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Preliminary renderings of the planned overhaul — the developers warn the ideas are “placeholders” and the design could change
The Fredonia building (Image: Meriwether Partners)
By Matt Dowell
Do you long for the Capitol Hill of old? When Amazon was for books and knights and dragons ruled?
Sorry, but the old Canterbury is about to be split — in twain.
Meriwether Partners, owners of the 118-year-old, three-story, 12-unit Fredonia building on 15th and Mercer, plan a renovation of the ground floor’s old Canterbury space. They’ll divide its 5,000 square feet in two distinct commercial units.
“The old Canterbury/Meliora space is quite large for an in-city restaurant these days,” said Joel Aslanian from Meriwether.
Meliora, which replaced The Canterbury in 2023, was unable to fill seats and closed within a year. Searching for a replacement, Meriwether found a couple potential tenants but nothing panned out.
Meriwether hopes the overhaul of the legendary pub will match both the current economic realities of the neighborhood and the latest in commercial tenants’ desires.
“We’ve tried to plan a facade that would work for just about anybody, bringing more light and air and a contemporary feel to the street level,” said Aslanian.
“Everybody likes to have wide open windows or a roll up door that provides a connection to outdoor space.“
The Canterbury’s transformation is part of change up and down 15th Ave E where old QFC block awaits a six-story redevelopment. In the meantime, arts groups like LOVECITYLOVE and the Punk Rock Flea Market are keeping the area busy. And small businesses like Haunted Burrow Books are making temporary homes in the someday to be demolished buildings.
At 15th and Mercer, Aslanian hopes construction will start next month and wrap up around the end of the year. He doesn’t anticipate major disruptions to the street or sidewalk in front of the building.
Preliminary renderings of the new façade feature separate restaurant and tavern store fronts detailed with brick and rusted steel. Aslanian cautions that these are “total placeholders,” though.
Meriwether is in early talks with tenants who aren’t necessarily bars or restaurants. But he did indicate those businesses might be a good fit: “Given the location, it’s likely that one or both of the suites do end up food and beverage.”
The change marks another step away from the medieval-themed establishment that occupied this corner of 15th for 46 years. In 2022, CHS reported on the Canterbury’s end in a deal that transformed the longtime dive-turned-alehouse into a new restaurant with new owners. The Singh family behind Fremont’s Rasai – also now closed – made extensive renovations that featured “a spacious main dining area with original wood paneling sourced from a local barn paying homage to the rich history of the building which first housed a tavern in 1976.”
Though Meliora weathered the sale of the Fredonia building during renovations — a $5 million deal between former owner Community Roots Housing and the new ownership — they did not stay open for long.
Now Meriwether will seek multiple and smaller tenants to better match the market conditions of today’s Capitol Hill. Odds are we’ll move further from the past and its cheap ale, knights slaying dragons, etcetera. But reread those tales of yore and realize that the past is complicated, too.
The Canterbury was indeed the Canterbury for 46 years, but when it changed ownership in 2013, feathers were ruffled. “Basically, [Community Roots Housing] wants a yuppie place,” former owner Stefanie Roberge told CHS back then. Fans of the old bar lamented the move, while the new owner said he and his team were “developing a really cool culture that’s needed up on Capitol Hill.”
One commenter on that story yearned for an even older Canterbury: “For those of us who have known it from its earliest days in the late 70s and 80s–when the lines for breakfast rivaled those we now see at Coastal Kitchen–we can only hope that the new owners return it to THOSE glory days and not that of the last decade+ of mediocre food and service.”
Today, of course, even Coastal Kitchen is gone with a new project lined up to replace it.
The only constant is change. But one Fredonia resident has observed it all, still and stoic: the Canterbury Knight. Will it stand guard in one of the new establishments? Meriwether leaves room for hope: “Much of the old decorations were removed by the prior tenants but there still is one suit of armor!”
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I’m surprised it took the company this long to do this.
That space is simply too big, given the realities of the market/location of this particular building. I mean…it’s at the end of the 15th Ave. strip and foot traffic is pretty light.
I’d love to know what’s going on with Cantinetta across the street, and would really love to see that part of the strip develop more.
The space only seems too big because it is lacking in pool tables.
No, that comes with too-high of rent for a business in a sleepier part of the hill.
I mean, this location is at the end of the strip, the very end. As far as a business is concerned, this is a cul-de-sac.
Maybe with Cantinetta opening and new retail across the street the intersection there will feel more integrated with the rest of the strip? Let’s hope.
I think the smaller sized spaces will be perfect for smaller businesses, like a coffee shop. Ladro’s space is so ugly, and the interior so dated…moving to a smaller, yet newer, space there would probably be a good idea.
But who knows….
15th Ave. does need a redo in so many ways. I’d love to see some of the older, shabbier businesses die and be replaced with something better.
It really was well past time for Canterbury to have closed, I know there’s misplaced nostalgia for many on this blog — and that’s fine, I understand where it comes from even as I mock you and correctly pigeonhole you as idiots — but it was increasingly out of place, dated, lame.
