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With Sawant and Banks HQs on Capitol Hill, District 3 race heads into final miles

From 42floors.com: "Located in Capitol Hill, this 3-story building at 126 10th Ave E is the perfect spot for developing businesses in Seattle. With 4,823 square feet, you will have more than enough room to house you and your staff comfortably. As an added amenity, onsite parking is easily accessible for all building tenants..."

From 42floors.com: “Located in Capitol Hill, this 3-story building at 126 10th Ave E is the perfect spot for developing businesses in Seattle. With 4,823 square feet, you will have more than enough room to house you and your staff comfortably. As an added amenity, onsite parking is easily accessible for all building tenants…”

Located just across the street from the future Capitol Hill Station, the homeliest building on this 10th Ave E block lies at the intersection of a surprising variety of Capitol Hill narratives, including light rail, microhousing, and socialist politics.

In 2009, a group of contractors hired to dig the light rail tunnels under Capitol Hill purchased the 126 10th Ave E building and the two-story brick building next door for their offices. When the tunneling wrapped up last year, the contractors sold the properties off for $1.95 million, pocketing a cool $765,000 on the transaction.

The buyer is a familiar name in Capitol Hill’s property rush. Scott Shapiro, the managing director of Eagle Rock Ventures, purchased the land to construct a new building with a mix of small “efficiency dwelling units” and studio apartments. Shapiro is behind several microhousing projects as well as the preservation restaurant+office project at the Harvard Exit, where he says he’s still looking for tenants.

According to Shapiro, demolition of the 10th Ave E property will start sometime next year to make way for the 49-unit building.

In the meantime, Shapiro is renting out the newer property to online retailer Whiskey, Ink, & Lace and the older house to the Kshama Sawant’s City Council District 3 campaign to use as its organizing headquarters. Since moving in early this year, the City Council member and her campaign have used it as an organizing office and staging area for the group’s sweeping door knocking campaigns. Recently, that included door locking in support of the Seattle Education Association in its contract negotiations with Seattle Public Schools.

Philip Locker, political director for the Sawant campaign, told CHS that the house coincidentally exemplifies some of the development trends Sawant opposes: older, affordable buildings getting torn down to make way for newer units not suitable for families.

Since her comfortable second place finish in the August primary, challenger Pamela Banks has kicked off her general election campaign with a new Capitol Hill headquarters. Late last month, the Banks campaign moved into an office space at 1509 E Madison, just above Little Uncle.

“We were looking for an affordable ground floor space between Capitol Hill and the Central District,” Banks told CHS. While the space isn’t on the ground floor, it does have some street visibility.

The Banks campaign has been listing a downtown office building as its campaign address, but Banks tells CHS most of the campaign work was actually being run out of her Central District house.

Both candidates are revving up their campaign machines again after a post-primary breather where Sawant emerged as the clear frontrunner, taking home 52% of the vote.

NARAL Pro-Choice Washington is cosponsoring a candidate forum on Thursday at City Hall — the first of many in the coming months. Both Sawant and Banks will be attending. On Saturday, Banks will be at the Central Area Block Party while Sawant is formally kicking off her general election campaign with a volunteer gathering at Pratt Park.

We got a tremendous result in the primary (52%), but we know big business and the political establishment that serves their interests will step up the attacks in the general election.

With the aid of big PAC money, our opponent is likely to outspend us. But, in the primary election, we proved what a powerful impact an organized, grassroots force can make.

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rageofage
rageofage
8 years ago

Gotta love the free market :-)

RWK
RWK
8 years ago

It’s hypocritical for Sawant to be renting a house from a developer who will do exactly what she opposes (tear it down). What happened to her vaunted principles?

OmariTahir-Garrett
OmariTahir-Garrett
8 years ago

I WAS A MEMBER OF MT ZION CHURCH WHEN HE FIRST CAME. WE HAD A VIABLE AFRICATOWN / CENTRAL DISTRICT COMMUNITY TEN TIMES THE SIZE OF CHINATOWN??? THE QUALITY OF LEADERSHIP IS DETERMINED BY WHAT COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS LEADERSHIP DEVELOPES AND GROWS OVER TIME???

“PROOF IS IN THE RESULTS??? AS A CHILD MEMBER OF MT ZION BEFORE HIS “LEADERSHIP MODEL”, IT WAS UNHEARD OF THAT A BLACK CHILD MURDERED ANOTHER BLACK CHILD??? TODAY AFTER HIS MODEL / STYLE OF LEADERSHIP WAS COPIED BY ALL ELECTED NEGROE POLITICIANS, BLACK YOUTH ARE SHOOTING AND KILLING EACH OTHER LIKE A “BLACK PLAGUE”??? THE CELEBRATION OF “UNCLE TOMS (INCLUDING WHITE SUPREMACY COURT JUSTICE CLARENCE “UNCLE” THOMAS) IS THE NORM???

