Developers behind a project to create a new mixed-use development on the Bait Shop block of Broadway will present their plans for the new new six-story building at a city-required design review session next week.
Cascade Ridge Partners is moving forward with plans to develop the six-story, 121-unit, apartment building with street level commercial space and 3 live-work units plus underground parking for 127 vehicles in the 600 block of Broadway E.
600 Broadway E
Design Review Early Design Guidance for a 6-story, 121-unit, apartment building with retail and 3 live-work units. Parking for 127 vehicles proposed.
Review Phase
EDG–Early Design GuidanceProject Number
3041389 View Related RecordsPlanner
Joseph Hurley / Email comments
CHS reported on the early planning for the project in November. A representative for Mark Craig and Cascade Ridge Partners said the developer was planning for Broadway North, a proposed mixed-use building with around more than 120 apartment units, underground parking, “123 bike stalls and conveniences,” a rooftop deck, and “other residential amenities.” Street-level will include 10,000 square feet of street-level space for retail, services, and food and drink establishments.
Businesses on the block told CHS that landlord and prolific Capitol Hill area property owner Redside Partners had informed its commercial tenants of the early plans and that it was possible Bait Shop and its neighbors could return to the block after development and construction. CHS reported here on the ten-year anniversary of Bait Shop earlier in 2023.
Next week’s design review is a major milestone in what is typically a year to two year process of public review for the city’s major projects.
Studio Meng Strazzara is leading design on the development and will present multiple concepts for the general massing of the development at the January 24th review including a preferred design that “continues the character of the Broadway E. corridor massing vernacular” with a U-shape concept.
That layout would create a “prominent retail corner at the corner of Broadway E. and E. Mercer St.” perfect for a future home for Bait Shop or something like it and a large “commercial base” that “continues the existing retail character of the neighborhood and provide porous street edge.” The design would also create an “upper-level setback on Broadway” hoped to reduce the feel of the building’s mass.
The U-shape unit arrangement would also “allow most units facing outward toward a street frontage and provide ‘eyes on’ opportunities, helping with security,” the developers say.
Meanwhile, the project is hoping its plan for five “live/work units” fronting 10th Ave E will provide a transition to lowrise zoned areas across the street though the review board in the past has typically been skeptical about the sometimes underutilized commercial elements of the design type.
Other projects designed by Studio Meng Strazzara
The project is the latest effort on northern Broadway to extend the street’s redevelopment wave and could be part of packaging property along the street for potential sale. The more than 100-year-old structure home to Bait Shop and TRIBE Fitness would be demolished to make way for the project. The building was once home to vaunted Broadway dive the Jade Pagoda before a 2010-era overhaul. Around the block, a collection of old-stock housing including a duplex, triplex, four-plex, and a circa 1908 15-unit apartment building would also be demolished for the development. The corner’s Diamond parking lot would also be part of the proposed project’s footprint.
The northern end of Broadway has been busier with development related paperwork. Last March, CHS reported on early planning for a mixed-use redevelopment across the street on the DeLuxe’s Broadway and Roy corner. In that case, the family ownership of the DeLuxe and the 1931-era building home to the popular hangout, and a small collection of businesses said the paperwork was only part of due diligence to determine the development potential for the property.
With a design review on the calendar, the Broadway North project on the other side of the street is now preparing to fully dig in.
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I know Design Review isn’t the right time to say that this project shouldn’t have parking, since that’s not something they consider, but when IS the right time?
why shouldn’t it have parking? I’m a big supporter of underground parking that reduces wasted space from street level lots. Adding 120 units with no parking would only make the street parking situation around that area worse for the current residents.
I don’t own a car myself but I understand that many people require them for their daily life and I don’t think eliminating parking is the answer.
If you have to have a car for your daily life, ~95% of homes in the Seattle region will provide you with easy parking. We should encourage car-free living in the densest part of our city. (I don’t have a car either.) Underground parking is incredibly expensive, requires driveways across the sidewalk that damage the pedestrian experience, and takes space away from the ground floor of a building that could be used for retail or additional apartment units.
