SATELLITE LOUNGE,
originally uploaded by photocoyote.

There was an e-mail string flying around the Hill this weekend about the need to 'save' Elliott Bay Book Company in the wake of news that the much-loved Pioneer Square store is struggling to stay in business. Everybody gets books for the holidays this year.

But here's a CHS news bulletin for you: Many of the same conditions trying to rip Elliott Bay from its foundation are assaulting independent Capitol Hill businesses.

So far, we're ahead in the what's closed vs. the what's opened tally -- at least in quantitative terms. But we're nowhere near a safe harbor yet even as the economic storm settles.

And the long-term trend is a tough one. I bought an expensive camera this weekend. I have no idea when the last camera shop on Capitol Hill went out of business.

Sorry, Elliott Bay, but you're on your own. We've got the Hill to worry about. Somebody should send around an e-mail about Capitol Hill indie retailers. Not every one can be 'saved' -- and not all should be. There is a time for change. But if you have a Hill favorite, now is the time to start up your grassroots, viral marketing campaign for it. Tell a friend.

A huge story for Pike/Pine development below Broadway starts its next chapter this week as BMW Seattle has moved all of its operations off Capitol Hill to new facilities in SoDo. We first reported on the pending move back in March. Thanks to @matthickey for the tip that the Capitol Hill facilities had closed and all the cars are gone.

This spring, general manager Steve Bates said BMW was leaving Capitol Hill after 20 years because it needed a 5-story building and more than 2.5 acres to sell its cars. "This space is way too small," Bates said at the time. Bates said he expected to be operating in their new location on Airport Way by the end of July.

Despite the delay, a BMW Seattle employee this morning confirmed that the Capitol Hill has been closed this week and all activities have moved to the new location.

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The BMV move leaves another potential gaping hole in the middle of lower Pike/Pine. In addition to the main 14,000 sqft lot that faces Pike, BMW operated its garage and service facility in...

A King County Sheriff's eviction notice hangs on the front door of E. Pike's Satellite Lounge tonight.

The bar is dark and empty as the occasional person stops in front to read the notice and peer inside. Nearby hangs this hand-written note from a patron saying goodbye to the Capitol Hill bar.

The Satellite is owned by Harold Burton of The Real Comet, Inc. according to state records. The building at 1118 E. Pike St. is owned by Sylvia Kane, according to City of Seattle records. CHS has been told that Kane informed the Satellite last month that she was looking for a tenant to rent the space that would also pay to put the building's large basement to use.

The Satellite's Web site describes the lounge as "one of the longest  running bars located in the heart of Capitol Hill." Old timers, please weigh in with any history for the location you can share. CHS will update this post with what else we can find.

The 1111 E. Pike mixed-use project, we're told, is on track for its planned late July opening. With the economy continuing to sputter along, it and the two big housing developments being built on Broadway might be the last projects we see completed on Capitol Hill for a long time. Many projects simply won't be started. But others will remain stuck -- empty lots, holes in the ground. Earlier this month, Puget Sound Business Journal documented a city list of development projects around Seattle that were stalled by the harsh economic environment. Here are the Capitol Hill area projects in economic limbo:

2311 E JOHN ST
Permit issued: 28-Apr-08
Permit expires: 10-Nov-10
Estimated value: $4,187,000
Description: Establish use and construct a triplex townhouse with attached garages and occupy per plans
Owner/Contractor: ROBERT AND PAM BOUSTEAD/TIGERCAT CONSTRUCTION

2617 BOYLSTON AVE E
Permit issued: 11-Jul-07
Permit expires: 11-Jul-10
Estimated value: $333,607
Description: Establish use for townhouses and construct new 2-unit townhouse structure (west building) with attached garages per plan
2615 BOYLSTON AVE E
Permit issued: 11-Jul-07
Permit expires: 11-Jul-10
Estimated value: $448,708
Description: Establish use for townhouses and construct new 2-unit townhouse structure (east building) per plan.
Owner/Contractor: Mark Gordon/Metrocorp LLC

