By MARK HIGGINS
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Artists' colony blossoms amid industrial grime

But Georgetown is not all trucks and manufacturers. It slowly has attracted a growing number of artists, who stage shows in small restaurants and pubs like Jules Maes.

Mary Tudor, known internationally for her vibrant abstract oil paintings, leases space in the Rainier Cold Storage warehouse. She is one of several artists in the building who collaborate and share resources.

Georgetown is the "next spot" for artists, according to Tudor, who moved in six years ago. "It is like Seattle 30 years ago. It has that nice funkiness. I don't think it will last."

It was about 30 years ago that Jack Benaroya began to change the face of Georgetown. As much as anyone he played a significant role in the neighborhood's commercial development. Benaroya, who got his start building a string of small post offices, developed Seattle Design Center, a 360,000-square-foot complex of 60 designer showrooms featuring furnishings, fabrics and accessories on Sixth Avenue South.

He also built the Seattle Gift Center and developed numerous other properties. In December 1984, he sold his development company for $315 million to two California public pension funds.

Today, the gift and design centers collectively make up roughly 40 percent of the estimated 700 Georgetown businesses, according to Kelly Groudle, president of Seattle Market Center, which manages the two properties.

The company is working though the city's neighborhood planning process to try to create a "design district," which would help create a more cohesive business center for Seattle and the region.

New freeway signs and a promotion and marketing plan would draw new design businesses into the area as well as commercial and residential customers, says Groudle. An integrated district could help improve parking and pedestrian safety.

"It would be great to be able to walk to Alki Bakery without worrying about being killed," says Groudle.

Continued:

• It's quirky, funky and feisty -- with a world of possibilities
• Residents hold ground against some advances
• People and businesses aren't always best of neighbors
• Abundant local eateries can please any palate