We need lots of housing — lots of new apartments — that don’t have parking. People who rely on cars can choose to live elsewhere. They have tons of options. But people who don’t rely on cars or would like to get rid of the cars they’re forced to rely on now should have housing options that don’t require them to pay a premium for parking they don’t want or need. Parking takes up a lot of space, it’s expensive to build (especially underground), and parking requirements are one of the (many) drivers of our housing crisis. This is an IDEAL site for apartments without parking — on a bus line, a short walk to light rile, across the street from a grocery store.
Also, we can’t preserve al the single family homes all over most of Capitol Hill and then complain when one-story commercial buildings on arterials that are home to businesses like Bait Shop come down. We have a housing crisis and we’ve made a collective and very stupid and very short-sighted decision to restrict almost all new development to arterials. I’d love to see apartments like this going up on 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, etc., etc., north of John. But this is where the new developments are going to go because this is the only place they can.
It was a mistake for this development to include parking. Sooner or later the entire block across from QFC is going to come down. If we don’t want that to happen, and we don’t want to lose all the restaurants and bars that are on the block now, we should be demanding rezones of single-family blocks all over the Hill.
Oh Matt. Such a grump.
If parking is your number one issue, you could work to change the zoning or comment during the NEPA process. If you care about the pedestrian environment, green design, having functional unique retail spaces, high quality finishing materials, and an interesting design, you could actually weigh in during the design review process. This is your opportunity to make the built environment under current zoning a little better. It is a shame you waste your energy tilting at windmills and giving developers that only care about profit a free pass. They are going to build it either way, so why not make it good?
WHY….? Of all places, why why why why BAIT SHOP? God, these monsters do not care about our culture at all.
yes what horrible monsters building a place for 150-200 people to live in. why do we continue to prioritize homes over bars
this is a false choice. there are sooo many parking lots, empty lots, vacant storefronts, run down single family homes, shabby old apartment buildings, and other sites to build up housing yet many of them stick around for years while thriving local businesses get pushed out, never to return. we can have both, but there’s been a steady erosion of locally owned businesses in favor of national chains and years-vacant retail space.
also, you may not like it but I think it is completely true that the developers do not care about local culture, neighborhoods, and ownership. It is not their priority at all, and we have no means to make it be so. It’s sad as hell to watch.
This story mentions that a Diamond parking lot, some older homes, and a shabby older apartment building will be demolished as part of this project. And, yes, also the building that currently houses Bait Shop. But you already got most of what you say you want did the you?
yeah, this is literally replacing a parking lot. the bar is ten years old, it’s not some historic place.
You can build on other empty parking lots all over the city. Also didn’t we elect Joy to help stop the gentrifying of CH and CD and shift it to other areas of the city? Stop concern trolling housing when there’s ample density places. Upzone millionaires row if housing is your TRUE concern.
this is literally building on an empty parking lot.
What’s with the progressive pixie dust, same as the MAGA pixie dust, that somehow a politician just sworn into office has sway over things that were most likely set into motion year(s) ago? It’s Sawant you should be excoriating for letting so much ‘gentrification’ happen – it was on her watch. For a long time.
Calm down Boris. As Seattle continues to bulldoze and close/displace places that are beloved the community, we should have a place to mourn those losses. I keep seeing people like you saying housing is more important than anything, but the reality is that 99% of these new apartments are overpriced tiny boxes that operate with the sole intention of maximizing their profits. The result is a loss of cool and interesting places for people to gather, ugly generic buildings, corporate storefronts, and higher rents. Just because you don’t care about the culture of this city, doesn’t mean the losses don’t matter.
BUT IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THIS. As you know, 20 years ago, that was the Jade Pagoda. When the Bait Shop went in, it was initially seen as another out-of-touch, “lowest common denominator”, fake-ass, dive bar (thanks, Linda!). Complaining about the price of apartments is tired and ridiculous. Economics drive the prices. City politics drive the economics. Our city is full of people that make $150-$200k a year, so this is what you get. If we would have given Paul Allen the park in SLU like he wanted us to have, we wouldn’t be a massive tech hub, and we could continue to have the “culture” you speak of. Money kills culture. Always has. Blame tech. It changed everything, and not for the better.
this bar is ten years old, not some historic resource. i care about housing a couple hundred more people when this is built compared to what the city, state, and country can do today. and this is literally mostly replacing a parking lot. there are plenty of vacant storefronts on capitol hill that this newish bar can move to.
