Author Archives: Justin Carder

About Justin Carder

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.

After modern split, Capitol Hill corner home to old-time Canterbury Tavern readied for MOOV movement and fitness studio

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(Image: MOOV Seattle)

Capitol Hill has changed. The corner where the Canterbury Tavern soothed souls and damaged livers for decades will soon be providing curated low-impact wellness synergy.

Seattle boutique fitness studio MOOV is working on a major Capitol Hill expansion, with plans to open a new studio inside the historic Fredonia building at 15th Ave E and E Mercer.

The move will bring the brand’s community-centered fitness concept to the ground floor formerly occupied by the legendary Canterbury Ale House, according to permit paperwork filed with the city. Continue reading →

Seattle considers commercial lease transparency ordinance

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The lease listing for one of Capitol HIll’s more unusual commercial spaces

Prospective new Capitol Hill businesses could have an easier time securing a fair lease under new legislation under consideration by the Seattle City Council.

Proposed by the Office of Economic Development and sponsored by Human Services, Labor, and Economic Development Committee chair Alexis Mercedes Rinck, the commercial lease transparency ordinance requires landlords to disclose critical property data before tenants sign agreements.

For dense, historic commercial corridors like Capitol Hill where restaurants, bars, and retailers frequently lease older spaces with aging infrastructure, the measure would introduce new transparency rules for lease agreements. Continue reading →

Rash of small trash and brush fires continues including possible arson in Harborview parking structure

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Three days of small fires

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.

A rash of small fires including dumpster, trash, and brush incidents across the East Precinct over the weekend has continued with Seattle Fire handling 14 more reported incidents over the past three days — including five overnight.

One has been reported as a suspected arson. Seattle Fire called in the Seattle Police Department to investigate a suspected intentionally set fire in the parking structure behind Harborview late Thursday night just after 11 PM, according to emergency radio updates. SFD reports its crews responded to a car on fire in a parking garage where the blaze was extinguished by the building’s sprinkler system.

Five more small fires were reported around the area overnight including an early morning dumpster fire on Bellevue Ave and a just before 1:30 AM fire on Federal Ave E but there were no immediate signs that the incidents were connected. Continue reading →

Rider reported in serious condition after car vs. scooter crash at 12th and John

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A rider was in serious condition after a car vs. scooter collision at 12th and John Thursday night.

Seattle Fire and Seattle Police were called to the intersection around 6:20 PM. SFD reports it treated a 25-year-old woman in serious condition and transported her to Harborview. Witnesses reported the rider suffered a leg injury and was bleeding from the head.

Police closed the intersection to traffic as they documented evidence and interviewed the driver. Continue reading →

Proposal would slash Seattle development fees up to 80% — if builders hurry up and break ground

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Faced with a growing map of stalled projects and empty lots, the Seattle City Council has a plan to temporarily slash affordable housing fees on large residential buildings while setting the groundwork on new requirements to push much needed below-market housing into newly upzoned single-family neighborhoods.

Councilmember Dionne Foster, chair of the Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights committee, is proposing the legislative package to revive stalled apartment production while expanding hopes for affordable home development across the city.

The “Housing Accelerator” bill set to be presented Friday aims to spur construction amid declining permit filings by amending Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability program. It would mean massively cheaper city fees for developers — but only if they break ground and pass a foundation inspection by a strict deadline. Continue reading →

What should Capitol Hill’s new ‘Low Pollution Neighborhood’ streets look like?

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Capitol Hill residents and business owners will have their first chance this month to shape the future of their streets and public spaces as Seattle kicks off community outreach for its $9.2 million Low-Pollution Neighborhoods pilot program.

The Seattle Department of Transportation will host an in-person public workshop on Sunday, September 27, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM at the Cathy Hillenbrand Community Room, located above Capitol Hill Station on 10th Ave E. The event is free and open to all, featuring food, project information, and opportunities to talk directly with city planners.

The meeting comes after Capitol Hill was selected alongside Lake City and South Park/Georgetown for the citywide pilot. Backed by $8 million in local transportation levy funds alongside federal support, the initiative is aimed at cutting car exhaust, cooling heat-island concrete, and making crossing the street safer.

