Monthly Archives: August 2024

A broth-less addition to Capitol Hill’s ramen scene, Kajiken bringing abura soba to 11th Ave

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(Image: Kajiken)

(Image: Kajiken)

Capitol Hill has entered its brothless noodle era. Kajiken is bringing its “soup-less” ramen to 11th Ave.

The U.S. chain of the Japanese noodle favorite is set to fill the restaurant space neighboring the Hugo House writing center across from Cal Anderson Park.

CHS reported last month on the closure of fast casual joint Oma Bap after 10 years in a story filled with Korean Food, CHOP, and the 11th Ave building developed as a new mixed-use home for the Hugo House literary nonprofit.

The development’s restaurant space is ready for a new story. Kajiken began its growth in America two years ago and now has locations across the country in a handful of locations including New York, Baltimore, Chicago, and the Bay Area. Continue reading →

Suspect in deadly Madison Valley carjacking arrested on Capitol Hill

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A memorial to the victim has grown at MLK and Harrison (Image: CHS)

Seattle Police have taken a 48-year-old man into custody in the carjacking that left an 80-year-old woman dead in Madison Valley.

SPD announced the arrest in an afternoon press conference. Earlier in the day, the suspect was tracked down and taken into custody near 15th and Pine. The suspect has maintained a Capitol Hill address, according to East Precinct radio updates. Continue reading →

A Seattle first at 14th and Union, the Heartwood’s residents can see, touch, and feel the timber — But challenges to affordable housing have trimmed the excitement

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With reporting by Alex Garland

In better times, you would hear more about the Heartwood, a recently completed mass-timber affordable apartment building at the core of Capitol Hill and the Central District, that puts its residents in direct contact with a building material more closely connected with the planet and the feelings of home.

The cross-laminated timber project is one of the first in the country to be designed with full exposure of mass timber in the structure. The newly opened building’s eight stories feature full exposure of its timber beams so residents and visitors can see, touch, and feel the wood. Other types can build higher — like this project on First Hill — but require that the wood be kept “encapsulated.”

But the Heartwood’s amazing composition has been overshadowed.

“[The timing surrounding the development and lease up of the Heartwood has presented challenges,” a spokesperson for the building’s developer Community Roots Housing tells CHS. “We’re seeing a softened rental market that has led to a slower lease up of the property than we anticipated, which is having an impact on other projects in our pipeline.” Continue reading →

‘Wednesdays are back’ — More than four years later, Capitol Hill’s Seattle Asian Art Museum back to pre-pandemic schedule

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(Image: Seattle Asian Art Museum)

Capitol Hill’s Seattle Asian Art Museum is ready to return to full power. Four years after pandemic restrictions closed its doors and after a few years of step by step return to more normal days at the Volunteer Park art venue, SAAM will finally get back to its pre-COVID schedule as it returns Wednesdays to its schedule starting next week.

Beginning August 28, the Seattle Asian Art Museum in historic Volunteer Park adds Wednesdays back to its calendar, bringing the museum to a schedule of five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm.

To celebrate, the museum is inviting the community to enjoy opening day of the new exhibition, Meot: Korean Art from the Frank Bayley Collection for free. Meot: Community Opening Day is Wednesday, August 28 and is free and open to the public. To attend, purchase free admission to the museum for that day.

The historic building reopened on February 8, 2020, after a three-year renovation and expansion—only to close again on March 13, 2020 due to the COVID pandemic. It reopened on May 28, 2021, with a three-day-a-week schedule and added Thursdays back to the schedule on October 5, 2023. Now, it’s back to a full five-day-a-week schedule that aligns with the schedule of the Seattle Art Museum in downtown Seattle.

CHS reported here last September as SAAM added Thursdays back to its offerings.

SAAM returned from its pandemic shutdown in May 2021. SAAM has shuttered in mid-March 2020 as COVID-19 numbers climbed. Only weeks earlier, the building had reopened after three years of closure and construction to overhaul and expand the museum.

The return of Wednesday’s will bring a free celebration of SAAM’s new Meot show featuring the work of more than 60 Korean artists.

Learn more about SAAM and the free community opening day for Meot at seattleartmuseum.org.

 

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Police search for suspect as 80-year-old killed in Madison Valley carjacking — UPDATE

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Police say an 80-year-old woman was dragged and killed during a Tuesday morning carjacking at MLK and Harrison.

Seattle Police said they were searching for the suspect and the stolen vehicle.