510 FEDERAL AVE E
Permit issued: 17-Dec-08
Permit expires: 17-June-09
Estimated value: $326,792
Description: Establish use as (2) 3-unit townhouses, construct (2) 3-unit towhhouse buildings w/common underground shared parking garage per plans. NW triplex
Owner/Contractor: ED GALLAUDET, GREAT NORTHERN LAND CO LLC

515 HARVARD AVE E
Permit issued: N/A
Permit expires: N/A
Estimated value: $712,000
Description: N/A
521 HARVARD AVE E
Permit issued: Oct-99
Permit expires: Canceled
Estimated value: $712,000
Description: Construct apartment building with underground parking
Owner: Boyd Pickrell

A construction overhaul stuck in limbo

These are only the largest projects. Elsewhere on the Hill, there are homes and rehabs also stuck in mid construction and renovation like this cool old house on Aloha. We'd like to compile a list of limbo projects here on CHS. Leave a comment or send in a note about other construction efforts in your neighborhood that are stuck and we'll see what we can find out.

 I was perusing MyBallard earlier and saw this very cool map of the changing business landscape. So I decided to copy it pretty much exactly for our hood.

View Business Changes in a larger map

I also got Huiyona on there but I didn't want to zoom out that far. So far, it looks like we have weathered the recession pretty well. By my count we have had 8 11 businesses close in the last couple months but 12 13 new ones open and three four more set to open in the near future.

Closed:

Horizon Books, Fire Grill, Artemis,...

Street Painters 2
Originally uploaded by
susancevans

Sad news from your friendly neighborhood hippies: Sustainable Capitol Hill says they are not going to be able to hold their Imagine Capitol Hill festival again this year.

Dear supporter of Sustainable Capitol Hill,

It is with some sadness that we announce that the organizing of this year's Imagine Capitol Hill summer festival has ended; we are not pursuing a large festival in 2009. While enthusiasm for a festival still exists within Sustainable Capitol Hill, the extreme logistical challenge of organizing one large event, with a significant funding shortfall, makes coordinating a festival prohibitively challenging this year.

We're excited to report that, in the absence of Imagine Capitol Hill, we have focused our energy on smaller scale projects, including traffic circle adoption and beautification, street tree planting, educational events, and more.

Thank you to everyone who expressed interest and support for the festival! We will continue to pursue great projects this summer and plan to organize another summer festival in 2010.

As always, we remain interested in building community partnerships, and of course, welcome all gestures of support. Please visit our Web site at:

http://www.sustainablecapitolhill.org/ to learn more about our work and mission. Please contact us if you would like to support Sustainable Capitol Hill in some way, or to get involved in projects that green our neighborhood.

Best regards,

Sustainable Capitol Hill leadership committee

Here's a look at the sustainable culture festival the group organized last summer. Sustainable groups are also active in other neighborhood groups across Seattle and beyond.

Sustainable Cap Hill will also be helping us organize Capitol Hill Garage Sale Day along with Unpaving Paradise and The People's Parking Lot group.

Two announcements from City Hall today -- a plan to promote local economic recovery and a relaxation in the fees and rules around parking strip gardening -- should improve life on Capitol Hill and beyond.

First, City Council today approved a 19-part plan to help aid the local economy including changes in business taxes, programs to lend money to small businesses and improvements in social services to aid the homeless. There is also language related to fast-tracking 'shovel ready' projects in the city. Wonder if the Summit/John park project would fall into that bucket. You can read the entirety of Resolution 31135 here. Here's the Council announcement about the resolution:

CITY COUNCIL APPROVES 19-PART ACTION PLAN TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC RECOVERY
Council resolution includes providing relief to small businesses, supporting individuals affected by the recession, and improving the business climate

May 11, 2009 - SEATTLE - Acting on recommendations from a result of a series of public meetings with citizens, business...

