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Seattle restaurant owner says construction, crime is killing business
The owner of Lingon Restaurant at Westlake Park said ongoing construction has created a mess so significant, customers are avoiding the area. He said he's had no help from the city.
SEATTLE - Construction, crime, no customers: These are all complaints a new small business owner at Westlake Park said are going unresolved by the city of Seattle.
FOX 13 Seattle reached out to Mayor Katie Wilson's office as well as several other city departments for a response to the business owner's concerns.
The owner of Lingon Restaurant at Westlake Park said ongoing construction has created a mess so significant that customers are avoiding the area. He said he's had no help from the city.
"I just saw a great opportunity to open a little Swedish-influenced cuisine. Swedish pancakes, fresh oysters, the best seafood the Pacific Northwest has to offer," owner Edward Bunker said.
Take a stroll by Westlake Park, and you'll see Bunker's dream restaurant, Lingon Restaurant, temporarily closed. A sign on the door said ongoing construction and "100% lack of support from the city" are why.
Sign outside Lingon Restaurant at Westlake Park regarding its closure.
Seattle Parks and Recreation said the construction started in October 2025 to create a more open gathering space and provide more amenities. It's set to be completed by spring.
"We asked them. We said, 'Can we get some help? You know? Can we get some rent subsidies? Can we somehow get something that helps us with this project?' and they said, 'If we helped every business that we, you know, cause problems for, we'd be out of business, basically is what they told us," Bunker told FOX 13 News.
The backstory:
The restaurant has only been open since Nov. 2025, a month after construction kicked off.
Bunker said since March 2025, he'd spent months navigating slow city permit approvals. He'd hoped to open a lot sooner. Now, he said, customers have been deterred by "no walking" signs, a confusing construction site, and active crime and drug use.
"Before they put up the lighting and the planters, it was a jagged construction fence. Very dark and scary. People did not want to walk down the street there," Bunker said.
Pedestrians cross the street near a construction site at Westlake Park in downtown Seattle. (FOX 13 Seattle)
As the project continues, Bunker said he's kept wondering how long he can keep this up. He said some days he doesn't have a single customer.
"I'm definitely not making the money that I thought I was going to be making. There's certainly not the foot traffic we had expected," Bunker said.
He said he's reached out to the former Mayor's Office, Zoning and Permitting Office, and other city departments. He said he even went in-person hoping for answers.
Now, Bunker said he's trying to strategize survival as he plans to reopen March 5.
"When the World Cup gets here, hopefully there's still some businesses that can help the people that come because, you know, fingers crossed, we'll even be making it. Hopefully we do," he said.
The owner said he's hopeful the new mayor will shift the city's focus to helping small businesses like his immediately or he's afraid some even right next door won't make it.
The other side:
The Seattle Office of Economic Development (OED) told FOX 13 News its Small Business Navigation Team has been in contact with Bunker several times and has worked with him for months. The OED provided us with the following statement and timeline:
"The OED Small Business Navigation team has been working with the owner of Lingon since November 2025. Please see the timeline below. To say that Lingon has received a "100% lack of support from the city" is incorrect and discounts the work of OED, the Downtown Seattle Association and the Seattle Parks Department who have been working for months to provide the owner of Lingon and other business owners in the area with support.
"We have called, emailed, and visited Lingon in person to deliver information about the construction project in Westlake Park, provide the business owner with resources from the OED programming (he has an active application for our Back to Business security fund) The program offers up to $6k in reimbursement for security improvements to small businesses in Seattle.
"Additionally, there have been beautification investments by DSA and other partners in the tens of thousands of dollars for the businesses in Westlake Park including flower planters in front of the businesses and a permanent light display above the businesses, which included Lingon. This is in addition to the clean crews from Seattle Parks that service the area multiple times a day, usually in the early morning, DSA’s Metropolitan Improvement District maintains the right of way and pressure washed the area daily. The owner is aware of these investments and has been given the contact information for his representative at DSA. We are unclear what communication took place between the property owner and the business before signing a lease in regards to the construction schedule and the environment around Westlake Park.
"Further questions about the construction project should go to the Seattle Parks Department, however, we have been in close communication with the construction team managing the Westlake Park construction. We informed the construction team about the business owner’s concerns about the "no walking" signs which are required for public safety when deliveries are being made. OED asked the construction team to limit their use as much as possible. The business owner has also been given the contact information of the project manager for the Westlake Park construction which is set to complete this spring and been given all the above information and more both in person and via email.
Timeline:
Pre-construction – Seattle Parks has multiple meetings starting a year before construction began with the business and property owners in Westlake Park to let them know what’s going on.
