Not every multifamily development opportunity in the area becomes aPodments. CHS recently noted a new, 5-unit apartment building developed on 22nd Ave E. The Julia Place Apartments are up for lease and CHS stopped by to pay the dense little building a visit.
Long story short, I have built a 5-unit apartment building at 136 22nd Ave.E between John and Madison, and it is ready for occupancy. It’s called Julia Place Apartments, is mixed affordable, one unit fully accessible, and has 5-Star BuiltGreen certification. Sustainable features include solar power and heat, 5800 gal. rainwater tanks to supply toilets, laundries and irrigation, and all ‘green’ materials and design.
The four-story building is a nifty little feat of architectural design and relies on solar power and use of a rainwater catchment to keep utility costs low. Three of the units are relatively spacious 1-bedroom/1-bathroom apartments, each priced at 40-60% median income ($660-990). The remaining two units are two-bedroom/two-bathroom apartments, each at market price. The units features hardwood floors, big closets, and new appliances including dishwasher and washing machines/dryers.
Monday night, the debate over a new proposed Seattle sports arena in SoDo came to E Olive Way. The event took place just hours after the King County Council agreed to contribute $80 million toward investor Chris Hansen’s proposal that would put a new sports arena in SoDo for not only NBA play, but NHL hockey as well. Current talks also pose the possibility of the Seattle Storm utilizing the arena. The plan is not a done deal yet — the proposal will have to get through the Seattle City Council who have already called for substantial alterations to the plan.
The forum left every available seat in EVO on Capitol Hill taken — the crowd was made up of sports fans donning Sonics gear and older adults with obvious interest in the debate.
The forum was moderated by Josh Feit and Eric Barnett of Seattle Met, and they put local figures on the hot seat including 710 ESPN sports radio host Mike Salk, Seattle Port Commissioner Tom Albro, Seattle City Council member Mike O’Brien, and former Seattle City Council president Peter Steinbrueck. Publicola promises audio from the event to be posted soon.
Families and tribes played on the lawn of Volunteer Park Saturday for the third annual Pride Picnic. With several more inflatable bouncy houses than used to be found in the old days when the full Pride sh-bang filled the park, the picnic mixed music, playtime and Po Dog hot dogs along with representatives from the Rat City Rollergirls, the Seattle Storm and other area athletic squads like Amazon.com.
The neighborhood Pride fun continues next weekend as the Capitol Hill Pride Festival and Dyke March take over Broadway.
More pictures from the fun in Volunteer Park, below.
Where once was a moody cocktail bar — and before that, a mortuary — now rises foamy heads of hoppy goodness. With 30 and then some beers on tap, The Pine Box debuted for industry types and those adventurous enough to pretend they were invited Tuesday night on Melrose Ave. Partners Ian Roberts, Dean Hudgins and Mark Eskridge held court — you’ll find the happy trio in the pictures below — as friends and associates put the new beer hall to work. Hard work, that is.
“I’m not sure people know how much work goes into this,” Roberts said to CHS about the effort to transform the space the Chapel called home for eight years into a public house. The work was, apparently, worth it — the transformation is complete.
Eskridge, Hudgins and Roberts (L to R) (Images: Suzi Pratt for CHS)
In the Chapel’s place, you’ll find a long bar with an equally long set of tap pulls. A line of old church pews provide table space as does the seating provided above in the still-utilized mezzanine. The kitchen is new, however. The Pine Box provides a selection of pizzas to go along with the beer and “brown liquor” it serves.
We can’t tell you much about the liquor and we can barely begin to tell you much about the beer. When the selection includes eight different IPAs listed on the roster (displayed on digital screens above the bar), you know you’re operating in a higher league of beer consumption. Best to turn things over to the experts. You can learn more about the beer and when, exactly, the new place will be open to the public on The Pine Box’s Facebook page. The official opening is next week — but watch for a quiet-er opening any day now.
Fat Tuesday is about letting it all hang out before the self-sacrifice — and self-control — of Lent. It’s a little too linear for CHS. We’ll just look at it as balance. Here are pictures of both sides of the equation from this week on the streets of Pike/Pine at Havana’s party and inside St. Mark’s.
E Pine’s Portofino condo building is the kind of place on Capitol Hill that you might walk by every day but never get to look inside. So, when CHS got an invitation from the building residents to attend their celebration of the overhaul of the building’s lobby and common areas, we figured we might as well stop by.
The five-story 1917 brick building is home to 33 units and three businesses you just might have been inside — Zero Zero Hair, Gamma Ray Games and the Cakespy Shop. The building itself used to be a car dealership, but in 1990, it was converted into living spaces with the top floor added.
Inside the lobby, CHS found a small group holding a party with board association president Faith Sheridan. Sheridan tells CHS it has been 22 years since the space had an overhaul and sent along some “before” images to prove it. The pink tile was replaced with sleek, grey slabs and the walls with archways were smoothed over. The vintage photos in the lobby are of popular Capitol Hill street corners. They were purchased from the UW library, printed on canvas, and colorwashed. In addition to the lobby, the hallways were renovated, with the carpet replaced, walls repainted, and even the brass hallway mirrors painted over. The designer behind the update is Karla Tewes, whose interior design business Tewes Design is run from Seattle and New York. Construction was done by Clair Ervin.
All in all, it looked like a… condo lobby — but a very nice, new lobby in an old building on E Pine that you might walk by sometime and know a little bit more about what’s it inside.
With one more reason to cheer Olympia expected to come with Wednesday’s 1p State House vote on legalizing gay marriage — and the good news from California, a group of local moms and kids gathered Tuesday night on Capitol Hill to assemble thank you notes on another issue where constituents are hoping their reps won’t back down.
