Demolition underway on former office supplies building in Olympia
Chunks of a former downtown Olympia office supplies building were removed on Monday, the first of about 20 days of demolition work that will take place on the site, according to the city.
The demolition site is in the 300 block of Fourth Avenue East. The city awarded a $287,000 contract to an Aberdeen-based business called Rognlin’s to clear the area.
Eighteen years ago the building was occupied by Griswold’s, an office supplies business that burned in July 2004. Private efforts to redevelop the site never materialized, so the fire-damaged building sat largely untouched until its exterior was brightened with paint and a mural.
After the fire, the property was purchased by a Silicon Valley transplant, Clifford Lee, who planned to develop it, but never did and owed the city more than $9,000 in back taxes as of 2016. After the city bought it from Lee, a subsequent plan to sell to an investor who planned to create a co-working space also fell apart, and the building continued to sit vacant, The Olympian reported.
The city purchased the building in 2016 for $300,000.
Now, under an agreement approved by Olympia City Council, the city will pay to demolish the building before selling it for $50,000 to Urban Olympia, a development company owned by Walker John that intends to move forward with a mixed-use apartment development, The Olympian reported.
A portion of those units will remain affordable for 20 years, according to the city.
This story was originally published March 1, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
