Baskin-Robbins Closing After 40 Years, Fire Sale Starts Monday For Discounted Ice-Cream

 

 

Long-time Baskin-Robbins (3200 NE 45th Street)) located at Five Corners,  the busy intersection of Mary Gates Memorial Drive NE, NE 45th Street, NE 45th Place and Union Bay Place NE will be closing on September 27th.

And not because they want to.

The iconic 1,020 square foot building on a 3,712 lot size, was built in 1969 and was listed for sale in mid-July for $1,200,000 and according to King County records sold for 1,400,000 on August 30th to what appears to be the name of CORNER 3200 DEVELOPMENT LLC, also per King County records.  One of the people listed as "governing persons" is also listed as a staff member of the Broderick Group, the real-estate brokerage company involved with the sale of the property.

The manager of Baskin-Robbins who owns that franchise location told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff that "unfortunately, we were unable to reach an agreement regarding a lease on the site with the  Broderick Group, a real-estate brokerage company, so Baskin-Robbins is forced to close.

He said that the new landlord "wanted to raise the rent by more than 50% with all costs included."

He added:

I countered it and was not accepted.  

But the more important issue is that they couldn't not give us the long term lease, so we couldn't accept their terms knowing that the minimum wage will rise along with franchise fee and everything else.  

They were very firm on not renewing us long term. And we couldn't decide to run for just an extra year only to be told to vacate, not to mention at a much higher rent, etc.

 

The franchisee and his family have owned the store for 15 years and the store has been at that location for 40 years.

The franchisee manager told the Laurelhurst Blog staff an interesting story of how his family came from Korea, saving up money to buy the store: 

It was around December 1996 time when Seattle was experiencing one of the worst snow storms in its history when my family arrived at Sea Tac airport from Korea. I was only in 9th grade, and my parents gave up everything they had in Korea, promising career, friends, family, etc to bring my family over to America for the better future of their next generation.  

So my second chapter in life started in America and Baskin Robbins was there from the beginning. Thanks to my parents' sacrifice, I ended up going to MIT and my brother is now an oral surgeon trained in Ivy league school in New York. I've been always grateful for what this country provided for my family and what my parents did for us.  

So it's really sad that 40 years of history is now going to be gone along with 15 years of my family history at the site. Unfortunately, with the rising utility costs, payroll costs, rents, and everything else, it has become increasing more difficult each year to maintain the store.  

But we still wanted to continue operating as we have invested a lot of money into the store in the past decade+. But without a commitment from the landlord for the site, we can only do so much.  

The Baskin Robbins Store has been on the premise for over 40 years, and it's the oldest store in Washington state, and it's been with my family for over 15 years now, and we are extremely saddened by this event, and I would like to express my apologies for being unable to continue to serve the community.  

The store was my family's American dream, and it provided so many memories. It's quite sad to let it go like this.   

So with all this being said, we are closing on September 27 as the last day. And we will vacate by the end of the month.

The manager said that he will be doing a fire sale starting Monday through Sunday where everyone gets a BUY ONE GET ONE FREE SCOOP, and all ice cream cakes will be 30% off. Pre-packed quarts are also going to be on sale as well.

He added "If you could let everyone know in your blog, it would be greatly appreciated."

The franchisee manager said they will not be looking for another space to re-open saying "we are closed for good for now."

He said he doesn't know what is going to happen with the site, but believes the new owners are  looking into redevelopment of the site which is not completely planned out yet, and that's why perhaps they couldn't commit to giving a long term lease. 

The Broderick Group responded to an email from the Laurelhurst Blog staff requesting information saying that they have "no ownership in the Baskin-Robbins property and have  zero ownership interest in the building and/or real estate."

Paul, the Principal of the Broderick Group added this information:

The property was sold to a group of local investors who have been working with the Baskin-Robbins franchisee to continue operating the store as they have in the past.  Broderick Group did not negotiate with the tenant. Unfortunately, the Franchisee has elected to close the store and the owners are exploring options for the space.

One of the people listed on this website as "governing persons" of the supposed new owner, CORNER 3200 DEVELOPMENT LLC, is also listed as a staff member of the Broderick Group, the real-estate brokerage company involved with the sale of the property.

King County records currently  lists the owner as Frank J TR Marier, who bought the building in 1991and is listed on the tax records this year. He and his brother Thomas Marier of Lake Forest Park, are also listed as owning the property where Laurelhurst Oil used to be at 4550 Union Bay Place NE. Frank is listed as the President of Laurelhurst Oil, which opened in 1935.

The Baskin-Robbins site is zoned NC2-40 ( Neighborhood Commercial 2) which means the buiding can be 40' high.

And Seattle Zoning describes this type of zoning as:

A moderately-sized pedestrian-oriented shopping area that provides a full range of retail sales and services to the surrounding neighborhood, such as medium-sized grocery stores, drug stores, coffee shops, customer service offices, or medical/dental facilites. Building types are single-purpose commercial structures, multi-story mixed use and residential structures. Non-residential uses typically occupy the street front. 25,000 square feet is the maximum size for some commercial uses. commercial structures, multi-story mixed use and residential structures. Non-residential uses typically occupy the street front. 25,000 square feet is the maximum size for some commercial uses.

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(photo courtesy of King County)