Washington sending two ‘uncommitted’ delegates to Democratic National Convention

Organizers of an “uncommitted delegates” protest vote against President Joe Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza are celebrating the placement of two delegates at the Democratic National Convention taking place this summer in Chicago.

The Democratic Socialist of America-aligned Uncommitted WA group, part of a nationwide effort to encourage Democrats across the country to withhold their votes from Biden in state primaries, say nearly 90,000 Democratic voters statewide submitted ballots for “uncommitted delegates” in Washington’s March primary, earning almost 10% of the party’s vote. Continue reading

Happy Capitol Hill Spring — Mezcaleria Oaxaca’s Patio Cielo is open for the season

 

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(Image: Mercado Luna)

Another Capitol Hill sign of spring is blooming. Mezcaleria Oaxaca’s Patio Cielo reopened for the season over the weekend.

The space is one of Capitol Hill’s most fun decks and crowns the restaurant which just marked its tenth year on Capitol Hill.

CHS reported here on the 2014 opening of Mezcaleria Oaxaca as the ambitious Graham Baba-designed project from the Dominguez-Perez family and sibling to their La Carta De Oaxaca original took shape out of a former auto garage. Continue reading

Hearing Examiner dismisses Capitol Hill new age church’s appeal against neighboring Safeway redevelopment

 

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(Image: Weber Thompson)

(Image: CHS)

The Seattle Hearing Examiner has dismissed an appeal from a Capitol Hill new age church, upholding a city land use decision last year giving the go ahead to the planned redevelopment of the neighborhood’s Safeway to create a new 50,000-square-foot grocery store, new apartments, and a massive underground parking lot at 15th and John.

The decision eliminates one of the last major public process barriers to moving forward on the major new development project set to reshape the key intersection connecting the Capitol Hill core to the neighborhood’s eastern edges along 15th, 19th, and 23rd Avenues. Construction is still a long ways off with process around demolition permits and more still to come.

It the ruling, deputy hearing examiner Susan Drummond upheld the city’s 2023 decision to issue the crucial “master use permit” to the project as it completed multiple rounds of design review, dismissing the Aquarian Foundation’s arguments that the development would not be compatible with the neighboring converted two-story, 5,500-square-foot house on the $2.5 million 15th Ave E parcel that has been home to the New age religious organization for decades.

The group is one of the oldest corporations on Capitol Hill, formed as a church in the 1950s by a group including founder Keith Milton Rhinehart. Aquarian’s Rev. Cathryn Reid, who state records show also serves as the church’s treasurer, argued the organization’s case in front of the examiner, according to records from the procedures. Continue reading

With bargains, bands, and booze, Punk Rock Flea Market will take over Capitol Hill QFC destined for redevelopment

A scene from PRFM’s 2017 stay in the Central District

 

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(Image: Punk Rock Flea Market)

The Punk Rock Flea Market, an art, vintage and thrift gathering that has grown to serve as a salve for some of the pains of Seattle’s changes and redevelopment, is returning to Capitol Hill to fill a gap in 15th Ave E.

Organizers for the market announced the PRFM will next take over the street’s shuttered QFC grocery as the property works its way through Seattle’s development process on its way to creating a new mixed-use building on the block. They’ll be moving in this May.

“It’s official! PRFM has a new home in Seattle! as of May 1 you’ll find your favorite community of artists, craftspeople, vintage vendors, music dealers and uncategorizable misfits at the former QFC on 15th Ave. on Capitol Hill!!!,” the announcement reads. “Within easy reach of the light rail, not to mention your favorite cafes, bars, pot shops and bookstores.”

The flea market was last doing its thing in downtown Seattle but has visited Capitol Hill and the Central District before. Continue reading

There is a lot of empty office space on 11th Ave. WeWork fizzled. CENTRL Office is moving in.

The real estate listing for the Kelly Springfield office space floors

 

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The big hopes of global office space giant WeWork leasing an entire Capitol Hill building went poof earlier this year. A smaller, West Coast office space giant is moving in.

Portland-based CENTRL Office has a deal for a new lease to take over the former WeWork floors of 11th Ave’s Kelly Springfield development, the preservation incentive-boosted, five-story office development that rises above the auto row-era bones of the neighborhood’s former Value Village.

CHS reported on WeWork shuttering the ambitious Capitol Hill location earlier this year amid the company’s massive bankruptcy.

The Kelly Springfield project from property owner Legacy Commercial and architects at Ankrom Moisan created three stories of new offices over the old auto row-era structure. That building was once the neighborhood’s Value Village and before that, REI, and long before that, the Kelly Springfield Motor Truck Company. CHS reported on the history and plans for the property in 2017 as the final designs for the project came together. Continue reading

A good start to Capitol Hill garage sale season: Gage Academy of Art yard sale

(Image: Gage Academy of Art)

It is nearly garage sale season. Capitol Hill artists will want to mark their calendars for a good start to the season early next month.

The Gage Academy of Art is holding a yard sale featuring “art supplies, books, easels, costumes, home decor, kitchen items, electronics, and more” April 6th as it prepares to leave its longtime Capitol Hill home:

Later this year, Gage will move into a South Lake Amazon office building where the 35-year-old school will become the ground-floor presence below floors of tech workers above. CHS reported here on the planned move for the school after decades on the St. Mark’s campus as the church prepares for planned housing development on its 10th Ave E property.

 

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How about some Massive banh mi? New Capitol Hill club adding space for Vietnamese sandwich joint

 

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(Image: Massive)

One of Capitol Hill’s biggest new nightclub investments is adding an interesting food and drink expansion to its mix.

City permits show plans in the work for a new banh mi sandwich shop to join the ground floor complex of the new club Massive in the former R Place building at Pine and Boylston.

The project is being readied to carve out the tiny new E Pine Vietnamese sandwich joint from the existing kitchen and separate the new venue from the club’s first-floor bar area.

The new component creates a new opportunity for restaurant entrepreneur Tam Nguyen of the Tamarind Tree Restaurant Group, a Massive co-owner. Continue reading

15 years on 15th Ave E — Red Chair Salon still rocking as more changes come to ‘the quiet side’ of Capitol Hill

(Image: Red Chair Salon)

 

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Fifteen years on 15th Ave E makes a pretty nice headline. With the business tumult and redevelopment changes underway on the street that used to be known as the quiet side of Capitol Hill, a 15-year run is worth celebrating. From its humble beginning as a tiny, punk-rock themed beauty joint in 2009, Red Chair Salon is marking its 15th anniversary on Capitol Hill under owners Amy and Howie Sennet.

“I really can’t believe that we’ve made it 15 years. Honestly. We need to knock on everything. With as much love and dedication as we have put in it and our staff… Everyone’s had a hand in our success,” Howie Sennet said.

The two owners remain highly involved with Howie running the back end of the business, while Amy, with her background with hair styling for 25 years, works with other hairdressers in the salon.

“I thought the idea of us expanding bigger was never gonna happen. And we just got busier and had great stylists… I never imagined what we would become,” Amy said. Continue reading