Author Archives: jseattle

About jseattle

Justin is publisher of CHS. You can reach him at [email protected] or call/txt (206) 399-5959. Follow @jseattle on Twitter or be best pals on Facebook.

U:Don Fresh Capitol Hill closes as next generation of food and drink takes shape in the 12th Ave Arts building

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(Image: U:Don Fresh)

Capitol Hill’s 12th Ave Arts building mixes affordable apartments, nonprofit offices, and music and performance. The development is undergoing a full turnover in another mixed-use component: its street level food and drink tenants.

Over the weekend, the Capitol Hill expansion of U:Don Fresh served its final customers along its pick-what-you-want, cafeteria style line of Sanuki-style udon noodle bowl offerings.

“For more than 10 years, you’ve supported us in the Capitol Hill district, and we’re incredibly grateful,” the restaurant posted about its goodbye. Owner Tak Kurachi says U:Don decided not to renew its lease. Continue reading →

911 | Police shoot dog after Freeway Park attack

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out reports from @jseattle or join and check in with neighbors in the CHS Facebook Group.

  •  Freeway Park dog attack: The Seattle Police Department says officers had to shoot and kill a dog after an attack injured a pregnant woman Friday in Freeway Park. According to SPD’s report on the afternoon incident, the woman was meeting to talk with an ex-partner when the dog attack began. The woman as injured but able to escape and flag down nearby officers:
    As Officers were interviewing the victim, somehow the dog got away from the suspect and ran toward the victim. Officers attempted to give the dog verbal commands to stop but it bypassed everyone and got back to the victim and attempted to bite the victim further. Officers shot the dog to prevent it from further harming the victim.
    Police say the dog was taken to a veterinarian for emergency care but died. The woman was transported to the hospital for treatment. Police say the incident remains under investigation. Continue reading →

‘Our home and our history’ — A new era for Capitol Hill’s iconic El Capitan Apartments

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(Image: City of Seattle)

A classic Capitol Hill apartment building is reportedly set to be sold by its longtime family ownership amid Seattle’s stubbornly expensive rental market and ongoing worries about the end of “small landlords” in the neighborhood.

Residents of Yale Ave’s five-story, 101-year-old El Capitan Apartments at the base of Capitol Hill above I-5 received a letter last week from the Hendricks family notifying them of the sale. The letter was posted to Reddit and residents of the 86-unit building have confirmed the notice.

“This building has been more than just a business to us; it has been our home and our history,” the letter about the iconic building’s future from Manny Hendricks reads. “My father, Alvin ‘Bubba’ Hendricks, purchased El Capitan in 1970, continuing a legacy started by my grandfather, who managed the building for years before that.” Continue reading →

New Seattle Public Schools superintendent begins leadership with response to deadly gun violence

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It has been a somber start for the new superintendent of Seattle Public Schools after two teens were shot and killed Friday afternoon near Rainier Beach High School.

“It is a tragedy of unspeakable proportions,” new SPS superintendent Ben Shuldiner said in his first message to district families over the weekend. “My heart breaks for the families, friends, and our entire community.”

In the update, Shuldiner called for families to email him with ideas to address gun violence, “a scourge of our community and our country.” Continue reading →

This week in CHS history | R Place loses lease, first Capitol Hill SODA order, 12th Ave Square park is born

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12th Ave Square Park was born in 2016 (Image: CHS)

Here are the top stories from this week in CHS history:

2025

 

Demolition reveals a ‘new’ Capitol Hill ‘ghost sign’


Continue reading →

$30M: Jury finds City of Seattle liable in shooting that killed teen and ended CHOP

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A memorial for Mays inside the CHOP camp in the days following his 2020 killing (Image: CHS)

A King County jury has found the City of Seattle negligent in the 2020 deadly shooting of a San Diego teenager during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.

Antonio Mays Jr. was 16.

The case centering on the Seattle Police Department’s abandonment of the East Precinct and the failures in the police and Seattle Fire response to the 12th Ave shooting scene came to a swift conclusion Thursday with the jury’s decision after two weeks of deliberation.

The decision comes with a heavy price tag. The jury arrived at compensatory damages totaling more than $30 million for the teen’s father, Antonio Mays Sr., and family.

The deadly shooting — one of two killings of Black teens in the camp — came early on a Monday morning amid a night of drive-by shooting fears around the protest zone. Mays was shot inside a stolen Jeep Cherokee that had been reported driving at high speeds through the streets around the CHOP camp. The teen died as camp security and medic volunteers worked to save him whileSeattle Police and Seattle Fire refused to enter the protest area.

Mays’s 14-year-old companion in the vehicle survived but suffered a brain injury.

