Otter Bar to close after seven years as Eastlake construction, rising costs take toll

After seven years in Seattle’s Eastlake neighborhood, Otter Bar is preparing to close its doors for good.

Co-owners Lisa Wojnar and Jim Hagander said prolonged construction in the neighborhood, combined with rising costs, has made it impossible for the business to continue.

“COVID happened, we made it through,” Wojnar said. “Then the next few years, we got to heal a little bit from COVID and then thrive. I mean, we were doing so well.”

Then construction began on the new RapidRide J Line, which will connect neighborhoods including Belltown, Eastlake and the University District.

Wojnar and Hagander said business slowed as the work continued and parking became nearly nonexistent.

KIRO 7 first spoke with the owners about their struggles two months ago. Now, they said the continued construction and higher costs have led them to decide against signing a five-year extension.

“After the last two years of construction and how much we have cut back hours, employee times, foods that are a little higher priced, we cannot withstand another three months of construction, let alone a whole other year,” Wojnar said.

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The owners said their frustration is not with the RapidRide project itself, but with how long construction has lasted.

“Just close the street down for six months. Get it all done in one fell swoop,” Hagander said. “Three years of closing down a neighborhood that nobody wants to come to.”

KIRO 7 asked the Seattle Department of Transportation why lessons from the RapidRide G Line project, where businesses also closed during and shortly after construction, had not led to changes that could prevent similar impacts in Eastlake.

SDOT Senior Outreach Lead Darrell Bulmer said the department has worked to reduce the length of construction and maintain access to businesses.

“We’ve managed to find ways to reduce the length of time for our construction. We have maintained access to all businesses at all times so that we can make sure customers, deliveries, and staff members can get to businesses throughout our construction, and we’ve also deactivated the electrical wires,” Bulmer said. “We created situations where we gave businesses a break during construction so that we weren’t working in every area at the same time.”

For Otter Bar, however, the owners said that although there were small things that have been done to help drive business back to Eastlake, it hasn’t helped. And any relief at this point would come too late.

“This is not the way it’s supposed to end when you buy a business and put your heart into it,” Wojnar said.

Otter Bar’s last day will be on Dec. 23.

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As they prepare to close, Wojnar and Hagander also have a message for the city.

“Do better because we pay taxes, we employ people, we are important parts of the city,” Wojnar said.

And despite what their business has experienced, the owners want customers to know Eastlake is still open, with other neighborhood businesses that need support.