Since 1928, Wards Cove Packing Company has been at the heart of the Alaska seafood business.

A Brief History of the Wards Cove Site

For almost eight decades Wards Cove, a privately-held Seattle company, has been an important part of the fishing and processing business in Alaska. Founded in 1928 on Wards Cove in Ketchikan by A.W. “Winn” Brindle and Harold A. Brindle, the company is the oldest family-owned seafood company in Alaska. In 2002 the company decided to exit the Alaskan salmon industry to focus on other operations. The company is currently engaged in commercial fishing for, and processing of, pollock, cod and crab in the Bering Sea, and operates several general retail stores in Alaska.

Since Seattle was the support base for its former salmon operations, the company’s waterfront property on Lake Union became available for other uses. Due to its historic ties to the Eastlake neighborhood, Wards Cove desired to remain in the area but they needed to provide new sources of income. The company decided that a mixed-use development would provide the optimum return on this valuable asset, as well as enhance the best characteristics of the existing neighborhood.