The shooting was a final straw as Seattle Police were ordered to storm the protest encampments and clear the area two days later. Continue reading →

Mayor and chief direct Seattle officers to ‘investigate, verify, and document’ reported ICE activity

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Wilson at a January rally in Cal Anderson Park against the ICE crackdown

Mayor Katie Wilson issued an executive order Thursday barring federal “civil immigration enforcement activities” on City of Seattle property as part of a set of actions she says are hoped to protect the city’s residents.

Included in the directives is a plan with Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes for the city’s officers “to investigate, verify, and document any reports of immigration enforcement activity.”

“Whoever you are, and wherever you come from: if Seattle is your home, then this is your city,” Wilson said in the announcement. “And it’s our responsibility as city leaders to move quickly and get organized so we can keep people safe. That is why I am taking immediate steps today to bar federal agents from using city property for federal civil immigration enforcement activity, update SPD protocols, and support trusted community partners to aid the community response, which is our most powerful tool.” Continue reading →

Amazon Fresh’s end at 23rd and Jackson: $171M property deal, 92 Central District workers, Council member calls for Trader Joe’s

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(Image: Jackson Apartments)

Buried in the news that Amazon is closing its Amazon Fresh grocery store at 23rd and Jackson is one of the largest Central District real estate deals in recent history.

The six-year-old mixed-use development where the grocery is closing just sold for $171 million.

“As you know we just acquired Jackson Apartments on December 30th, so we don’t have any comments at this time,” a spokesperson for Seattle-based real estate development firm Timberlane Partners tells CHS.

It is unclear if Amazon’s exit was a known factor in the sale by project developer Vulcan Real Estate but the Amazon Fresh grocery was touted as “the marquee tenant” in the development in industry reporting on the deal.

“This is the first time Jackson has transferred ownership, and highlights Timberlane’s commitment to investing in communities that combine sustainability, connectivity and curated retail for residents and neighbors,” firm principal Dave Enslow said in a statement on the sale.

Vulcan, meanwhile, will continue to own the shopping center across the street where a similar redevelopment could someday take shape.

Despite providing information on its other recent area shutdowns including the E Pike Amazon Fresh shuttering in April 2024 that turned out to be a harbinger of things to come, Amazon has not responded to CHS’s questions about the 23rd and Jackson closure and whether locations like it in neighborhoods at risk of becoming “grocery deserts” are being considered for possible conversions to the company’s Whole Foods subsidiary. Continue reading →

As city prepares to reopen a Capitol Hill park, report cites hope for community gardening, youth play, and increased effort to address homelessness and services

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Results of an online survey asking about preferred “potential uses” for Seven Hills Park

The fence has been up around Seven Hills Park since September (Image: CHS)

The city has set a date for the community meeting to reopen Capitol Hill’s Seven Hills Park and has released a report on what it has heard in community feedback about public safety upgrades officials say are necessary in a string of parks in the area.

The city highlights concerns around “long-term encampments” and the need for better integration of the parks system with “larger addiction, mental health, and/or housing initiatives” in its report.

Seattle Parks and Recreation announced it will hold the next Seven Hills Park meeting on February 10th. Officials started the year extending the closure of the fenced-off 16th Ave public space through the end of February. Seven Hills has been shuttered and fenced-off since September after “bouts of negative park activity” as parks officials said Broadway Hill Park and Tashkent Park have also been the source of frequent calls for the Seattle Police Department.

CHS reported here on a community meeting held by the city in November to gather feedback on Seven Hills and possible changes there and at the Broadway Hill Park and Tashkent Park spaces. Parks and recreation also posted an online survey to gather feedback.

In the city’s report on the meeting (PDF), officials highlighted an overall concern about encampments and camping in the parks and the need to better integrate the parks system into the city’s efforts around homelessness and addiction. The report also called for plans that “balance activation between recreation (movie nights) with human services (health clinics),” capturing community concerns around trying to mix in events and celebrations into parks where people are struggling with homelessness and addiction. Continue reading →

Bananthony’s Bodega has opened at the Capitol Hill corner of ‘weed and weed’

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(Image: Bananthony’s Bodega)

There is a practical purpose behind Capitol Hill stoner snack and street style shop Bananthony’s Bodega but the business in the back is nearly as wacky as the party in the front.

“We wanted to be part of the community,” Capitol Hill entrepreneur and cartoonist Ethan Jones tells CHS about Bananthony’s arrival around the corner from the commerce of 15th Ave E where the new shop has moved in next to new roommate Ruckus Recreational Cannabis and across the street from the neighborhood’s Uncle Ike’s.

“If I sell snacks on the corner of weed and weed, I have a feeling I’ll be able to cover rent,” Jones quips. Continue reading →