We've been chasing a story the Slog caught up with first but when we read their latest post about the Pine Street parking lot where Cha Cha used to live, we thought we might be able to do better. The Slog got pretty much nothing about what is happening next at the location where buildings that housed bars Cha Cha, Manray and the Kincora and retailer Winner's Circle were razed to make way for planned development. Eastside-based Murry Franklin, the developer who bought the property in 2007, gave the alt weekly the runaround.

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What did the crackerjack journalists at CHS get after three days of phone tag and being passed from person to person at the company?

"The partners have no comment."

"Well, which partners have no comment?"

"I can't say."

"You can't tell me which partners have no comment?"

"It would not be in my best interest."

Via Life on the Hill blog, this cryptic passage from a recent piece in Seattle Weekly has us all searching for answers.

The economy had already started to turn by the...

There is a lot about to happen on 12th Ave. As much as Pike/Pine is the Hill's flashpoint for preservation, and Broadway's light rail transition represents infrastructure and redevelopment, 12th Ave is emerging as the Hill's next bounds of change. The initiative to create a housing, retail and community development in the space now filled by the East Precinct's parking lots, the possibility of the streetcar route including 12th, the continued growth of Seattle University -- all of these forces are pushing the area forward. A group of people doing a lot of this pushing will be assembled for Capitol Hill Housing's Annual Forum - The Future of 12th Ave, Wednesday, Aprill 22nd at Northwest Film Forum.

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Here is the panel:
Michael Killoren, Director; Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs
Liz Dunn, Pike/Pine Property Owner and Developer, Director; The National Trust for Historic Preservation Green Lab
Elizabeth Linke, Property Owner; Northwest Film Forum and 1621 12th Ave. Buildings
Kate Stineback, Housing & Community Developer; 12th Avenue Initiative, Capitol Hill Housing
Michael Kerns, Associate Vice President for Facilities; Seattle University
Tenaya Wright, President; Squire Park Community Council

We tell you about the forum now so you have time to RSVP if you are interested in attending. We'll also be there to cover the night's discussion and ask a few questions about the future. Something you'd like us to ask? Leave a comment.

Capitol Hill Housing Annual Meeting
Wednesday April 22, 2009
5pm Reception
6pm Annual Meeting and Panel Discussion

Northwest Film Forum
1515 12th Ave
Seattle,
Space is limited. Please RSVP to: rsvp@chhip.org
Or call 206-329-7303 x112

The city released financial data today that shows how the nation's economic downturn is hitting home here in Seattle -- drops in expenditures by consumers and businesses mean drops in tax revenues for the city. The city is now forecasting a $29.5 million drop in revenue from last year's total, 3.7% lower than what was forecast back in November. Seattle PI reports the larger than expected shortfall pencils out to a $43 million gap in projected revenue and planned spending by the city. That, in turn, pencils out to the city needing to make more cuts in services and projects to keep the budget balanced. City says it is looking at an additional $41 million in cuts for 2010. Here is the presentation the city made available with the announcement:

Seattle Times reports that Mayor Greg Nickels' requested department cuts won't be enough to cover the shortfall nor can the city's reserve funds bridge the gap. That leaves cutting budgets and canceling or downsizing projects as the alternatives to maintaining a balanced budget. West Seattle Blog reports we'll likely hear about the first planned cuts next week.

We had part of the story. KOMO has now added quite a bit more. But there's got to be even more to it.

Michael Yasutake

The TV station is reporting that East Precinct crime prevention coordinator Michael Yasutake had to be laid off "after the city realized it had hired him for a position that doesn't exist."

Assuming that means the department never budgeted for the East Precinct position and now finds itself in a financial environment requiring cuts, not additions. We'll need to push for answers on why this can't be rectified in a better way -- SPD previously would not comment on Yasutake citing department policy and the mayor's office did not return our calls.

Central District News has more on Yasutake's role in the community.

The monthly East Precinct Crime Prevention meeting is Thursday at 6:30 PM at the Seattle Vocational Institute.