FROM THE UN-UNITED STATES PRESIDENT DOWN, THE CELEBRATED “BLACK ESTABLISHMENT” RELIGIOUS / POLITICAL / MIS-EDUCATED LEADERSHIP, HAS “SOLD OUT” AND FAILED BLACK COMMUNITIES AND FAILED TO DEVEVELOPE COMMUNITY BUILDING INSTITUTIONS??? THE LIBERTY BLACK BANK BUILDING, EMPTY, THE SOIC BUILDING ON 22ND AND JACKSON NOW OWNED BY SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE??? THE SUCCESSFUL SOIC SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAM HISTORY. CAMP (CENTRAL AREA MOTIVATION PROGRAM) GONE (NOW “CENTERSTONE” A VIRTUALLY EMPTY SHELL)???

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE LARRY GOSSETT / TONY ORANGE LED “CENTRAL AREA SCHOOL COUNCIL” (BOTH “SOLD OUT” / COMPROMISED CAMP DIRECTORS) ??? WHAT HAPPENED TO CAPDA (CENTRAL AREA PUBLIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY) WHICH HAD A AFRICATOWN / CENTRAL DISTRICT COMMUNITY ELECTED BOARD??? VIRTUALLY LILY WHITE CAPITOL HILL HOUSING PROGRAM (PAM BANKSTER ON BOARD) IS NOW TRYING TO TAKE OVER “NON-PROFIT” HOUSING IN AFRICATOWN’ WHILE PUSHING THEIR GENTRIFICATION / BLACK ETHNIC CLEANSING ( DESTROY HISTORIC LIBERTY BANK BUILDING COMING FIGHT) DOWNTOWN DEVELOPERS AGENDA???

THE FIGHT TO DEVELOPE A WORLD CLASS AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTER CONSISTANT WITH THE EL CENTRO DE LA RAZA / DAYBREAK STAR MODELS, CONTINUES TO FIGHT THE “BLACK ESTABLISHMENT” ATTEMPT TO PROMOTE 36 CONDOS AS “AFFORDABLE HOUSING” AT THE WHITE OWNED AND CONTROLLED “URBAN LEAGUE VILLAGE??? YES, TO HELL WITH EFFECTIVE BLACK YOUTH CULTURAL PROGRAMING SPACE???

NOW, BACK TO T CELEBRATING “BLACK ESTABLISHMENT” LEADERSHIP. THE URBAN LEAGUE AND CEO PAM “DOWNTOWN” BANKSTER (RACIST POLICE GUILD’S CANDIDATE FOR CITY COUNCIL) IS ALSO THE DARLING OF THE “DOWNTOWN ESTABLISHMENT’S GENTRIFICATION / BLACK ETHNIC CLEANSING STRATEGY??? URBAN LEAGUE CEO JAMES “GUNSLINGER” KELLY WHO INFAMOUSLY SNITCHED ON HIMSELF AND PLEADED GUILTY TO UNLAWFULLY “FLASHING” A LOADED AUTOMATIC GUN ON AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY YOUTH ORGANIZER INSIDE RAINIER BEACH HIGH SCHOOL,WAS HIRED BY AND IS NOW “GUNSLINGING FOR THE CITY OF SEATTLE??? URBAN LEAGUE CEO PAM “DOWNTOWN BANKSTER (THE POLICE GUILD’S PROUD DARLING MAMMY) AND KELLY (A MACHINE GUN KELLY WANNABE) SIMPLY EXCHANGED POSITIONS??? YES JUST A CONTINUATION OF THE ORGANIZED CRIME RICO RACKETEERING BUSINESS AS USUAL???

IF YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE “BLACK RELIGIOUS / AND ITS URBAN LEAGUE FRONT ARE ABOUT, JUST GOOGLE URBAN LEAGUE WATCH SITE??? FOR SURE HE / THEY ARE MASTER MAGICIANS FOR EVERYYHING THEY TOUCHED HAS DISAPPEARED EXCEPT THE CHURCH(S). YES, BISHOP JOHN HURST ADAMS AND REV. CHIP MURRAY WERE RUN OUT OF TOWN TO BIGGER AND BETTER SUCESSFUL INSTITUTION BUILDING RIGHT HERE ON EARTH???
Omari Tahir-Garrett, VIETNAM VETERAN (1967), PRISONER OF WAR (1968 AND AGAIN 2002-20004), WORLD TRAVELER, HISTORY / ANTI-APARTHEID / ANTI- COLONIAL SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER, AND CANDIDATE FOR SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL

WEBSITE: OmariforCityCouncil
WEBSITE: AFRICATOWN / CHINATOWN NEWS DIGEST
WEBSITE; prison2president