City of Renton orders developer to move Jimi Hendrix family home by March 27

March 5, 2009 5:28 pm
One of the childhood homes of famed rocker Jimi Hendrix on Northeast Fourth Street near Greenwood Memorial Cemetery where Hendrix is buried is facing demolition
One of the childhood homes of famed rocker Jimi Hendrix on Northeast Fourth Street near Greenwood Memorial Cemetery where Hendrix is buried is facing demolition

Despite its status as the one-time home to the late great Jimi Hendrix and family, the rundown white house in a Renton Highlands mobile-home park remains seemingly unwanted by developers.

City of Renton officials recently ordered the house’s owner to remove Hendrix’s home by March 27.

The order came after the owner, real-estate developer Pete Sikov, repeatedly failed to meet development deadlines. The temporary-use permit allowing the house to stay at its spot across the street from Hendrix’s grave expired in February 2008.

Sikov had planned to transform the crumbling house into a Hendrix museum surrounded by Hendrix-themed shops and turn the Hi-Land Mobile Manor he owns into townhouses. But his deal with a local developer fell through in September.

Sikov then landed a potential buyer of the Hendrix house and mobile-home park.

But that deal also seems to have fallen through.

Neil Watts is handling the Hendrix house for the City of Renton. Watts is the city’s director of development services.

He said in an e-mail that neither Sikov nor his attorney have contacted the city about completing the sale of the Hendrix house. Neither parties have returned calls, Watts added.

He sent Sikov a letter on Feb. 23 ordering the removal of the house. That same day Watts sent a letter to Evergreen Bank in Seattle, asking for release of the $5,000 city staff will use to pay for the home’s demolition if Sikov does not meet the March 27 deadline. That $5,000 is Sikov’s money.

Watts said the city needs to get updated bids for the demolition. Sikov signed an agreement allowing the city to remove the house if he did not meet certain deadlines.

Watts said he anticipates the Hendrix house will be removed by the end of April if the demolition process is enacted by the city.

Sikov could not be reached for comment. He has said he would rather remove the white house himself than pay the city to destroy Hendrix’s home.

A Hendrix fan since age 13, Sikov bought the house for $5,000 in 2001, and moved it from its original spot on Seattle’s South Washington Street to Jackson Street. He moved it across the street from Renton’s Greenwood Memorial Park in 2005. He’s spent more than $150,000 on the house.