Tag Archives: republican

King County’s $11.6M acquisition of Capitol Hill apartment building part of plan to house 1,600 homeless people — UPDATE

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King County’s quest to house 1,600 homeless people by 2028 will include new homes on Capitol Hill as officials try to improve the results of the challenged program behind the acquisition.

According to the latest efforts to document the crisis, there are an estimated 13,400 people living homeless in the county and the Department of Community and Human Services estimates more than 40,000 people are in need of homelessness services around Seattle and the county over the course of the year.

According to records, the county has purchased a four-story, 35-unit apartment building just west of the intersection and Broadway Hill Park for $11.6 million. The $322,000 per unit price to the private developer that constructed the building is in line with recent similar transactions in the neighborhood.

The deal is the latest under the Health Through Housing measure passed by the King County Council in 2021 which aims to house up to 1,600 people experiencing chronic homelessness by using hundreds of millions of dollars raised from a sales tax on properties in Seattle and five nearby cities. Continue reading →

Why the Seattle Fire Department is burning down this Capitol Hill house

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If you live near Broadway between Mercer and Harrison, you may have smelled smoke or seen the multiple unit response by the Seattle Fire Department starting early Tuesday morning. But it’s all good. They were the ones setting the fires.

A Capitol Hill corner destined for redevelopment — and already singed in an accidental fire earlier this winter — is burning this week in exercises to help SFD firefighters train under real flames and conditions in the densely packed neighborhood.

Battalion Chief Jared Fields told CHS why they were setting a vacant house on fire in the middle of Capitol Hill at Federal and Republican across from Broadway Hill Park.  “What we’re doing here today is conducting some live fire training in an acquired structure,” Fields said.

In addition to posting notices on social media, SFD says it asked its firefighters to go door-to-door to notify neighboring homes and businesses of potential impact from the two days of exercises. The practice burns will continue through Wednesday.

The previously scheduled practice comes following a rare deadly fire on Capitol Hill. Continue reading →

School’s out for summer — How did student-friendly project to create Capitol Hill’s newest neighborhood greenway work out?

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The green bike box at 15th Ave E (Image: CHS)

By Ryan Packer

In the middle of 2020, when the Seattle Department of Transportation was still figuring out how to roll out pandemic-focused programs like the local-access-only Stay Healthy Streets, it was also installing a long-anticipated new neighborhood greenway to a street in Capitol Hill. The connection is a part of a Safe Routes to School project providing safer routes to Lowell Elementary and Meany Middle School. We covered the project at CHS as it was happening, but after an unconventional school year at Seattle Public Schools ended a few weeks ago, we decided to check back in on how the project has worked out.

The greenway connected to the one already in place along 21st Ave E and filled in a route envisioned on Seattle’s 2013 Bicycle Master Plan running east to west in Capitol Hill along E Republican Street. But to serve Lowell Elementary, the route takes a detour at 13th Ave E and connects with the back end of the school along E Roy Street. Users wanting to connect to Broadway can use one of Capitol Hill’s only pedestrian streets- but not during the start or end of school days during the school year.

The crossing improvements at E Roy Street and 12th Ave E, as well as at E Republican and 19th Ave E, featuring marked crosswalks on both sides of the street and flashing crossing beacons to alert drivers to stop for walking or rolling traffic, are probably the most notable changes that have come with the greenway. But E Harrison Street also received crossing improvements as part of the project, in recognition of the fact that there isn’t one singular route that neighborhood residents take to travel between Meany and Lowell. Continue reading →

Police investigate overnight gunfire near Tashkent Park

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Multiple 911 callers reported gunfire near Capitol Hill’s Tashkent Park early Friday morning. There were no injuries or property damage reported.

Police were called to the area just before 12:30 AM to a report of multiple shots. One caller reported finding shell casings outside their window. According to East Precinct radio updates, police recovered eight shell casings at the scene and were looking through a grassy area for more.

According to radio updates, a check of the area around Belmont and Republican turned up no suspects.

 

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CHS Pics | Even more neighbors will come to E Republican’s block party next year

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The neighbors around E Republican between 10th Ave E and Federal Ave have been gathering together for Night Out block parties for a few years now. Tuesday night, CHS stopped by the party. Next year, there will be even more neighbors to join in.

“We need to have more housing but development in a way that kind of fits the neighborhood,” neighbor John Stuntebaeck told CHS about the four-story, 36-unit apartment building under construction on the block.

Continue reading →