Also – Seattle now houses almost 150,000 more people than it did in 2010, in spite of continued decrease in household sizes. 150,000 more people living in housing here! It seems to me that if the side effect of building houses solely for profit is providing housing for tens of thousands of people, it’s a decent trade.
Upzone Millionaire’s row first, then come for Bait Shop. Deal?
Millionaires Row was already updated. It is now zoned residential rather than single family, which means each lot can accommodate three units of housing. So, again, you guys are already getting what you’re asking for, You just don’t know it.
Rebuild these highrises on their million dollar home plots and Magnolia first, then come for bait shop.
How about both? Why do you want to present a false choice?
Start with Millionaires row. Start there. Upzone Magnolia. Do all those, then come back to CD/CH. We shouldn’t get the brunt of upzoning when those places don’t. Keep our cool stuff until all those places are upzoned 20-30% more minimum. Then see if we NEED the housing…
You’re talking like this new building is going to be some kind of shelter for homeless people. It’s not. It’s going to be another ugly box with tiny OVER PRICED apartments. The only winner here is the developer. I bet the ground level will be another gym (yawn). Why are you so passionate about defending this development? It’s weird that people being sad about losing a place they like offends you. Get a life and stop trolling.
if we add 100+ apartments to the city, county, state, country, unless your claim is that they will only be second homes for people, they will be the primary home for someone. Adding dozens or hundreds of new housing units keeps someone from being homeless. So yes, this is housing someone that would otherwise not have a home.
No, it’s not going to be a shelter for homeless people. It’s going to be housing for people who want to live in Seattle and can pay $2500/month so that they can walk to work, which will free up hundreds of units that those people would otherwise be living in down in Columbia City where they could light rail to work, which will then house hundreds of people who would otherwise be living in Renton and drive to work at their jobs in hospitality downtown. But oh no, let’s save Bait Shop so they can continue to see their employee commute go up an hour every year as they get pushed out to Carnation.
I literally know everyone at Bait Shop and this is such a concern troll. No employee there has issue getting to work via commute.
The development is happening. So you’re getting what you want… Just like everywhere else in Seattle, we are losing places that we love, that have memories and history for the people who like to go to those places. Why can’t someone say they are sad about a place getting torn down without a bunch of trolls feeling the need to say our feelings don’t matter? This whole thread literally started because someone said the “it is completely true that the developers do not care about local culture, neighborhoods, and ownership. It is not their priority at all, and we have no means to make it be so. It’s sad as hell to watch.” WE ARE SAD. LET US HAVE THAT Jesus!
Well said.
Building more housing eventually lowers the price of rent. Sawant knew this and that is why she supported housing development. One of the few things she did right.
Your first claim is very doubtful. Rents have been rising in Seattle for years, in spite of all the new buildings. “Eventually” will never come!
The Bait Shop has only been around for ten years; it’s not some relic of Seattle history. New bars will come along, with interior design just as convincing.
if you think convincing interior design is the main thing “the” bait shop has going for it, i suspect you may not visit much. not only is it a former derschang joint (so it is a relic of sorts) but owned and operated by a seattle crew that goes way back on the hill (they are relics). plus it is simply one of the best, most fun, creative and inclusive places ever to open around here. we don’t need The Shop & Bait elevated nautical, which is what would move into a new space, this is the real, authentic thing.
Convincing interior design is the reason people mistake the Bait Shop for an old dive bar when it is a recent creation. Some of us still remember the Jade Pagoda… and a whole list of other hangouts now long gone. Of the bars I used to visit in my 20s, the only one I can recall that’s still open is the Garage, which is a completely different place now, and isn’t even really that historic since it opened up just before I started going there. It’s just the way things are. Yes, it’s tragic when a place you love closes, and no, you can never find that same vibe again anywhere else. But new places come along just as the old ones go and people will come to love them just as much as you did. Trying to stop that process and hold the city in place in the way we loved it in the past is part of what got us into the housing crisis we have today. We have to grieve and let go and move on instead.