“Pedestrianization and these types of streets are an ingredient to making a whole neighborhood that encourages use of transit, walking, cycling, and other modes,” SDOT climate officer Radcliffe Dacanay told CHS earlier this year. “It isn’t that a pedestrianized street reduces all emissions all at once. It’s part of a broader collective of efforts that are combined to make that impact on reduction.”

Continue reading →

911 | Patrol cars vandalized outside East Precinct, a rash of trash, brush, and car fires, Club Z death ruled accidental overdose

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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.

  • East Precinct patrol car vandalism: A man was arrested early Friday after he was caught vandalizing Seattle Police vehicles outside the East Precinct at 12th and Pine. According to SPD’s brief on the arrest, officers inside the station were alerted to a male outside tagging patrol cars with a paint marker and damaging a cruiser’s window around 1:30 AM. Officers rushed outside and quickly arrested the suspect, while documenting the damage to three police vehicles. There were no reported injuries. Continue reading →

Wilson taps Seattle CARE Department as command center in new gun violence plan

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Police place evidence markers after a July shootout on 11th Ave that injured bystanders caught in the crossfire

Seattle’s mayor has unveiled her budget plan to address shootings in the city that would make the CARE Department the central command center for gun violence reduction, focusing $13 million in spending on the city’s emergency response system and human services to power a new approach that integrates Seattle’s 9-1-1 resources with community responses and intervention teams.

Mayor Katie Wilson unveiled her administration’s gun violence reduction plan this week designating the Community Assisted Response and Engagement Department as a new central command center to take on the public safety priority.

The goal, Wilson says, is for Seattle City Hall to take “faster action when shootings occur.” The result is a possible new direction for the city that would focus new energy — and spending — on community public safety and intervention resources at CARE and not with traditional policing at the Seattle Police Department.

“Together, these efforts aim to give the city stronger regulatory authority, reinforce youth focused safety programs, and improve protections for neighborhoods experiencing persistent harm,” the plan reads. Continue reading →

RIP Bok a Bok — The ‘Bokin’ adventure’ is over

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(Image: Google Maps)

Capitol Hill food and drink is up to its elbows in chicken these days but we’re still going to miss Bok a Bok. After a nine-year run next to Neumos, the Hill’s original Korean fried chicken joint has closed permanently.

The shutdown comes after a long closure for critical emergency repairs and structural damage in the floors directly beneath the cook line inside the more than 110-year-old Pike/Pine auto row-era building in a space that has suffered through the pipeline pains of deep frying for at least twenty years.

“Damage was substantial and lots has happened with our lives since the floor debacle so we are not going to be able to continue our Bokin` adventure,” owner Brian O’Connor said in an update to friends shared on social media.

CHS talked with O’Connor about the extensive and expensive construction job in January as he was hoping to get the busy counter spot back in motion. The Bok a Bok work also meant a few weeks of downtime for the Neumos underground sibling Barboza. Continue reading →

Char the Chicken: Influencer chef and restaurant group ready to hatch new grill concept on Capitol Hill

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A growing Pacific Northwest incubator of restaurant chain concepts emphasizing health and sustainability is being joined by a celebrity chef for a high-profile poultry re-start on Capitol Hill.

The Conscious Hospitality Group is preparing the 11th Ave space formerly home to the flagship location of scuttled sustainable chicken sandwich concept Mt. Joy for a reboot as Char the Chicken, a “fire-grilled rotisserie chicken” concept that Instagram-famous Matt Broussard told the Seattle Times will overcome the challenging realities of the current Seattle dining economy because of his passion.

“Any other social media cook, they’re not gonna open a restaurant,” Broussard tells the Times. “Like, this is the dumbest thing you could do.”

The Conscious Hospitality Group backing will help.

CHG is a Bellevue-based restaurant collective and incubator led by co-founders Norman Wu and Danny Brawer. The company dedicated to “health, sustainability, and ethical business practices” pairs in-house concept development with operating partnerships, providing shared infrastructure, supply-chain scale, and administrative backing needed to expand sustainable, wellness-oriented food brands across the Pacific Northwest. Continue reading →