Author Archives: jseattle

About jseattle

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

Here’s what Sound Transit says about hottest June 12th in Seattle history light rail service problems

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The arrival of light rail service on Capitol Hill has, indeed, been like magic that puts Broadway within minutes of every stop on the line. But this week has been a rough one for Sound Transit service with a major disruption Wednesday and a series of smaller snafus that followed Thursday.

Sound Transit says don’t give up on the magic of Capitol Hill Station just yet — the week’s problems have been a coincidence of bad luck and a few holes in the system that are being actively — if not a little slowly — patched. With more hot days in Seattle to come, here is what Sound Transit says happened. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | 12th Ave — Capitol Hill home field for Women’s World Cup

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If Team USA is on the field in France during the Women’s World Cup, you’ll want to be on 12th Ave.

Tuesday for the first game of the French-hosted 2019 tournament for the Americans, CHS stopped by our neighborhood German beer bar, naturally, to catch the game and the crowd. Continue reading →

After brief lull, District 3 candidate forums and endorsement meetings kick back into gear — UPDATE

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Though there have been parties — Tuesday night, Egan Orion kicked off his campaign at Sole Repair while Zachary DeWolf chose The Summit event space for his launch event — and get out the vote efforts, it has been a relatively quiet start to June for the candidates vying for the District 3 seat on the Seattle City Council. That’s set to change with another round of candidate forums and endorsement meetings.

Perhaps the most important from a campaign momentum perspective will come next Tuesday as the 43rd District Democrats gather for their summer primary endorsement meeting. In 2015, the influential group’s lack of support for fellow Democrat Pamela Banks was a sign of things to come as the challenger was eventually blown away by the Socialist Alternative powerhouse campaign of Kshama Sawant. Continue reading →

What you’ll find at the Capitol Hill WeWork

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A WeWork lobby in Xujiahui (Image: WeWork)

Late last year, news spread that the preservation-boosted Kelly Springfield office building hoped to bring more jobs to Capitol Hill and help spark more daytime activity in Pike/Pine would have one gargantuan tenant — global coworking powerhouse, WeWork.

With construction on the building nearly complete, the finishing touches being put on its restored but still representative auto row-era facade, and the streetscape and rainbows restored, the company’s newest Seattle office-space location is nearly ready to offer up its first “hot desk.” When it does, want-to-be Pike/Pine workers will find five stories of dedicated WeWork space including “light-filled lounges, modern conference rooms, and sleek private offices” and some of the rapidly growing companies newest features like the Made by We store.

WeWork representatives haven’t responded to our inquiries about opening plans but the new facility is accepting sign-ups for tours and workspaces. Last year, the company said to expect workers to arrive “by late summer.” Continue reading →

Former e-bike shop lined up as planned new home for Central District post office

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There is a plan for the Central District to get its post office back.

In a letter to Mayor Jenny Durkan, the United States Postal service says it is working on agreement with the property owner of The Central building at 2207 E Union to take over the space being left vacant by the exit of electric bike dealership Electric Lady.

“If this location is not adequate or an agreement cannot be reached with its owner, the Postal Service will consider other sites within the preferred area as shown at the May 2, 2019, meeting,” the letter reads. Continue reading →

What the Capitol Hill auto row-inspired project planned to replace Hilltop Service Station will look like

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The concept for the 523 Hilltop project (Images: Studio Meng Strazzara)

The last time this Capitol Hill developer and the architects from Studio Meng Strazzara hooked up, they created an eight-story project designed to set the standard for Pike/Pine preservation and redevelopment. On 15th Ave E, Hunters Capital won’t leave any motor car history to work with as it prepares to demolish the Hilltop Service Station and continue the work to slowly repair the soils beneath from decades of contamination — but the proposed design for its coming 523 Hilltop building is inspired by Capitol Hill’s auto row past.

Design review: 523 15th Ave E

The Hunters Capital project takes its first pass by the East Design Review Board Wednesday night. Continue reading →

Seattle set to ban rental bidding platforms… again

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It’s been more than a year since Seattle put in place a one year ban on rental bidding platforms so it could better study the impacts from startups like Rentberry. Monday, the Seattle City Council is set to extend the ban another year to give City Hall more time to study the impact of the services.

The full City Council is expected to approve CB 119507 to establish yet another “one-year prohibition on use of rental housing bidding platforms.”

UPDATE: The move follows recent court victories that favor the city’s argument. In one, a judge upheld the first ban instituted by the council in spring of 2018 over concerns the bidding platforms that create “transparent” rental auctions where potential tenants have “the ability to submit custom offers” were being used to jack up rents in the University District. In another, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals  set important precedent that bidding platforms don’t fall under First Amendment protections. (We’ve updated details of the legal decisions for clarity.)

Last year, CHS reported on the few Capitol Hill properties utilizing the services and the concerns raised about the practice in the Bay Area real estate market. One report on the Rentberry service quoted the company’s founder taking credit for raising rents 5% above listing prices in the already ultra-expensive San Francisco and San Jose markets.

Continue reading →

911 | Student says robbed at gunpoint on Seattle U campus

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS Crime coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out Twitter reports from @jseattle or tune into the CHS Scanner page.

  • Campus stick-up: A Seattle University student told campus police he was robbed at gunpoint early Sunday morning in the middle of campus. Seattle Police were called to the scene near the Cisco Morris Biodiversity Garden by school security just after the 3:30 AM incident in which the adult student said he was held up by a male with a pistol. The suspect was described as a male with a dark complexion, around 5’10” with a thin build, and wearing a dark hoodie. Police detained one person near the robbery scene but he was released after the victim said he was not the suspect. The victim was not seriously injured in the incident. Continue reading →

911 | Big response to E Denny crisis, right-wing ‘march’ on Capitol Hill, IHOP melee charges

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS Crime coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out Twitter reports from @jseattle or tune into the CHS Scanner page.

  • E Denny crisis: A large police response was joined by crews from Seattle Fire Friday after a man apparently suffering a mental health crisis reportedly broke through a window of a Capitol Hill apartment building and caused a major disturbance inside. According to East Precinct radio dispatches, police were contacted just before 5 PM to the report that a man had smashed through a first floor window and entered the Pantages Apartment building in the 800 block of E Denny just off Broadway. Responding police found smoke in the building as they tracked down the suspect in a fifth floor unit where he was taken into custody. It’s not clear what the source of the smoke was. Seattle Fire says its crew did not find a fire in the building. There were no reported serious injuries. Earlier in the afternoon, a man with a similar physical description to the suspect had contacted police to report he believed he was being followed by a large group of Hispanic men. UPDATE: Capitol Hill Housing tells us the initial report that a man busted a window was not correct and that he pushed through a screen to gain entrance. Meanwhile, the smoke turned out to be “material from a fire extinguisher being expelled.”
    Continue reading →