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New owner of former Lusty Lady building wants community input

The site was known for its ribald, witty marquee.

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The Seven Seas as she stands today on First Avenue between Union and University.

Photo by SEAtoday Staff

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Might we entice you with a unique, downtown development brainstorm session?

If you were a Seattleite during the aughts and a fan of cheeky puns (or cheeky buns), you might remember The Lusty Lady. It was a downtown peep show famous for its marquee board that often posted advertisements like “All clothing 100% off.”

The business closed down in 2010, leaving the more than 125-year-old Seven Seas Building at 1315 First Avenue vacant for more than a decade. But now, a new owner is looking to breathe fresh life into it.

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It’s hard to deny the genius of these advertisements.

Photo by susyblue, via Wikimedia Commons

Peep this development

Andrew Conru, a Seattle entreprenuer and founder of FriendFinder (beware: NSFW — oh, the irony), purchased the Seven Seas for ~$3 million, though he said renovations may cost up to $20 million. While he intends to have the final say on the building’s use, he told the Seattle Times that his investment is intended as a “gift to the city” — and he wants local input.

To get that feedback, lustylady.com has a survey asking whether Seattleites would prefer options like a restaurant, a museum, or even another strip club (if you should so desire).

Not a pole, a poll

Feel free to submit your own thoughts through the website, but let’s brainstorm together. Tell us what you think should go there — from practical uses like affordable housing to more out-there ideas —and we’ll see if we can draft up a little plan using your suggestions.

Here are some ideas to get the creative juices flowing:

  • A more innocent peep show of local fantasies — like interactive images of a completely clear I-5 or a cocktail overlooking the sun setting on the Puget Sound.
  • A hangout for people that just need somewhere to cry — stocked with tissues and motivational posters.
  • A cryptid “zoo” that displays life-like statues of mythological PNW beasts like Sasquatch and immersive histories on each one.
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