Capitol Hill’s Mint Lounge has closed.

The state announced the discontinuance of the club’s liquor license this week and Google lists the venue as “temporarily closed.”

The property company that manages the Pine at Melrose building the dance club has called home tells CHS the business’s lease ended January 31st and the tenant has moved out.

Mint ownership has not responded to inquiries from CHS about the status of the lounge that revived the former Baltic Room as a dance and DJ club.

The closure follows ongoing pressure from some businesses and city and Seattle Police officials over a spate of nightlife gun violence in the area. In one example in July, Seattle Police flooded the area around Pine and Melrose and a gunshot wound victim was dropped at nearby Harborview Medical Center after a bout of gunfire outside the club. SPD said a second person was shot on the night and that more than 50 shots were fired in the incident.

The shooting was part of a string of gun violence reported around the club. In June, a gunfight outside the nightclub reportedly involved a patron and club security just before last call early on a Sunday. In March, police were called to the area after reports of a dispute and threats of gun violence included a man reportedly shooting himself in the hand. Last February, another shooting left shattered glass at a nearby restaurant, riddled parked vehicles with bullets, and sent bullets flying into nearby apartments. SPD typically responds with significant numbers of officers and emphasis patrol units to the hot spot including this major response to a fight outside the club early in 2022.

CHS reported here in the summer of 2021 on the club’s new brand as the Mint Lounge. CHS reported on new owners Rachel Keith and Rahsaan Henry taking over the club in 2019.

The Baltic Room the Mint replaced dates back to 1997 when Capitol Hill nightlife legend Linda Derschang opened the club as a piano bar. It eventually grew into a DJ and dance space before a series of ownership changes.

The closure shutters a Capitol Hill club dedicated to R&B, hip hop, dancehall, and Afrobeat music. Its business included door charges, cocktails and drinks, and premium perks like VIP tables and “bottle service.”

Mint recently got new landlords and the block received new investment as San Francisco-based real estate company Prado Group paid $5 million for the property home to Machiavelli, Li’l Woody’s, Qin Xi’an Noodles, and the Mint Lounge.

Meanwhile, grocery-focused real estate investment firm Regency Centers paid $15.5 million for the nearby Melrose Market in 2019.

Ongoing development in the area has not stopped the shootings. A problem parking lot where nightlife crowds gathered and the scene of several shootings has been replaced by the new Pivot mixed-use development rising above Pine and I-5.

The area gun violence has carried into 2023. In January, the window of Still Liquor around the corner was shot in a bout of late night gunfire. There were no injuries reported in that incident. But nightlife shootings have not been limited to the area around Melrose.

 In September, one person was sent to the hospital in a shootout that erupted in the Rancho Bravo parking lot. In November, gunfire sent people scattering outside 12th Ave venues including Rhein Haus. Last month, three people outside the Comet were hit and suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries in a drive-by shooting in the core area of the Pike/Pine nightlife and entertainment district. Comet owner Jason Lajeunesse criticized the “apathy” from city officials and SPD amid the ongoing Pike/Pine nightlife shootings.

Late last year, Mayor Bruce Harrell met with Capitol Hill business representatives to discuss neighborhood safety including the spate of shootings and heard from businesses including some near Mint Lounge who voiced their concerns about the club.

“Nighttime safety in Capitol Hill remains a priority, which is why Mayor Harrell met with a group of businesses owners from the Pike/Pine corridor in November 2022 to discuss how safety can be improved for the neighborhood’s residents, visitors, businesses and their employees,” a spokesperson for Harrell office said in a statement sent to CHS about the 10th and Pike shooting.

The mayor’s rep told CHS that “several business owners voiced support for increased law enforcement presence and relationship building with the Seattle Police Department.”

“The mayor’s comprehensive police recruitment and retention plan takes urgent and long-term steps to ensure a well-staffed department responsive to these community needs,” the spokesperson said.

As for Pike/Pine’s ongoing ripples of nightlife gun violence, it is unlikely the Mint Lounge closure will bring it to a close. Shots fired and shooting injuries have continued to surge through 2022 into 2023 across the country and King County driven by pandemic factors including social service cutbacks, and the prevalence of firearms.

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