The old Panzanella bakery building at 14th and Union is undergoing a fascinating transition. With Oola leading the way and overhauling the building, soon two restaurants and the craft distillery will call the old bakery home. Seattle Met broke the news on Lucky 8 joining the fun a few weeks back. Now they have another Oola scoop (but, hm, cut it with this South Capitol Hill stuff, hey?): Belltown’s popular Restaurant Zoe is also moving in at 14th and Union:

Scott and Heather Staples will be moving Restaurant Zoë, currently on 2nd Avenue in Belltown, to South Capitol Hill. Kallas-Lewis said the Staples signed a lease to occupy a 2,300 square-foot space in the SE corner of the Oola building at 14th and Union.

It will be a family reunion of sorts. Zoe’s owners, the Staples, also run Quinn’s. Both eateries are named after the couple’s children.

Zoe joins fellow Belltown transplant Marjorie which moved in across the street in the Chloe building last spring. The intersection is getting clogged with tasty food options — Skillet made the corner its choice for its first fixed-place diner this spring.

The people behind Dulces Latin Bistro had been lined up for the Oola space but backed out and opted for an Eastside location.

Meanwhile, around the corner on 14th, the guys behind bear bar Diesel are working hard to open their new venture. Though Crap like this probably doesn’t help.

UPDATE: We checked in with Kirby Kallas Lewis about his new Oola roomies:

Yes, Zoe Restaurant will be moving here from Belltown.  I’m excited to be working with a restaurant of this calibre.  I know their bar manager at Quinn’s loves Whiskey so I hope we can do some beautiful things together with their bar program at Zoe! 

The lease was signed last Friday so things will be ramping up in the following weeks as far as locking in a design, etc.  Basic things like upgrading the electrical to 800 amps for the building, upgrading water mains, etc are already laying the groundwork for the two restaurants that will be moving in.  It’s going to be an exciting building in just a few short months.

I feel like Lucky 8 and Zoe will compliment each other and both be a huge asset to the neighborhood.  I’m glad I held out for these two!  I expect the restaurants to be up and running in about 4 months.  OOLA will be fermenting in about a week and distilling by the end of the month.  Look for products to be available in the tasting room by the end of July.