Belltown community alarmed over drug den in abandoned eatery amid proposed law

SEATTLE — As proposed legislation would make it easier to tear down dangerous vacant buildings in the city of Seattle, residents and business owners in Belltown are voicing worry about a growing drug den inside an abandoned restaurant.

Located at the 2200 block of 2nd Avenue, the old Mama's Mexican Kitchen restaurant has been vacant since 2016. In the years since, neighbors told KOMO News the building has become a hotbed for drug use and crime. Yet they said the city of Seattle has consistently failed to knock down the structure.

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In order to get the attention of city leaders, two nearby business owners, Jeff Granville and Kevin Dares, deliberately entered the building and recorded the extensive destruction inside of it. They then shared the footage exclusively with KOMO News.

Throughout seven different videos, a considerable amount of drug paraphernalia is seen in the footage. The videos also capture mounds of trash and stacks of clothes throughout the former restaurant, as well as matrasses and propane tanks.

It was truly horrifying and it really impacted me," said Granville, referring to the things he witnessed inside the building. "This is a mental health issue, either started by addiction and gone to mental health or mental health leading to addiction.

Regarding the city of Seattle's response to the troubled property, Dares shared an email with KOMO News where a commander with the Seattle Police Department's West Precinct said narcotics detectives and a crime prevention coordinator would soon be scoping out the specific area near the building.

As neighbors wait for a solution, they told KOMO News the worry about Belltown's overall reputation.

WATCH: Seattle outlines legislation, timeline to demolish vacant buildings

"(Belltown) should be a place that’s protected instead of forgotten, which I feel happens quite often," said Jessica Norton, owner of a nearby salon.

Regarding dangerous, vacant properties, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell proposed emergency legislation aimed at reducing vacant building fires in Seattle.

Harrell's proposed change to the city's fire code would allow the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) to order and complete demolition or remediation of unsafe vacant buildings. Harrell said the legislation would give Seattle fire crews a new tool to take quick action to remedy derelict buildings that threaten the health and safety of neighborhoods.

Numbers from the mayor's office show there were 77 vacant building fires in 2021, 91 in 2022 and 130 in 2023. There were already 30 this year heading into this week, Harrell's office said.

These dangerous vacant buildings are known hazards that put our first responders and the surrounding community at risk,” Harrell said in a press release. “While the city has taken steps to encourage adaptive reuse of vacant structures for new purposes, we cannot allow these unmaintained structures to put lives and property at risk from trespassers, arson, and other crimes.