Broadway’s H-Mart and a host of new businesses really are opening this year above Capitol Hill Station after around a year of pandemic delay. Among the new shopping, food and drink, and service options coming to Broadway will be a new dental office joining the “Transit Oriented Development.” It just so happens to be the practice of a third-generation Capitol Hill family that’s kind of a big deal, at least in Seattle’s medical and dentistry scene. And it’s part of an intriguing strategy — the office will be joined by a twin location opening only blocks away.

Dr. Paul R. Sauvage, DDS, co-owns two downtown dental offices with his son and daughter, Dr. Paul Sauvage Jr. and Dr. Laura Sauvage: The search engine-friendly Downtown Seattle Dentists in the Medical Dental Building on Olive Way, and Dentist Downtown Seattle on Westlake.

Buildout has begun on the family’s newest location— Seattle’s Capitol Hill Dentist —on the corner of Broadway and Denny at 1830 Broadway. The coming office will be housed in the corner unit of Capitol Hill’s TOD Suite C to be exact, a spot they hoped to be up and running in March of this year, but the pandemic pushed the buildout back about “six or eight months,” according to Sauvage Jr.

Hopefully, you’ll be able to make your first appointments after summer.

The massively important Capitol Hill Station development has added 428 housing units, including 176 affordable housing units, an acre of plaza space, and close to 40,000 square feet of commercial and community space, including the AIDS Memorial Pathway, weekly Capitol Hill Farmers Market, and more.

“We’re really excited to take care of people in what we consider our neighborhood,” Sauvage Jr. said. “My grandparents lived on Capitol Hill, that’s where my dad and all his–he’s one of eight siblings–they were all born and raised right on Capitol Hill on 22nd, kind of by Holy Names. We grew up down the street on 22nd. As soon as the opportunity came up, we all got together and decided, ‘Why not expand our footprint a little closer to home on Capitol Hill?’”

The dentistry family also appears to be setting up a similar situation to its downtown dental office approach where it operates the two separate locations. On Capitol Hill, you’ll find Seattle’s Capitol Hill Dentist above Capitol Hill Station. And, the sign plans say, you’ll find Capitol Hill’s Seattle Dentistry soon in new development on E Union next to Optimism Brewing in the soon to open Union Street Apartments.

Sauvage Sr. was born to Mary Ann Sauvage and heart surgeon Dr. Lester R. Sauvage, and grew up in what was known as “Catholic Hill” on 22nd Avenue, close to Holy Names Academy. Lester Sauvage was born in Wapato, Washington in 1926, and became a notable contributor to advancements in heart surgery, especially coronary bypass surgery. Mary Ann was a nursing student at Seattle University when she met Lester. Sauvage’s private practice in Seattle averaged more than 260 operations per year for 32 years. Read more about Lester Sauvage here.

The Sauvage family’s existing dental offices are all a “one-stop-shop” for all aspects of dentistry, including Invisalign, wisdom teeth removal, root canals, and general dentistry. “Our whole philosophy at our office is, you come see us and we’re going to take care of the whole problem so we don’t have to send people on a paper trail from office to office,” Sauvage Jr. said.

Opening new locations on Capitol Hill has been in the works for about a year. When the Sauvages learned about the plans for Capitol Hill Station’s development, they reached out to a leasing agent to find out more.

Commercial tenants planned for the project including grocer H-Mart, The Exploration Academy daycare, and a food and drink mix including coffee counters, a juice bar, and restaurants, is moving forward with openings coming soon for some of the project’s new tenants.

While pandemic-related delays in permitting slowed the timeline, Sauvage Jr. said they just recently were able to access their future office space and are working with contractors on the build out now.

Bringing the family business to the heart of Capitol Hill, especially with proximity to establishments Sauvage Jr. grew up with like Pho Than Brothers and Dick’s Drive-In, feels like coming home.

“I just want people to know how excited we are,” he said. “For us, it kind of came full circle for my sister and I as the third generation of getting to provide medical/dental care to people in the city of Seattle.”

PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.