Monthly Archives: January 2024

Seattle City Council set to decide on rezone approval for 16th Ave’s Conover House redevelopment

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(Image: Weinstein A+U)

Not a landmark: The Conover House (Image: City of Seattle)

For a 131-year-old house on Capitol Hill, a week here, a week there makes little difference.

But the 1893-built Conover House gained a few more days Tuesday when a small slip-up among the fresh faces of the newly seated Seattle City Council pushed back a key vote on the 16th Ave property that is destined to become home to a mixed-use building with dozens of new apartments above a new restaurant in a project from Jewish Family Service and its headquarters just down the street.

During Tuesday’s public comment in front of the first full meeting of the council in 2024, a diali-in speaker was mistakenly allowed to briefly speak against the proposed contract rezone of the Conover House property that would allow a proposed development that will include demolition of the historic but not landmarked house to move forward.

“Sadly, I’m here to testify in vain, a bit, to save a part of Seattle that is pretty much condemned to be destroyed and forgotten,” the speaker began.

Their impassioned plea for the Conover House was cut-off but the procedural damage was done.

Because the council’s role in the decision is to approve or disapprove of the city Hearing Examiner’s decision to approve the rezone, that short testimony against the change was a procedural no-no. President Sara Nelson and the council were left with no choice but to delay the vote for a week “to clear the ex parte communications” in the “quasi judicial matter.”

The decision to wait a week on the vote is likely delaying the inevitable. Continue reading →

Finalists for Seattle City Council’s open seat to appear at public forum

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Tanya Woo and Vivian Song

The eight finalists to fill the open seat on the Seattle City Council will take part and address the city in a public forum Thursday night.

Meanwhile, a prominent Seattle business advocate and paid Harrell administration consultant is calling for the support of one candidate and warning against “a union campaign” to back another of the eight finalists.

The Seattle CityClub will host the Thursday, January 17th forum set to begin at 5:30 PM at Seattle City Hall inside the Bertha Knight Landes Room: Continue reading →

2024: The year of breakfast at Dingfelder’s Jewish Delicatessen

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Thanks to Tammy Jo for the report and pictures

You have to admire the slow path Dingfelder’s Jewish Delicatessen is climbing on Capitol Hill.

Dingfelder’s opened as a walk-up at 14th and Pine in 2018. In the beginning, you couldn’t sit down. The interior wasn’t open to customers until months later and they didn’t have a website.

2019 brought a wonder of modern convenience: indoor seating at the deli.

2020 brought bagels.

Now, 2024 brings breakfast at Dingfelder’s. Here’s longtime friend of the site Tammy Jo reporting in the CHS Facebook Group:

DINGFELDER’S DELICATESSAN is finally serving Deli Breakfast!! They are open 7am-7pm Sun-Thurs // 7am-9pm Fri-Sat 1318 E Pine The Kaiser Roll is New York good. A true egg & cheese on Kaiser is available 7 days a week on Capitol Hill. Also cookies & pickles. YUM.

Continue reading →

‘Let freedom ring,’ calls for ceasefire in Gaza part of Seattle’s 2024 MLK Day march

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The annual MLK Day march from Garfield High School stretched across blocks of the Central District Monday even as Seattle temperatures continued below freezing. In 2024, cries for ceasefire in Gaza echoed along the route as a Palestinian flag flew among signs and banners from the labor and community groups part of the day’s activities. Continue reading →

Fields damaged during Seattle freeze leave youth and recreational sports schedules a mess — UPDATE

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The many colored lines of the Washington Park field (Image: City of Seattle)

Several sports fields across Seattle are closed and in need of repairs after a sustained bout of freezing temperatures has caused damage to the synthetic turf. Seattle Parks says at least nine of the fields at its facilities have been reported damaged and the Seattle Public Schools system has closed all of its turf fields to “assess the severity and scope of the damage on their fields.”

“Unfortunately, this weekend with the extreme freezing weather, a number of SPR (Seattle Parks) and SPS (Seattle Public Schools) synthetic turf fields experienced buckling and damage underneath the turf, resulting in lumps, divots and craters in areas of the field that make them unplayable,” the statement from the city parks department read. Continue reading →

Design review: Developers moving ahead with 6-story ‘U-shaped’ project on Broadway’s Bait Shop block

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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 Meeting
January 24, 2024 5:00 PM

Meeting: https://bit.ly/Mtg3041389

Listen Line: 206-207-1700 Passcode: 2499 053 3515
Comment Sign Up: https://bit.ly/Comment3041389
Review Phase
EDG–Early Design Guidance

Project Number

Planner
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. Continue reading →

Multiple dumpster fires set overnight on Capitol Hill

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Picture shared with CHS from a witness to one 15th Ave response

Seattle Fire responded to a series of fires set across Capitol Hill overnight.

According to emergency radio updates, crews handled multiple fires set to dumpsters and recycling receptacles including a large fire that broke out near a building in the 1600 block of 15th Ave early Tuesday morning. SFD also responded to another significant 15th Ave dumpster fire and smaller trash fires including one reported near 12th and Pine. Continue reading →

Overnight Capitol Hill power outage blamed on ‘equipment failure’ — UPDATE

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Loud booms and a reported 16th Ave E transformer fire preceded a power outage that disrupted service to around 5,000 customers across Capitol Hill Monday night.

Seattle City Light said service was restored for most customers by just before 12:30 AM on the icy night, blaming “equipment failure” for the outage that began about two hours earlier. Continue reading →

MLK Day 2024: Stop by Washington Hall’s new Creative Cafe after the march

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Seattle’s MLK Day celebrations will include the grand opening of a new cafe at 14th Ave’s Washington Hall hoped to create a new community venue while providing job training and a creative space to gather, relax, and collaborate in the Central District. Continue reading →

Neighborhood Matching Fund: Now accepting 2024 ideas for District 3 community projects

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The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods is currently accepting applications for the Neighborhood Matching Fund, a relatively small program that has powered more than 5,000 projects in its 35-year existence, the city says..

Recently funded projects include the $25,000 awarded to help fund a summer series of events to celebrate the Volunteer Park Amphitheater after is upgrades and $26,000 to pay for a new fence at the Howell Street P-patch gardens.

The City of Seattle has funding to provide thousands of dollars for community projects across the city and District 3 and a deadline for one of the simplest ways to get support for organizations to partner on neighborhood projects is coming up. Smaller projects, meanwhile, are welcome to apply year round.

The NMF is a granting program that consists of two funds – the Community Partnership Fund  and the Small Sparks Fund  – which the city says support “grassroots projects that build stronger communities, with an emphasis on projects led by or impacting Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.”

Continue reading →