Please, tell us what “older, shabbier businesses” on 15th you would like to see die? So much of that has happened the last few years I’m really not sure what you’d like to see go. I wouldn’t be sad to see Patio Thai replaced with something less shabby, I honestly don’t know how they stay open, but can’t think of another business still around there that wouldn’t be missed by quite a few. Please don’t tell me you’re hoping for the demise of treasured local haunts like Harry’s, Jamjuree or Hopvine…..
And the last thing we need there is yet another coffee shop, I’m surprised so many have manged to coexist for so long. If you’re not a fan of Ladro, fair enough, but I can’t see them moving further away from the center of the action. I’ll half-jokingly suggest a specialty/bubble tea joint, only because there are an absurd number of them further SW on Capitol Hill (and more planned openings), but none on 15th.
Definitely… because what Seattle, and in particularly this street, needs is yet another coffee shop.
I realize the Ladro’s clashes with Bruiser Wood’s couture, but maybe you should give it another chance.
also very curious about Cantinetta. Work seems to be happening (I see construction workers in an out frequently), but it seems very slow.
I’m continually amazed at how long construction can take in this city.
If I were a business owner I’d want the period between signing a lease and opening the business — you know, the period when construction is happening and you’re spending money but have none coming in the door — to be as small as possible.
But, apparently, business owners don’t care here?
Hint: It’s not the business owners.
I suggest you try getting a permit and inspection through the city. Especially when Inspector #2 “unapproves” the work from Inspector #1 and forces you to re-do work already inspected and approved.
But that’s how labor and City Hall wants it. More rules, more busy work, less business.
right…because business owners love paying rent and not being open! have you tried getting a permit in this town? it’s amazing that anyone can afford to open anything new.
Agree. And on a related subject, I wish the time between property demolition and re-construction was mandated to be much shorter. Developers demolish, then let their properties sit unused for YEARS, with the non-involvement of the City.. Local examples are on Federal Ave E at E Republican and at E Mercer, both of which have become magnets for homeless camps and trash, and also the large property in the 500 block of 12th Ave E.
That sounds great. Two new things for people to enjoy!
There is a real need for good, affordable breakfast on 15th! No, not $20 bacon and eggs, or $21 veggie scrambles, but actually affordable. I hope dividing the space can make rent more reasonable and one of the new occupants can provide a more affordable breakfast option. It was one of the things I miss most about the Canterbury!
So true. We don’t need more barbershops :eyeroll:
$20 minimum wage == $20 bacon and eggs.
I’m sure the cost of food and $10,000-$30,000 rents on retail spaces of nothing to do with it. Just, how dare people want to live in the city they work in. They should troop in at 3:00 am to get the kitchens fired and then troop back out again to the hinterlands after you dismiss them for the day. That’s totally how you build a liveable society and city.
This is a great move by the owners.The current space is too big and they will be much more likely to fill the units this way
It hasn’t been a good bar concept since the 90s. So glad that Canterbury guy is out of there though.
The old Canterbury was half the size of that space for about half its lifetime. It was expanded in the late 90s or early 00s. There used to be an indie coffeeshop on the south side, among other businesses.
What’s tragic is that none of this needed to happen! Stephanie should still be running the place, and we’d all be blissfully unaware of how homogenous 15th would become without the steadfast Canterbury, “located halfway between the hospital and the cemetery.”
And yes, the suit of armor must always remain!
This is the right call! I would have even thought it could be 3 spaces, 1 5k restaurant space, and 2 smaller spaces, one good for a smaller bar, another for a cafe / taco type faster food!
Good, more businesses is what we need on E15
Gosh. I can still smell the old Canterbury. The definition of a watering hole. RIP.
Much needed! Looks dark and dingy from the outside, plus its at the end of the block so uninviting. Looking forward to getting some tenants!
Great article and exciting to see what will be next for the space. I managed The Canterbury—Capitol Hill’s living room—for a couple of years in the early 1980s, not long after Peggy Clark expanded the space. As a teenager, I remember the long lines snaking down the block. It was the place to be.
But things changed. The early ’80s recession hit hard, and when The Ritz opened nearby, foot traffic at The Canterbury slowed. The dinner room rarely opened. It was a big space to fill—and even harder to staff.
From the looks of the new drawings, though, it seems like some exciting options are coming into play. Here’s hoping the next chapter brings fresh energy to a space that holds so many memories.
I worked for Peggy Clark, as a bartender when she bought the Old Gaslight Tavern from Dale Meyers. 1974 ish.
Canterbury was more then a dive bar. Fishermen rich with a good catch buying rounds until they were broke again,Grunge band members getting ready to cut a new record, and thousand yard stares from veterens of many wars.
It has ghosts, many ghosts.
When I first arrived here I spent a few weeks in a just a few blocks away… there were lots of people there who were in-between fishing/fish processing gigs up in Alaska and lots of hanging out at the Canterbury…
Not sure. how I forgot to type hostel.. I spent a few weeks at a hostel – back when there were such things on the hill…
Merriweather partners does great projects. I’m looking forward to the new renovation.