McGinn in campaign mode
Capitol Hill business leaders and representatives from its largest institutions have put together an ambitious plan to host Mayor-elect Mike McGinn Wednesday afternoon on a tour of the Hill ranging from planned construction areas on 12th Ave, to the thriving sidewalks of Pike/Pine, to the future promise of light rail at the Sound Transit construction area on Broadway. Only one problem. The soon-to-be mayor can’t be there.
But he will be in attendance at the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce’s holiday party tonight at Julia’s starting around 5:30 PM.
In the meantime, his soon-to-be deputy mayor Darryl Smith will be taking the tour with representatives of the Chamber, Capitol Hill Housing, the Capitol Hill Community Council and Seattle University among others.
According to a spokesperson for McGinn, the purpose of the tour is to learn more about the Hill’s various business districts and is not intended to be focused on potential streetcar routes.
Still, Chamber president executive director and head of the Broadway Improvement Association Jack Hilovsky said if it does come up, he knows what he want to say. “As representative of BIA, I want a streetcar that serves Broadway well all the way north of John — maybe all the way to Roy,” Hilovsky told CHS.
The tour for the McGinn camp officials will start at Seattle University’s new Admissions and Alumni building on 12th Ave with a nearby stop at 12th and Jefferson to visit the site of a planned Capitol Hill Housing project and then a brief stop in front of the King County Youth Detention Center where more development is planned. After that, the group is slated to head north on 12th to the East Precinct parking lot where development has also been discussed but SPD hasn’t yet given their blessing. The tour continues down Pine from the East Precinct lot for a view of Pine’s historic buildings and business district before a swing over to Broadway to talk about Seattle Central, the Broadway retail core and the coming light rail construction.
since i work most closely with 12th ave leaders for CHH, i just want to note that south of madison we all recognize is considered the central area, and as such, we partner with central area organizations there – the 12th avenue stewardship group and the squire park community council. so this tour should really be called “cap hill and 12th avenue urban village”
Businesses south of Madison such as Lark, Stumptown, and Cafe Presse I consider and identify with Capitol Hill.
Thanks double dash. That intersection is actually widely known to be a “shared” area between Cap Hill/Pike Pine and the Central Area. All neighborhood matching fund projects there can present at either the East District or Central District. However, the 12th Avenue Neighborhood Plan goes to Madison (and the Pike Pine to Madison as well) so I always feel the need to call this out, out of respect to Squire Park and the many residents that have been working to revitalize 12th and the Central Area for decades! Our work on 12th asks people to think about the ways that we can celebrate business vitality (the Larks, Presses, etc.), while finding ways to preserve the mom and pop small businesses and arts organizations we love that have been on and around 12th for years. It is my hope that we can have both.