9/2025 – Landlord of Westlake Place reached out to us to ask us to help his tenants during Westlake Park construction
10/2025 -Construction began on Westlake Park.
10-11/2025 – Lingon opened sometime in October or November 2025.
11/6/2025 - Reached out to Lingon giving the business owner information about Back to Business, ABC, CAP, Tenant Improvement programs.
11/18/2025 - Met with other business owners in surrounding Westlake Park and reached out to Lingon as well and offered to go over programming in person with them.
11/19/2025 – OED called his consultant Leanna who deals with his online work and suggested the same programs as well as setting up other online business listings. At this point there was some confusion from the business owner about who the business owner spoke with previously and what programs he had applied to. He was not eligible for repairs with the Back to Business program for eligibility requirements.
12/7/2025 - Met with the business owners in Westlake Park in person where they let the OED small business navigation team know about their concerns. The business owners were again told of the programs available and the small business navigation team relayed their questions about construction to the Seattle Parks Department and the Downtown Seattle Association.
12/9/2025 –The business owner’s consultant Leanna called the small business navigation team because she had issues with the Back to Business security application. The small business navigation team gave ther thei information required to move the application forward.
12/10/2025 – The small business navigation team relayed information from Seattle Parks and from DSA about the business owners’ questions. We had another call with Leanna to go over the Back to Business program security application.
12/11/2025 – We sent an email to all the business owners in Westlake Park and share contact information for construction questions and DSA questions. We hand deliver this information to Lingon in person as well.
12/11/2025 – $30k in investments from DSA to beautify the area are put in place including lights along the top of the businesses to bring people into the space.
12/11/2025 – We receive three emails from the Lingon business owner. He was frustrated that he has to close his business because the lights are being installed above his business. He also complaining about them not being installed days previously. To be clear – the business owner chose to close his business during installation and was not asked to by the City. He askes to be put in contact with the person in charge of the construction project. The small business navigation team reminded him again of the contact information for the construction project managers.
12/12/2025 – The Lingon Business owner emailed our office to ask us to disregard the emails he sent previously.
12/13/2025 – Flower planters go in around the businesses in Westlake Park – another part of the $30k investment to improve the area.
12/16/2025- The construction team at Seattle Parks has another in person meeting with the business owners to give them more updates and answer questions in person.
1/23/2026 – The Lingon business owner’s consultant Leanna called our office again asking about an update to the Back to Business application. We reminded her that Lingon needs to have a CPTED assessment prior to receiving funding. I tell her who the SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator is and give her the contact information.
1/27/2026 – The SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator informed OED that he has tried multiple times to schedule a time to meet up with the business owner but has not been able to get through.
1/29/2026 – The SPD Crime Prevention Coordinator gets through and Lingon has a CPTED assessment conducted.
2/17/2026 – Grant agreement and W9 are sent to the business owner for Back to Business security fund."
What they're saying:
Sage Wilson, the Deputy Communications Director for Mayor Wilson's Office, sent FOX 13 Seattle an excerpt of the mayor's State of the City Address:
"Our small businesses are facing an affordability crisis too.
I recently joined a lunch with small business and community leaders in the Chinatown International District, where one woman described how it took 2 years before her friend’s business could get the permits they needed to open. That’s two years of waiting until they were able to hire people and turn a vacant storefront into something more alive and welcoming.
I heard many similar stories last year during the campaign, and I know that some businesses never end up opening because long delays like this are so expensive.
While rules and regulations are important, some are unnecessarily costly to comply with. Commercial rent is too high. And the high cost of living can make it harder to attract employees.
I’ve talked to a lot of different business leaders since the election.
And yes, there are some places where we disagree.
But when I hear business leaders talk about their challenges, they don’t start by talking taxes, or minimum wage, or my opinions about the history of social movements.
When I hear them talk about their challenges, what I most often hear about are the same as the challenges all of us face: affordability, public safety, and homelessness.
That’s because a welcoming city with thriving neighborhoods and lively public spaces is a great place to do business too.
We have made progress in this area, and I’m committed to going further. The Office of Economic Development’s Small Business Expediting Program is working to help cut red tape for small businesses across the city, and we will step up those efforts.
Our Seattle Restored program continues to grow, partnering with property owners to transform vacant commercial spaces into pop-up shops.
And we are offering more support for small businesses to address property damage and security issues through the Back to Business Fund. Applications are open now and I want small businesses across the city to apply. Visit seattle.gov/OED for more information."
What's next:
FOX 13 News will continue to update this story with new statements or responses from city officials.
The Source: Information in this story came from Seattle business owners, the Seattle Office of Economic Development and the office of Seattle Mayor Katie B. Wilson.