The RR Hardware building across from Roosevelt High School, a run-down property associated with land owner Hugh Sisley, caught fire early Friday morning. There were recent signs of squatters on the property, and firefighters were not entering the building on Friday because of possible danger in the vacant space. The wood-frame building, built in 1923, is one of the Sisley properties that the city of Seattle has tried to address for years. RR Hardware was run by Drake Sisley, Hugh Sisley’s brother, though the building has been abandoned for years.
Earlier this year, the city outlined plans to take over a plot of Sisley properties and turn it into either a park or housing. Some of the properties were demolished. However, neighbors around the abandoned buildings said the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department project doesn’t solve the issue of Hugh Sisley’s remaining properties, which have been derelict for years.
As of July, Sisley owed more than $3 million in fines for code violations on various properties throughout the city. City leaders proposed exchanging that amount for parcels near the school to make more productive use of the space.
In August, the City Attorney’s Office "received $3.48 million to satisfy the penalties owed on four properties owned by slumlords Hugh and Martha Sisley whose housing code violations have plagued the Roosevelt neighborhood for decades," according to an office news release.