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One last chance to say goodbye to the Capitol Hill Value Village

We said goodbye to its temporary incarnation as Capitol Hill Arts District community space V2 with a dance party. A fitting farewell for its funky fresh life as the center of Capitol Hill thrifting starts Tuesday and lasts three nights as the old Kelly Springfield Truck Company turned REI turned Value Village (with a lot of other bits and pieces in between) hosts the Punk Rock Flea Market for one last gasp of creosote and dust on 11th Ave:

Punk Rock Flea Market

CHS broke the sad news in October 2015 that the popular Capitol Hill location of the thrift shop chain was preparing to close after one final Halloween. Macklemore was devastated. The building owned by the Ellison family that founded the Value Village chain was lined to have the property developed by local real estate developer Legacy Commercial

As details of a planned mixed-use development spread, an effort grew to protect the building and its neighboring White Motor Company building, home of the Stranger and the Rhino Room. Thanks to their auto row and REI roots, both buildings were granted landmarks protections that require preservation of certain key architectural elements.In 1963, REI opened what was intended to be their headquarter store in the building.

The final three-day, music-soaked blowout for the old VV space is the final act in a year of community use of the auto-row era building. The V2 project administered by Velocity Dance and the Capitol Hill Arts District opened the space to rehearsals, community meetings, and events and could end up as a blueprint for future temporary arts use of empty buildings around the neighborhood and Seattle. A preservation-friendly five-story office building and commercial project is being planned for the block of 11th Ave where the landmarks board-protected building stands. The project is one of our highlights in the 2016 year in development on Capitol Hill.

As a landmark, the Kelly Springfield/Value Village building has special protections and alterations to its exterior will be subject to review by the landmarks board. But the designation will not stave off development planned for the site.

The development’s future probably will not include another thrift store but some of its commercial space may be put to use as a small shop and vendor-friendly “marketplace.” The Hill’s culture of fashionable reuse, meanwhile, continues.

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