Signs are up confirming something we've been hearing for a few months now -- the BMW dealership on Pike is moving out leaving empty, according to the comment from gas guzzler, 28,000 square-feet of space:

Just noticed that the BMW dealer on Pike is moving to somewhere on Airport Way in a few months. The 'For Lease' says they have 28,000 sq ft. Don't know if that covers just the car showroom or if it includes the service center. Either way, that's a LOT of space coming on the market and a bunch fewer folks going out for lunch, etc.

Calls to manager Steve Bates went to voicemail.

The location of the dealership has been used for the automobile business since the early 1900s. In the late 90s, the state found contamination due to high levels of lead and motor oil and put a clean-up process in place.

UPDATE:
Two interesting conversations this afternoon on this.

First, talked to Joe Hickey from the Washington State Department of Ecology about the state's contamination findings at the location and the subsequent restrictions on the property. Hickey said that the contaminated material was contained but not removed. The land is subject to ongoing reviews by the state to check for any change in condition. Hickey said that in his role as periodic review coordinator, he was actually involved in the most recent review of the BMW lot and that the property checked out fine. He confirmed that the property is subject to a covenant that requires his department to be notified in the event of any transfer or development plans so no work can begin on the land without a full review of the contamination issues.

Second, I had a short chat with manager Steve Bates about timing and the decision to move. Bates said he expects to be operating in their new location on Airport Way by the end of July. BMW is leaving Capitol Hill after 20 years, he said, because it needs a 5-story building and more than 2.5 acres to sell its cars. "This space is way too small," Bates said.

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Michael Yasutake

Seattle Police won't comment on it but there was somebody missing from last night's East Precinct Crime Prevention meeting. The precinct's crime prevention coordinator, a kind of community outreach and llaison role that helps make things like the crime prevention meeting possible, was not in attendance. It was announced that Michael Yasutake has been let go due to budget cuts.

It is not yet clear if the move was part of larger cuts by the city. A SPD spokesperson said department policy prevented her from discussing personnel issues and referred inquiries to the mayor's office.

Yasutake could not be reached for comment.

The Central District News is reporting that the East Precinct was the only district to lose its coordinator.

Economic tough times have claimed Capitol Hill independent retailers and restaurants. Some of us have lost jobs with layoffs in the region. Add to the list the neighborhood newspaper -- The Capitol Hill Times has also been laid low by the economy's downturn. Here's the announcement from Pacific Publishing, the company behind the Times and other community papers across the city.

First wrote about cutbacks at the Capitol Hill Times publisher back in October. Today, sorry to report that Pacific has cut the rest of the editorial staff of the Capitol Hill Times as editor Doug Schwartz has been let go. Pacific says the Capitol Hill Times, North Seattle Herald-Outlook and South Seattle Beacon will transition to a new, to-be-announced format. Pacific also publishes neighborhood newspapers in Queen Anne and Madison Park.

photo: JeanineAnderson

Given size of this list, maybe I better clean out my RSS feed reader more frequently. Or maybe you like having a billion Capitol Hill links to click on a Sunday.

• Brunch yet? Crave gone, cheese blintz recipe not.
• A few Hill Oscar parties to choose from if you don't mind mixing Hollywood glam with your newfound financial sobriety.
• Metro may cut bus service due to drop in sales tax revenue.
• Hill homeless shelters report rise in numbers, need as economy worsens.
• Can somebody please explain this site? Seems to be mashing together several kinda invasive databases to report on people buying expensive homes. Here's another report for a new purchase on Broadway.
• Capitol Hill a defensible ridge above economic battery? Kid clothing retailer Flora & Henri will make their last stand in their Capitol Hill location in the Loveless Building and online.
• Puget Sound Biz Journal cites a few Cap Hill purveyors of 'comfort' for bucking the downturn trend.
• Get snooty about your suds. Smith hosting beer dinner ...

As the economy continues to tank, you might find it comfortable to assign an evolutionary framework to your environment. The weakest fade away. The strong survive. But as one neighbor recently pointed out to me in e-mail, it's not the weakest that we lose. It's the exotic. In these challenging times, we must work to preserve our freaks.

