(Image: CHS)
Last week, CHS reported on the long-term benefits and near-term pains for small businesses along 23rd Ave as the key artery between the Central District and Capitol Hill undergoes a massive project to make it safer, more efficient, and neighborhood friendly. Some larger media attention followed.
Friday, District 3 City Council member Kshama Sawant called for the community to support the area’s merchants through the months of construction to come:
Much of 23rdAve is blocked by construction. Let's support the small businesses that make Central District so special https://t.co/EuPhGFSPWT
— Kshama Sawant (@cmkshama) January 22, 2016
23rd Avenue is Open for Business!
For months now, much of 23rd Avenue has been blocked off, under construction.Large construction projects like this one very often lead to much-needed street improvements, and are beneficial to the entire community in the long run.
But impacts during construction differ. Big businesses have the cash reserves to stay afloat and weather a loss of business during construction. But small, especially very small, businesses do not have that advantage, and risk going out of business.
Most of the storefront businesses being impacted by the 23rd Avenue project are very small businesses. Several of them are women-, LGBTQ-, and minority-owned.
Quality infrastructure is necessary – in this case, there is a real need to replace and maintain water mains and sewers underneath 23rd Ave. At the same time, neither working people nor small business owners want the Central District to inadvertently lose its existing small businesses, or its character, due to street-side development.
This is an appeal for everyone to remember that the storefronts along 23rd Ave. are open for business. Take a walk down the street, get a bite to eat, and support the small businesses that make the Central District so special.
The $46 million overhaul of 23rd between S Jackson and E John will transform the artery into a much more efficient, much safer route for cars, transit, pedestrians, and — thanks to an adjacent greenway — bicyclists. The city’s Department of Transportation and Office of Economic Development have pitched in with extra signage and communicating work plans but the city has not made mitigation funds available for businesses near the project. Sawant’s message does not address the mitigation funds but local merchants including 701 Coffee at 23rd and Cherry have said they planned to ask City Hall for financial help.
Businesses in the area range from 701 Coffee to Sam’s Moroccan Sandwich Shop to Uncle Ike’s to the big chains of the Jackson Promenade to Flowers Just-4-U back to Earl’s Cuts and Style.
The first phase of construction on the project impacting 23rd from Jackson to John is slated to be wrapped up in early 2017.
Sam’s already closed but that was before the construction. He closed due to the crap going on in the Midtown parking lot. It was a real loss to the area – great sandwiches.
That’s too bad. I hadn’t been in a long time, though. Thanks for info.
Instead of her usual grandstanding (to call attention to herself), Sawant would be more helpful if she was working hard to get mitigation funds for the threatened small businesses.
Actually i appreciate her call for a non-governmental solution to the problem. The best option is to frequent those businesses during construction. Even if her intent was to appear responsive while not doing anything ( no evidence that is the case), she is advocating the best first action.
I think it’s a great approach too. I had to read her statement twice, because the first time I missed the part where she said where she’d be shopping.
Seriously? Business is pragmatic. Do you really think a tweet is going to save tiny little businesses that are already struggling? It’s ridiculous to think that is the answer. They would have been better off without the city trying to keep them open at all. Close them down, give them a few bucks of mitigation money and move the construction project along as fast as possible. Don’t pretend to care about small indy businesses but then do nothing to help them during a major project like this.
Exactly. The City thinks all it has to do is put up a few “businesses are open” signs and call it a day. To help small businesses survive, it might help a bit to encourage people to patronize them, although they probably would anyway if the business is important to them. To truly help, the City needs to provide mitigation funds.
How does removing lanes from a road make the road “more efficient?”
A very good question. If anything, doing so makes them less efficient.
Oh, wow, she DOES know where the Central District is. Hmmmm, go figure.
701 Coffee owner here (Sara)
1 barber shop has already closed down because customers just went somewhere else.
There’s another one that’s given word they will be closing down in the next month.
The city has said that we get to keep our doors open, that’s why financial mitigation isn’t available. What they don’t acknowledge is they have shut down all of our businesses.
When a cement truck is parked at your front door, and they’re drilling a 13 ft deep hole 2 feet away from your front door, your business is shut down. When a rig is jackhammering outside your front door, your business is shut down. When they shut down all of the bus stops around your business, and limit vehicle access to a trickle, they’ve actually shut your business down.
Mayor Ed Murray’s office has talked to ZERO business owners affected by this massive roadwork project. Not one word from his office.
Sawant has told us that this is not a City Counsel issue. It is a Central District issue though, and she is representing the CD. Tim Burgess’ assistant emailed me back, and merely regurgitated what OED, and SDOT have been repeating for 6 month now to all of us.
100% of the businesses impacted by this construction work are Minority, and Family Owned. No big businesses here.
I have a lot of down time these days because this roadwork has crippled my business. Of course I am working on social media, and other strategies to make this place a destination.
Part of my overall strategy though, I have made it my personal duty to get every news outlet in Seattle to run stories on our 100% Minority owned, 100% Family owned businesses. Every step of the way I will be using every ounce of brain power I possess to formulate as many ways possible to call Mayor Ed Murray out on his direct, conscious, intentional neglect of the plight of all our businesses.
I ask anyone reading this to do the same. I have information on my Facebook page (701 Coffee) regarding the disparity between what many other projects have received v. what CD businesses have received.
$15,000,000 dollars for 12 waterfront businesses. From what I understand: Ivars, Red Robbin, Starbucks…
$17,000,000 to businesses along the MLK project. In 2009 a study found financial mitigation was a success for family owned, minority businesses impacted along the MLK project…85% retention rate. 85% of businesses made it through the project. Each business could receive up to $150,000 per year in financial mitigation…it may have been higher than that further into the project.
$0 for Central District businesses.
Email, Facebook, Twitter Ed Murray, tag him in your posts, and let him know what you think about this.
If you have family or friends who live in the CD, share this information with them, encourage them to his social media, tag Ed Murray and share with him what they think.
Thanks,
Sara Mae
701 Coffee
That is absurd that they offer funds to other businesses during major construction but not the businesses on 23rd. Living on 23rd I know that my house feels shut down at times, and have even left home due to the jack hammering and vibrations caused from large tractors smashing the cement in front on the street. I can’t imagine willingly going into a business while experiencing that, let alone staying around. And the parking and drinking is even worse.
Has anyone actually used MLK as a detour route? Because 22nd and 24th sure do have a ton of traffic increase since they blocked the main road. More pot holes, more accidents, more traffic on one lane roads.
It’s a breach of the city’s duty that needs to be corrected.
*driving, not drinking. Oops.
I had a handful of people sitting in my business the other day. Most were working on their computers, doing business, etc.
Some were sitting at the windows…trying to relax.
Right outside the window they were jackhammering, and the building was shaking. When a customer would open the door to come in, noise would flood in, and kind of shock everyone.
We have tried playing relaxing music during those times, but the scraping, hammering, and grinding right outside the door is nerve racking.
Yes, there are customers who will go through this disaster to get here. But let’s get real here, most people avoid areas like this.
I have asked SDOT what the average vehicles per day are now that northbound it shut down, and southbound traffic is at a trickle. They said they will get back to me sometime this week.
Every north/south route aside from 23rd or MLK is now a preferred route as they didn’t do jack about timing the lights to make a difference. The entrance to the promenade should have been cleared of roadblocks months ago. The road has been sealed up in front of it for quite some time.