Grimy industry area has undergone major facelift

By TERESA TALERICO
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

"Lake Union until recently was just a working lake," says John Eskelin, project manager for South Lake Union in the city's neighborhood planning office. "It's always been a fairly gritty, working-person's neighborhood. This is a newer phenomenon -- development of the lake front for recreation and open space uses."

Today, trendy restaurants, shops and recreation such as kayak rentals and floatplane rides have replaced much of its rugged industry.

Chandler's Cove -- a shoreline mall that includes Cucina! Cucina! Italian Cafe, a hair salon, a travel agency and a marina -- now graces the site once inhabited by the sand and gravel company. Boaters can pull up at the cove's guest moorage and visit a number of restaurants for a quick bite.

And the old St. Vincent de Paul store? It's now Yale Street Landing, a waterfront complex that's home to an I Love Sushi restaurant, the Bluwater Bistro and TGI Friday's.

A boardwalk invites visitors to stroll along South Lake Union's shores, soak in the views, fantasize about owning one of the many brokerage yachts moored at its marinas or pop in for a sandwich at one of the restaurants.

On a dock behind Yale Street Landing, Jim Clark stands in the doorway of his tiny, cluttered office. He owns Moss Bay Rowing and Kayak Center, which rents kayaks to outdoor enthusiasts. Clark remembers buying Halloween costumes at the old thrift store when he was a college student.

A lot has changed since then. An employee paints a kayak. A floatplane buzzes by. Ducks hang out on the dock. People lunch on grilled chicken sandwiches along the waterfront.

Clark, 50, smiles as he soaks it up. This is the life. A retired University of Washington business professor, he abandoned that career "to get away from meetings."

"People tell me, 'You were a full professor and now your office looks like (garbage),' " he says. "I say, 'You don't understand. This is the neatest thing that's ever happened to me.' . . . People didn't think South Lake Union was that valuable. Now it's no longer looked at as a blighted, industrial waterway, but an opportunity."

That opportunity has led the lake front to evolve in some unexpected ways. The area has become well-known for its after-hours scene.

At Cucina! Cucina!'s flagship restaurant in Chandler's Cove, bartenders serve $2.95 happy hour drinks.

Come 5 p.m., the eatery -- with its huge, lake view windows and sprawling bar -- is overrun with smartly dressed, attractive young professionals who look as if they've stepped off the TV set of "Friends."

Men in dress shirts and ties drink beer and scan the room. A dark-haired woman in a clingy black dress perches at the bar and tosses her hair.

"Oh, yeah, this is a big meat market," says bartender Ryan Day, 26. "It's a young crowd looking to have a good time, maybe meet Mrs. Right -- or Miss Right Now."

Business owners and community members hope to balance the lake's popularity with a strong sense of its history. Plans for a new and improved South Lake Union Park, for instance, will incorporate a Native American Heritage Museum.

"The bad news is that the lake has changed, and there are people that don't like change," says Clark. "The good news is that many more people can enjoy the lake in many more ways."

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