Bonney Watson

I’d be lying if I said what we’re doing isn’t without a sheer of emotional angst. I started with the company 28 years ago and started in Capitol Hill,” Smock said, even living in a penthouse apartment there for three years “It’s not only been my work home, but my residence as well.”When Bonney-Watson finally did publish a listing for the 1732 Broadway property on Wednesday, it received more than 30 inquiries.“As I understand from our broker, there was a great deal of interest coming in within the first couple of hours,” Smock said.Bonney-Watson boasts being one of the oldest continually running businesses in Seattle, and has been owned by the same three families for more than 100 years. Smock wants to assure people the company’s decision to sell its Capitol Hill location does not signal the end of Bonney-Watson. “Candidly, we’ve been kind of looking at this for 3-5 years,” Smock said, “as to what ultimately the long-term plans are.”When he joined Bonney-Watson in 1988, Smock said the funeral home was serving around 800 families annually. Over the last five years, he said that number has declined to around 200-300.Smock cites a demographic change in Capitol Hill, from single-family residences to more multifamily housing and younger residents, for the decline in business, and also a shift from traditional funeral services. The Puget Sound region has one of the highest rates of cremations in the country, Smock said.“All of those forces combining together, we’ve seen a core erosion of our business in Capitol Hill,” he said.The amount of redevelopment going on in the Broadway corridor has also resulted in increased property values, and in turn more property taxes. Smock said transportation construction in the neighborhood also had a negative effect on business over the past five years, causing limited access to Bonney-Watson’s onsite parking, which had been an asset for the funeral home.The First Hill Streetcar began operating last January, followed by U-Link in March 2016, with... (Capitol Hill Times)

Hopefully we’ll get through the due-diligence phase and move toward closing,” said Bonney-Watson CEO Cameron Smock. That phase is set to expire in September. “We do expect to continue to operate through 2018, if not longer.”Located just south of the Capitol Hill light rail station on Broadway, Bonney-Watson had received numerous offers to purchase the site over the years. It was placed on the market in early February.At that time, Smock told CHT the funeral home had seen a five-year decline in families it was serving — around 200-300. It had been around 800 annually when he joined Bonney-Watson in 1988.Smock told CHT Bonney-Watson is under contract with a developer that is planning to turn the site into a mixed-use apartment building, with ground-floor retail and underground parking — similar to the new developments already under construction or in process on Broadway.The contract allows Bonney-Watson to remain in the space at 1723 Broadway for 12 months, or until the developer secures its master use permit. There are also three month-long extensions written into the agreement, Smock said.“There’s a possibility that we may need to extend the due diligence phase,” he added.Not only is Bonney-Watson located near the light rail station, there is also an easement on the property for the link tunnel that runs under it.“Fortunately, the easement isn’t going to impact the development opportunities,” Smock said.Whether Bonney-Watson will continue to have a presence in Capitol Hill once it vacates the current property is still being decided.“We’re definitely consolidating, although what is yet to be determined is if we’re going to enter into some kind of lease arrangement to operate a storefront,” Smock said. (Capitol Hill Times)