So many other empty lots and richer areas you can densify than this cool little spot. Upzone historic Wallingford first.
Why not both? We should upzone the city in its entirety.
Has this ever actually happened? The locally owned small businesses never return. They are gone forever. Half of city is retail space for lease because the tenants were kicked out and the rent in the new building is 5x the old rent. This is tragic.
They didn’t go into exactly the same spots, but Glo’s and Neighbor Lady both relocated into new development.
that’s fair in a way, but OG glo’s burned down and NL got forced out by Ikes right? no one gets kicked out of their spot for development and then comes back and survives.
so should the owner of the bait shop building burn it down?
won’t someone think of the wealthy business owners that could move to hundreds of empty retail spots rather than 200 people needing a roof over their heads…
The owners of Bait Shop are not wealthy. In fact, most small business owners aren’t wealthy. But you know who is wealthy? Developers and people who can afford to pay $2,500 a month to live in a 600 sq foot apt.
Really? A person earning $120,000 annually can comfortably afford to live in a 600 sq foot apt priced at $2500 monthly, That salary is just over the median earned in Seattle. Do you really think such apartments are reserved only for “wealthy” people? Everything is relative, of course, but these apartments will serve a large slice of everyday people in our neighborhood. And there will still be many, many bars to frequent just down the block, most of which will benefit from the infusion of new customers resulting from this development.
won’t somebody think of the people earning $120k+ who have cars and can live literally anywhere else
and all of the people mentioned need a place to live
On one hand, more housing is a net positive and the current parking lot there is ugly and mostly useless.
On the other hand, I would be surprised if this wasn’t the beginning of the end for Bait Shop. Even is they move into a new retail unit in the proposed building, there’s no way that the rent will be as cheap which will result in more expensive (it’s already pretty expensive) food/bev and cutting corners.
I hope they just move to another affordable older spot somewhere in the neighborhood that’s still walking distance 🙏 (goodbye Blotto, hello Bait Shop???)
Cool! I hope it gets built really soon and doesn’t get bogged down in endless design review.
Everyone who wants to see shabby old homes and parking lots get built on needs to go out and convince the owners of those homes and parking lots to sell. (FYI: that’s the gentrification JH is going to stop, so be quick! And those homeowners are already receiving letters and phone calls suggesting they sell, so maybe you should show up with a convincing way that the owner can continue to live in the neighborhood with no income and no house!) Currently, the places who want to sell are the commercial owners with retail tenants they don’t give a shit about. Maybe start a GoFundMe to help Bait Shop afford the rent in a new building, or maybe lobby to allow businesses to exist outside the urban village centers, which would reduce the commercial rent pressures.
No way JH stops it lol
Is it a forgone conclusion that the ground floor retail could not be the future home of a version 2 of bait shop?
As for parking, the average cost of an underground spot is $35k. So that’s over $4m for parking, that cost will be born by the renters whether they park a car or not. This part of Capitol Hill does not require parking from what I can tell.
I live 2 blocks from here, I think it is great that more housing is being built in the area. I hope that the commercial rents are affordable for small and local businesses.
One thing missing from all the “up zone [fill in the blank first] comments is the fact that no one is forcing this on the property owners. The property owners have decided they want to redevelop these parcels. Probably because they are going to get good money for selling them (or already sold them for good money). As was pointed out, many areas of the city have been upzoned, but if the property owner doesn’t want to sell/redevelop that will never happen.
If Bait shop is such a treasure (I’ll admit to not having spent much time in there since the onset of the pandemic, but last few times I did, I could barely hear myself think let alone carry on a comfortable conversation), then perhaps bait shop can find a new home on Capitol Hill or even a new home in this ew development along with over a hundred people who want to live an urban life.
Development doesn’t just “happen” like some kind of natural disaster. It is the result of property owners acting rationally, and within the boundaries of the zoning laws.