You may recall a recent CHS post regarding land-use paperwork filed for the property at 1621 12th Ave — the former home of Capitol Hill Arts Center and new home for Velocity Dance. At the time, we wondered why they were applying for a new use status for the building to be utilized as a performance space and a restaurant. Ostensibly, this is status the property should have already had being home to CHAC and the recently departed Crave.
Just had a quick phone conversation with project architect Eric Koch from Partners Architectural Design Group. Turns out, over the years, land use paperwork was never completed for the building so the new owners needed to square away the legal requirements before moving forward with their new plans. He said it’s not unusual for this kind of application to be made — but it usually happens when a building is changing the types of businesses it features, not just changing the businesses.
The building did not change hands, the prior ownership (Elizabeth Linke) remains. A Change of Use was required because CHAC never achieved this and was operating illegally without a certificate of occupancy. Significant upgrades were needed to achieve the change of use Velocity required that allowed for live performances and the new lease with Velocity is reflective of the cost of these improvements. It’s definitely a win-win for everyone.
Thanks Phil. Know anything about this complaint?
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/12/03/a_compl
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/12/03/a_compl
J, here’s the working link for the post in the Slog. But thanks for the bad link since I ended up going to the main page w/the story about the police busting an alleged prostitution ring at a nail salon in Madison Valley:
“The warrant says one male detective ‘has been inside of a nail salon before and knows the smell of nail salons and nail polish. The Lavender Beauty Salon and Spa did not have the smell of any kind of nail treatments.'”