Home Alive is a weird organization. The nonprofit is a martial training ground in the middle of tolerant Capitol Hill and run in a fashion that seems more like it is organizing all-ages rock shows than women's self-defense courses. But its cause of fighting back against violence is worthwhile. Unfortunately, after 16 years, Home Alive is being forced to close down at the end of this month unless it can get out from under a massive pile of debt and find its financial footing. Its days with an office on 10th Ave are surely over but there may still be time to keep Home Alive on the Hill. Here are two events you might want to consider getting involved with if you'd like to help:

We cover all the angles here on CHS. Sometimes it's hard to keep up. Given the current challenging economic environment, we want there to be no confusion about these three recently covered Capitol Hill businesses.

• Monsoon -- They're not moving any time soon after the redevelopment plan for their building fell through. Instead, Monsoon will celebrate its 10th anniversary in its 19th Ave location with a 10 for $10 on Sunday the 22nd. More details on that later.
• Foxmaid -- Foxmaid checked into our comments with details on what they're up to next on Cap Hill:
  Thanks so much for mentioning us! We will re-open very soon as foxmaid studio and our other location, Square Room, is transitioning into pretty much what foxmaid used to be. So watch out for the new and enhanced Square Room. As far as the 1316 location (next to the vacuum repair shop) goes, our 5 year lease is up and we need to change with the times. Look for us to be open at foxmaid very soon. Please stop by and say Hello.
  thanks so much,
  Brian McGuffey
  Leif...

Get all sorts of interesting ideas from the Capitol Hill Community Council. Vice prez Charlette Lefevre of Broadway's Museum of Mysteries adds another peculiar one to the pile -- Capitol Hill currency:

We like it. Especially if it means we get to make a fun poll to choose the new bills.

Thanks to Erik98122, Avitania, Smohundro and Yancy9a for images. Funny money courtesy Festisite.

With retail concerns across the city closing down and papering their windows, it's hard not to see butcher paper in a store window on Capitol Hill as a mark of pending doom. For funky retailer Foxmaid, the paper appears instead to be a mark of change. Haven't received a reply to my e-mail to find out exactly what it means, but the Foxmaid sign says the space is opening back up as a gallery next month.

Meanwhile, in other "Hey, they didn't go out of business news," I can finally get around to posting these pics of the new space -- and look -- for Atlas Clothing. With their move into the heart of Pike/Pine on 10th Ave, they've also moved toward featuring more new items from area designers.

Speaking of design, these graphic designers want to know who created the new Atlas look -- and if Atlas has gone too yuppie:
I asked the guy at the new store who did their updated logo. He said, "Some local guy." If anyone knows who this person is, DK is curious to meet him. It’s a really nice design. But we’re wondering why...

The Seattle School District has a closure and relocation plan in response to budget woes. There have been marches and protest web sites. Thursday afternoon there will be another rally. And now there are also amendments to the plan that need to be voted on. Enrollment planning for the next school year looms in the coming months. Come Thursday night, a meandering public process will reach an uncertain milestone.

Underlying this whole situation is a student assignment plan that is still in the works -- hard for a community to fight for a school if it doesn't know if its children will ever go there. While its student's are scattered across the city -- this infographic shows high school student dispersal, for example -- Capitol Hill's geographical concerns in the matter center around changes to these area schools:

• TT Minor's recommended closure (Radio Point and CD)
  
• Move of portion of Lowell's accelerated program (Broadway)
  
• Move of the NOVA alternative high school to Meany and dissolution of Meany's junior...

Before you jump into our pile of hill-related links, a quick note about a nifty little upgrade to the site. While I'm still working on the total overhaul of the CHS design (working, working, working on the Internets. You can't see work on the Internet until it's ready! But it will look something like this), Neighborlogs has added a nice feature at the top of every post that allows you to easily page back and forth in the post stream. Enjoy!

