

On Monday, June 10th, 2024, the old Viet Wah building, despite being vacant, caught fire and burned before being summarily demolished.
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Per Seattle's Housing and Building Maintenance Code, all vacant buildings "must be secured and maintained to prevent unauthorized entry and deterioration from the weather." Violations may result in a maximum fine of $592.30.
Seattle's Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) began monitoring the old Viet Wah building due to its vacancy in May, 2020.
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In the years that followed, SDCI sent numerous letters to the building's owner, Chinn Investments LLC, noting continued violations of the city's building code related to vacant buildings.
On May 7th, 2024, SDCI notified Chinn Investments that the property "represent[s] a threat to the safety or health of the occupants or the public, or an imminent hazard to the extent that people in or around the building are in serious jeopardy of life or limb".
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It appears no abatement or mitigation work was performed in the month before the fire. That opinion is based on my own observations in addition to disclosures made to a Seattle Fire Department Investigator. I obtained the Fire Investigator's report by Public Disclosure Request.
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Notably, the Fire Investigator's report indicates "THE OWNER AND A RESPONDING SPD PATROL MEMBER
(OFC SOLDATI) BOTH STATE THAT THEY WERE AT THE BUILDING 3 DAYS AGO DEALING WITH TRANSIENTS THAT HAD BROKEN INTO THE BUILDING."
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SDCI ceased monitoring the old Viet Wah building after it burned. In a July 7th, 2024 letter to Chinn Investments, SDCI asks the owners to pay $2,708.24 in unpaid fines related to violations of city laws related to vacant buildings.​
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Back in 2016, the Stranger published an article about the old Viet Wah building with the provocative title: "Inside Job: Asian Plaza Plans Upend Gentrification Narrative". The Chinns (of Chinn Development LLC) present themselves in the article as anti-displacement. Nate Chinn is quoted as saying "people with blue-collar jobs should be able to live closer to their place of employment".​
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Blue collar, the Chinns are emphatically not. Recent notices sent by SDCI to the site's "financially responsible party" were addressed to Brian Chinn, Nate's brother, at 9001 NE 37th Place Yarrow Point, WA, 98004, an eastside property valued at $8.5 million.
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WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
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Is Seattle, and the Little Saigon neighborhood in particular, entitled to more than $2708.34 given the recent history of the old Viet Wah Building?
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Imagine you are the "financially responsible party": what would you build instead?
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