Some day, the site of the H.E. Holmes building at E Pike and Summit may be home to an eight-story mixed-use development. In the meantime, the old building is hosting one of those new-fangled pop-ups. The headquarters for the Burgess for Mayor campaign has set up shop at 501 E Pike in what has become an important strip of political activity on Capitol Hill.

A spokesperson for City Council member and mayoral candidate Tim Burgess confirmed the new headquarters with CHS — though the huge painted windows were probably confirmation enough. Inside, the former C&K Graphics is being reconfigured for an on-display political hive of activity that will house staff and volunteers through the 2013 election this fall.

The building was recently purchased by “preservation-minded” Capitol Hill developer Hunters Capital for $5.3 million. The company also swept up the Greenus building across the street where Brocklind’s is wrapping up 106 years of business in Seattle this week. Its final day is Saturday, by the way, before a well-deserved retirement. Perhaps, the Ed Murray campaign should consider the costume shop space as it moves through the candidate’s exploratory phase until the session in Olympia wraps up. We’ll follow up to see what we can learn about rules on leases, etc. for campaign headquarters and any relationship to campaign contributions these kinds of spaces might have.

The Burgess campaign tells us they valued the vibrancy of the neighborhood and its proximity to City Hall — as well as its availability. They also could hope to capture some of the quality political juju on the block — Washington United for Marriage ran a successful campaign from its E Pike headquarters last fall.

It’s not the only mayoral campaign headquarters in the area — Council member Bruce Harrell has set up his office at 23rd and Union. The candidate kicked off his campaign last week with an event at 14th Ave’s First AME Church. Meanwhile, Capitol Hill played a physical role in Mike McGinn’s successful 2009 run for mayor as he announced his campaign at Piecora’s and celebrated election night at Pike and Harvard at the former War Room.

As for his constituency, respondents who selected Burgess in our CHS primary survey tended to be more public safety-minded than other respondents. Those who selected the former Seattle cop tended to value the candidate’s position on crime more highly than other categories like fiscal responsibility or transportation. They also tended to express less value for the candidate’s views on nightlife than the other categories. Burgess has said he favors surgical policing around “micro-places” where crime is most likely to occur and that he would fire Seattle Police Chief John Diaz.

You’ll have a chance to ask the candidate about his other views — and check out the new campaign HQ digs — next weekend:

Starting next weekend Tim Burgess will begin a series of coffee hours across the city to discuss his campaign and answer your questions.  Tim has built a reputation of listening to people to get things done – but he can’t do this without your help and insight.  Please join us to discuss the issues facing our neighborhoods.  Tim wants to hear from you!

Saturday, Feb. 23rd, 12-1pm
Capitol Hill, Tim Burgess Campaign Office
501 East Pike Street, 98122