Pier 70 Set For A Face Lift After Several Years Of Decline -- Waterfront Landmark Shows Signs Of Rebirth

The cedar-shake siding still looks worn and outdated, but new shops and offices are the first signs of what developers hope is the rebirth of Pier 70 on the central waterfront.

A space for meetings and parties opened this week. New art galleries, an importer, a telecommunications company and manufacturers' reps from the nearby Seattle Trade Center are moving in. A Cajun restaurant featuring Dixieland jazz will debut in December.

But there's still plenty of empty space at the aging pier at the foot of Broad Street, north of the bustling waterfront tourist district.

Foot traffic has plummeted in the past five years, when the pier underwent a foreclosure and saw several tenants move out.

"Our lunch business has dropped drastically," said Sharon Fedde, controller of Iguana Cantina, a restaurant and nightclub that's been at Pier 70 since the mid-1970s.

Even the pier's highly visible anchor store, Pier 1 Imports, has seen sales decline somewhat in the past two years, said store manager Judd Brown.

The pier, built in 1902 by the fish company Ainsworth & Dunn, later became a warehouse, then was converted to retail and restaurant space in the mid-1970s.

Triad Development Inc. of Tukwila, the latest owner of the 93-year-old pier, believes the Port of Seattle's big development project at Pier 66 and the Port's new headquarters at Pier 69 will bring more activity, and more businesses, to the northern stretch of the waterfront.

As a result, Pier 70 will soon undergo a face lift, with new signs, lighting, landscaping and refinishing. A major renovation won't take place for about two years, though. Fred Grimm, a Triad partner, said the company wants to see how the downtown office market evolves, plus the impact of Pier 66 development. "We're trying to keep our options open as much as possible."

Triad bought the property last spring from Seafirst Bank, which foreclosed on a group of California investors in 1990. The goal is to turn the pier, with 52,000 square feet of leasable space, into a destination spot instead of a tourist attraction.

Among the new tenants is Events at Pier 70, a party and meeting center leasing 4,500 square feet once occupied by the Elliott Bay Beach Club. The facility, with water and mountain views, is at the southwest end of the pier.

Events will be targeting business meetings, company parties, weddings and employee-training programs. Event & Marketing Associates Inc. of Bothell will manage the facility, which can accommodate up to 300 people.

Cajun Queen, a North Carolina-based restaurant, is set to open Dec. 1 in space at the front of the pier formerly occupied by Panos, a Greek restaurant. The Cajun-style restaurant will have live Dixieland jazz six nights a week and outdoor dining along the south apron of the pier.

Other new tenants include Cable & Wireless Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of a British telecommunications giant. It is opening up a Seattle sales office. The cruise ship Spirit of Puget Sound, based at Pier 70, was joined in July by Yacht Ship Cruise Line Inc., which has catamaran cruises in Western Washington and Canada and summer day trips to Victoria.