting the elements get in.
Renton Regional Fire Authority put out a fire in 535 Park Ave North on June 11, and rescued two people and a dog from the roof of the building
These once-beautiful pair of buildings and their attached parking garage were once estimated to be worth $43 million dollars. These buildings should be repaired and occupied as soon as possible, even if the use is a temporary one like shared office space. This should happen before they fall into abandonment and ruin. State trespassing laws make it difficult for authorities to arrest violators if a building is “abandoned,” and abandonment is identified by broken windows, lack of utility service, obvious lack of use, openings to outdoors, and an apparent lack of diligence by the owners in remedying the issues.
And the City of Renton has much hard work ahead to resolve the crime and homeless issues that worsened the fate of these vacant buildings; many at City Hall have been giving it their all, but we are a long ways from turning a corner on these issues.
Hopefully the owners are creating a plan to repair these buildings. They’re obviously out of compliance, and appear to be getting worse. The new owners of the building are a multifamily developer, but it would violate codes to leave the buildings in their current state until any redevelopment occurs (it could take years to get approvals for building multifamily, and it’s not a certainty on this site). If trespassing continues, it may not be long before metal thieves remove fire protection systems, or impact other critical building safety items, and then the problem will become an order of magnitude worse. If the property owner can’t make the necessary corrections in a timely way the protects the property, the city should consider doing so and placing a lien on the property to recover the costs. These beautiful buildings should be enduring assets to their owners and our community. We can not let them become liabilities that blight our North Renton neighborhood.
The department that normally handles these issues at City Hall is Code Compliance, which can be reached by phone or Renton Responds as described on their website here. If new legislation or policy changes are needed to resolve issues with these or other buildings, the Renton City Council can be emailed at council@rentonwa.gov.
Upper windows are missing and broken on 500 Park Avenue North, exposing the interior to the elements
A 2X4 tied in place with ropes helps barricade the door of 535 N 6th street
535 N 6th Street, with some lower windows boarded up
535 North 6th
535 North 6th
500 Park Ave North
500 Park Avenue North
Damaged electrical panels behind 500 Park Ave North
Entrance to 500 Park Avenue North
Missing gratings at parking lot entrance were probably sold as scrap metal
500 Park Avenue North remains impressive for its architecture, and should be repaired and put back in service
The beautiful 535 N 6th Street building 8 months ago, before obvious damage began accruing
If the electrical panels are exposed, it’s likely that other safety systems, such as the fire sprinkler system, are also not functioning. This situation puts our firefighters and nearby residents in danger, and we cannot ignore it.
The city of Renton should require the owners to address these issues immediately and meet all safety standards.
The city should be prepared to step in if the owners can’t or won’t make fix the safety issues. The city would then repair the buildings and place a lien on the property to recover the costs.
The city might need to auction the property if the owners don’t eventually cover the costs. This would allow us to recover our expenses and provide a new owner with the opportunity to revive these buildings.
If our current laws don’t allow for such actions, then it’s time for our city leaders to review and adjust them. We need a legal framework that empowers us to act when property owners don’t fulfill their obligations.
This issue extends beyond just two buildings; it’s about the future of Renton. We cannot stand by as parts of our city become unsafe and deteriorate. We need to take action to demonstrate our commitment to maintaining a safe and thriving Renton. We cannot allow these buildings to become liabilities.
Well said Ben. I agree this would be the right approach.
These buildings are a stark reminder of capitalism’s failures. We could repurpose them as a shelter for the homeless, providing necessary services like mental health support, safer drug-use sites, and temporary shealter.
Renton needs to step up and take responsibility for its share of the regional homelessness crisis. These underutilized buildings present an opportunity for change.
This move would not only use these buildings effectively but also offer vital support to our most vulnerable residents. Let’s push our Renton City Council to take this route, turning these deserted buildings into practical solutions for our community’s challenges.
Mercer Island first. Renton already does more than it’s fair share for our own homeless and we’ve been letting Seattle transfer their homeless to us as well.
How about we go back to holding people accountable? I understand drug addiction and mental illness is why 95% of these people are homeless, but allowing these people to just rot out on the street is doing no good for them. Capitalism did not force anyone to use drugs or cause their mental illness. I would be all for the city opening up a mandatory treatment center for drug addiction and mental health treatments. Giving drug addicts safe injection sites, clothing, tents etc is only prolonging the inevitable. That is more inhumane than forcing these people into getting help. What about our community and the law abiding citizens? Why do we have to suffer the consequences of their actions? High crime rates, prices keep rising due to massive thefts constant gun shots. Enough is enough. Obviously the laws in place now are failing the once beautiful city of Renton. Let’s take it back to what we used to be.
Summerboi, I couldn’t agree more, they need to make these into jail cells for the drug using homeless. Yes it isn’t a crime to be homeless, but it is a crime to use illegal drugs.
Hey Carmen, Ed and Ryan: Here’s a data point. Now where is your solution?
Don’t you know? Writing letters and wishful thinking is enough.
It looks like tweakers ran off with the copper in the AC system at the Fairwood KCLS Library, and they’ll have to keep it closed for a long time.
A predictable result of not prosecuting criminals.
Tweakers? How rude.
They’re methamphetamine involved persons experiencing mental agitation.
Hi Randy,
You mentioned that King County Regional Homelessness Authority bussed chronically homeless people from Seattle to Renton. Do you know of any press coverage of this? It would be nice to know why Seattle did this and why they were successful at it.
Your right 100% Its very sad to see these buildings in such horrible shape! Even the inside is in HORRIBLE HORRIBLE condition too, all of the desks, tables chairs and other stuff were left behind too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsemqtNmOZQ&t=1525s
Thank you for sharing this link. I used to work on the 2nd floor of the 10-13 building, the floor they spent the most time exploring. It was a very desirable office, with nice views and landscaping, comfortable space, great parking, and easy access to local restaurants and shopping. It’s heartbreaking to see what has happened to these buildings over just one year.