Since people voted overwhelmingly last week to derail the monorail, the only remnants of the project in West Seattle are the properties purchased to build stations.

The Seattle Monorail Project board of directors voted to liquidate the agency's assets and dispose of its property for maximum value. The monorail agency had purchased approximately $72 million worth of property in West Seattle, Sodo, downtown, Interbay and Ballard.

Seattle real estate experts will help formulate a plan in the next 45 to 60 days for how best to sell the properties, said John Haley, executive director of the monorail project. Some sites could be sold as a package while others might fetch higher prices if sold separately. The plan also will recommend which properties to sell first, Haley said.

Auctions for the property probably won't be scheduled any earlier than January, said Kristina Hill, chairwoman of the monorail board.

Money from the sale of the properties will help pay off the monorail agency's debt. Once all the revenue is collected from property sales, accountants will be able to determine how much longer the city will have to collect the motor vehicle excise tax to retire the debt.

Property owners in West Seattle had many reactions to having sold their property to the Seattle Monorail Project, only to have voters pull the plug on the project.

"I would rather I hadn't gone through this experience," said Dr. Darlene Chan.

She and her husband, Dr. Gregory Chan, owned the Chan Clinic at midblock across 42nd Avenue from Jefferson Square. They were bought out by the Monorail Authority because the Junction Station was planned for the site. Dr. Darlene Chan moved her office one block east to the Highline Medical Center on 41st Avenue.

"It's a fine location but I would have preferred to stay where I was," she said.

When the Chans bought the building, they made a real estate investment as well as found a place to continue their respective practices.

"Property values have increased significantly in the last year," Darlene Chan said. Being forced to sell their investment earlier than planned limited the economic benefits they might have made later, Chan said.

"I'm not happy about that," she said.

Chan also called the monorail a blight and "aesthetically horrible."

As the video rental market enters its busiest time of year, the owners of the West Seattle Video Vault are taking business a day at a time through the holidays, said part-owner Betty Monroe, a longtime opponent of the monorail.

The video-rental business is where the Morgan Junction station was to be built. Monroe and her daughters lease the store from the Monorail Authority, which bought out their previous landlord.

Monroe opposed the monorail long before planners suggested running the Green Line to Morgan Junction. She never became a convert either.

"We were told we'd get free rent for months, until they demolished the building," Monroe said. But the business received rent notices as soon as the Monorail Authority took ownership, she said. She doubts she'll ever see moving expenses either.

Some Video Vault customers told Monroe they were boycotting her store because she opposed building the monorail.

"We've seen our business dwindle the last few years," she said.

Fauntleroy Autoworks, a car-repair shop that operated next door to the Video Vault, closed up shop and moved out before Election Day.

The monorail agency also purchased the site of the West Seattle Herald and White Center News office.

"We didn't want to sell it," said Jerry Robinson, publisher. "We were happy with the location."

After a lengthy search for a new location, the newspaper office recently moved to the Admiral District.

"It's become very costly because we had to upgrade everything," Robinson said. "But Admiral has worked out well for us."

It's unlikely that Robinson Newspapers would buy back its former home because the company signed leases on other locations, he added.

Meanwhile the Delridge station had been planned for the northeast corner of the Nucor Steel plant property in Youngstown. The monorail authority negotiated an agreement with Nucor to buy the property but the sale papers had not been signed, said Bart Kale, environmental manager of Nucor.

Ending the deal means Nucor won't have to move railroad tracks and a road to accommodate a monorail station near the plant.

"We were very fortunate," Kale said. "We can all take a deep breath here."

Tim St. Clair can be reached at 932-0300 or tstclair@robinsonnews.com