Buy a Wig for the Wrecker's Ball

That shoebox-size parking lot on 2nd between Pike and Pine Streets, where Pike Place Market tourists and people on society's fringe converge, is finally falling into developers’ hands. Casualties include Wigland (photo above), the Green Tortoise Hostel and some other establishment that is not quite ready for prime time. The folks at the Green Tortoise said they're being relocated around the corner on Pike between 1st and 2nd and think May 2006 is the date they need to vacate. Fifteen Twenty-One will arrive in its place, self-described as “Sky-high international style homes 1,600 to 2,800 personalized square feet floor-to-ceiling water and city views.” This was supposed to be a Monorail stop, but since that's still up in the air (no pun intended), the 1521 project will go on, with or without the Monorail.