SPD and Seattle Fire were called to the Madison Valley intersection just before 10 AM Tuesday where the woman was reported down in the street. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill’s legendary sandwich shop the HoneyHole is back on solid ground

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(Image: HoneyHole Sandwiches)

(Image: HoneyHole Sandwiches)

Capitol Hill favorite HoneyHole Sandwiches is back on stable ground and continuing its 25-year legacy on E Pike. After a tumultuous year, this iteration of HoneyHole rock-solid, with new ownership and a continued commitment to “making great toasted sandwiches with house smoked meats and vegan options for the neighborhood to enjoy,” said owner Travis Rosenthal.

The good news comes a year after a sale put the legendary sandwich shop in an inexperienced owner’s hands. Last summer’s tumult was settled by the arrival of Rosenthal and his Seattle restaurant group arriving on a deal earlier this year to acquire and revive HoneyHole.

Rosenthal, who has grown a family of popular Capitol Hill and Seattle food and drink venues including E Pike rum bar Rumba and its post-Tiki sibling Inside Passage, has taken over and righted the HoneyHole ship.

Rosenthal has been a fan of HoneyHole for as long as he’s been a Capitol Hill business owner, in 2006 when he bought Tango Restaurant, beginning his food and drink entrepreneurship which eventually became Pike Street Hospitality Group. When HoneyHole shut its doors after a long series of management issues, Rosenthal was eager to get it reopened.

“[HoneyHole] has always had great sandwiches and a loyal following so it didn’t seem right to have it go out of business because of recent owner mismanagement,” said Rosenthal. His goals are straightforward: “to keep the service and product consistency as high as possible while ensuring it is a welcoming environment for our staff and guests.” Continue reading →

‘A pivotal location in Seattle’s African American heritage’ — Landmarks Board to consider old 21st Ave YWCA site

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The Seattle landmarks board will consider a 108-year-old structure slated for demolition at 21st Ave and Denny for protections due to the building’s role in Black history in the neighborhood.

The old Phillis Wheatley YWCA will be considered by the board September 4th. In the nomination (PDF) prepared for the city’s Department of Construction and Inspections, the city argues that the building could be worthy of architectural protections as “a pivotal location in Seattle’s African American heritage” — Continue reading →

‘Undetermined’ — Investigators can’t pinpoint cause in boarded-up Capitol Hill apartment building fire

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(Image: Seattle Fire Department)

Investigators were unable to determine what caused the fire early last Friday that ripped through a Belmont Ave apartment building that was supposed to be vacant.

The Seattle Fire Department said the Fire Marshal’s investigation officially ruled the cause of the two-alarm blaze that charred the boarded-up apartment building as “undetermined.”

A check of the building revealed nobody trapped inside during the fire and there were no reported injuries. Continue reading →

Your Capitol Hill forecast should improve as National Weather Service readies new zones to predict storms around Seattle

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If this weekend’s thunder and lightning caught you off guard, hang in there. Seattle’s weather forecasting is changing.

Between September and March, the National Weather Service will implement changes to public zones in the Seattle region to make them more focused and specific to the unique features of the areas around Puget Sound. The hope is to  address issues with the current zone configurations which can have considerable over or under warnings to communities during extreme weather events.

“It allows us to have a little bit more fidelity when it comes to where we issue watches, warnings and advisories,” Reed Wolcott, warning coordination meteorologist for NWS, tells CHS.

“The zone that the Seattle metro area is in right now…it’s a big zone, so it extends down to almost Tacoma and includes SeaTac. The new zone for the Seattle metro area does not include SeaTac, so it’s more reflective of the Seattle metro area.” Continue reading →

For Seattle City Council, summer recess then a fall of budget debate and politics over Position 8

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(Image: City of Seattle)

With reporting by Hannah Saunders

The Seattle City Council begins it two-week summer recess Monday as it faces a busy fall of belt-tightening and debate over the 2025 budget.

Meanwhile, District 3 Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth headed into the break with an appearance on First Hill where she championed a few recent council initiatives and heard feedback from constituents.

The council’s break runs through August 30th. “While the Council is still conducting business during this time, there are no committee meetings. Our next week ahead will be when they reconvene in September,” a council brief on the recess reads.

The budget issues loom large for the city.

Seattle faces a looming $230+ million budget hole and is limited in options for raising new revenue.

A review of the city’s spending plan shows the city is facing the same pressures as the rest of the nation when it comes to ballooning costs. A city audit reveled nearly 80% of Seattle’s $1.7 billion budget increase is due to inflation and soaring wages. New programs accounted for only 19% of the jump with the remaining two percent of spending being powered by one-time revenue injections like federal aid during the pandemic. Continue reading →