And, oh yeah, I do plan on having a beer tonight with the gals from cap to the hill -- stop by Moe Bar around 5p and say hey.

• The MSFT axe has fallen. Or will fall. 5k over the next year. 1,400 today. Hope you aren't in the mix. Judging by the steamy windows of the Connectors -- and a lot of my neighbors -- there are a lot of 'Softies on the hill.
• Chop Suey suspects plead not guilty. Only one of the alleged conspirators charged with murder -- the guy allegedly at the heart of the feud that left one dead and two wounded charged with drug possession.
• CHS sponsor The Capitol Hill Handyman gets Daily Candy Love. I get a kick out of seeing the Handyman's trucks zipping around the hill to tackle a 'handy' project.
• Olivar adds brunch. I'm such a cynic. Whenever I see brunch announcements, my mind automatically turns to thoughts of struggles and a business trying to increase its revenue stream. I have not idea if that is the case for Olivar. Can somebody who knows the restaurant biz brush my cynicism away?
• Seattlest visits the one man band that is Thomas St. Bistro -- and, Seattlest says, at those prices, it can't complain.
• Can't help but think of Tackleberry and Hightower. SPD seeks citizen candidates for Community Police Academy. I wanna be Bobcat Goldthwait.
• Speaking of wholesome entertainment, it's time to sign up your boys and girls for Seattle Central Little League. Mom, Dad, you have until Feb. 28 but if you wait that long, you are a bad parent. Every child deserve the opportunity to strike out in front of a crowd, be terrified beneath a pop fly and, yes, occasionally hit the game winning triple.

We marked the September passing of Pike's Bar & Grill because, well, somebody had to. It was only 3 months old. Not to continue kicking the poor little guy around but to illustrate what is left in the, um, wake when these things go belly up, we note this public post taped to the shuttered grill's front door. If you can't read the number, check out the second image. That's $30k in rent the law firm says the people behind Pike's owe.

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Saw similar notes when Rainbow Grocery went under on 15th Ave E.

Seattle's school district has released what it is calling its "final recommendation" for school closures and program moves in the city. The announcement comes after weeks of public discussion regarding the district's budget crisis.

Full report

The only Hill-area school slated for closure is T.T. Minor -- closing down the Central District school has been part of the district's proposals from the earliest stages. This post to CDNews captures some of the opposition to the move.

There are sure to be more attempts to stop these closures and changes including this online petition to stop the process.

Update: Comments below discuss the Lowell situation. Will be interesting to see how the transition of 'general education' students into Lowell will progress.

Earlier this month, we wrote about the closing of a quiet little jewelry store on 15th Ave E. It was called DSR -- stood for Diamond, Saphires and Rubies, Inc. or Donna S. Richey or both. Store was a bit of a mystery to most of us. But not neighbor AliceE:

The jewelry store was originally owned by Michael Farrell - for over 12 years that I personally know of. He also has a store on Sand Point. He sold the 15th Ave. E store to Donna a couple of years ago or so. When it was Farrell's Jewelers, it was staffed by a very knowledgeable woman who kept regular 9-5 hours. Donna is more eclectic. The shop's hours were not consistent, Donna opened in the afternoon whenever she arrived and she stayed late into the night (often past midnight) after the store was closed, repairing jewelry. Some people loved her Scotties, others not so much. She previously worked out of an office in a high-rise downtown, and was very successful. Her style didn't work so well for a store-front in a neighborhood. I hope she prospers with the next...

Come January 15th, another 160 of your Capitol Hill friends and neighbors might be out of a job. There are rumors of a big 10% layoff coming at Microsoft. With around 6,500 Microsoft employees in the city, figure at least 25% of them live on the Hill and assume the rumored cut will hit every 'Softie equally (which it won't) -- that would leave about 162 Capitol Hill residents looking for a new job. Further assume disproportinate percentage of CHS readership amongst those 162, and we're talking economic disaster for this blog. Or, a big uptick in content submitted to the site. One of the two.