On Friday, February 10, across the Capitol grounds in Olympia, local moms from MomsRising will be installing life-size cut outs of their kids to remind State House and Senate leaders that they can help Washington families and children reach a brighter future by standing up for quality early learning programs.
Tuesday at Miller Community Center, those cutouts were being traced, assembled — and, most importantly, colored.
“These paper dolls are two dimensional, but our kids aren’t. Well-rounded, quality care matters to the future of each individual child, said Sarah Francis, campaign director at MomsRising, in a statement on the event. “These families are counting on legislators to consider the head start they can provide every child with early learning programs.”
According to the group, in 2011, Washington State received a Challenge grant to improve childcare and in 2012, the Washington State Legislature is discussing how they’ll invest in programs to improve childcare centers and provide access to quality preschool to everyone in the state. With the current focus on a teacher evaluation bill, the cutouts will be a small reminder of, perhaps, more important issues in the state’s educational system.
Last fall, we reported on the shuttering of the Seattle Central daycare program. Community college officials went ahead with that move in a cost cutting decision and the center was shut down as expected at the end of the school quarter.
Like most Facebook events, many on the RSVP list were no-shows, but the low turnout (and Starbucks corporate’s stringent media rules) didn’t lessen the enthusiasm at Friday’s Gays for the Bucks rally to thank the coffee giant for its support of marriage equality.
Organizer Drew Bensen gathered attendees in the E Olive Way Starbucks parking lot for a group photo and a chance to address the assembled media. Bensen said that instead of retaliating against those who have called for a Starbucks boycott and protesters in general, this group was a peaceful rally to thank Starbucks and other large companies for their support of efforts in Washington state to legalize gay marriage.
This Valentine’s Day, the wine-soaked kisses on 15th Ave E will be even sweeter. European Vine Selections will celebrate its 25th anniversary as a one-of-a-kind wine shop on Capitol Hill.
“The commonality is we’re all wine lovers,” said Paul Taub, a Cornish music professor and one of the eight partners behind the wine shop. “It’s like a hobby business — nobody makes a living from it but we’ve never lost money either.”
EVS’s roots are in Fremont where it was founded in 1974 but its body and bouquet developed on Capitol Hill following its Valentine’s Day 1987 move. 25 years later, it’s one of a handful of wine shops in the area. But the quirky ownership set-up behind it is unduplicated.
“I don’t think there are any shops — any businesses in general — run like this,” Taub said.
Currently the partnership includes, Taub tells us, “an oceanography researcher at University of Washington, a music professor at Cornish College for the Arts, a writer, a scientist at Microsoft Research, a U.W. microbiology professor, a former bookseller and U.W. administrator, an attorney, the communications director at Seattle Center, and a writer of esoteric novels.”
Taub is now the senior partner of the group now that a partner who started back in 1972 has left the group. The partnerships go up for sale every now and then. Marketing is word of mouth only and, of course, the seven other people have to approve any new partner. There are easier routes to Capitol Hill wine shop ownership.
Things don’t change quickly at the shop. The latest new thing is the addition of a Friday night tasting to the long-time Saturday events. All tasting are free. Eight equal partners ensure a kind of equilibrium. Besides, each is also busy sharing the load of running the shop. There are no employees. When you have your purchase rung up, it’s a partner behind the counter.
15th Ave E has also contributed to the shop’s quirky and quiet longevity.
“Somehow 15th Ave lends itself to having a business like this,” Taub said.
Details on EVS’s 25th anniversary and more about the shop, below. Happy birthday.
European Vine Selections Celebrates 25th Anniversary
European Vine Selections (EVS), the “Wine Shop on Capitol Hill,” announces the celebration of its 25th anniversary on 15th Avenue East. February 10, 11 and 12 kick off the year’s celebration as we look towards the next 25 years of serving wine drinkers with outstanding, affordable wines.
Join the eight EVS partners for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday before Valentine’s Day for special tastings, a partners’ potluck, and visits by long-time customers and new friends alike. The shop is located at 522 15th Ave East and is open daily from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Founded in 1974 as one of the first shops to carry fine European wines in Seattle, EVS moved to Capitol Hill in 1987 following 13 years in Fremont on Leary Avenue. Long-time Seattle wine connoisseurs will remember the early history of the shop, open only three days a week, when the Washington State Liquor Control Board tried to shut the business down, claiming it was a private club, open too few hours a week to serve the public. Hundreds of customers protested to the WSLQB, and the strong showing of community support influenced a ruling in the store’s behalf.
Since the move, EVS has continued to operate as a partnership of individuals with other careers who come together because of their passion for fine wines at good values. The wine selection has expanded to include Italian, German and new world wines of North and South America. Currently the partnership includes an oceanography researcher at University of Washington, a music professor at Cornish College for the Arts, a writer, a scientist at Microsoft Research, a U.W. microbiology professor, a former bookseller and U.W. administrator, an attorney, the communications director at Seattle Center, and a writer of esoteric novels.
Join EVS, the diverse community of wine lovers developed by the founders of the shop and continued by the current partners, and customers in the quintessential Seattle neighborhood at the top of Capitol Hill in the celebration of 25 years as The Wine Shop on 15th.
For more information on EVS and its 25th anniversary celebration, please visit www.evswines.com or call 206 323-3557 during business hours.
CHS wonders if the Capitol Hill residents of the future mixed-use apartment building destined to arise from the ongoing demolition on this backside of Pike and Pine will ever think about the love that preceded them.
On a rainy Sunday afternoon, that love was on full display as Babylonia Aivaz did solemnly take the 10th and Union warehouse building as her bride. And vice versa.
Aivaz wore white, her bride, mauve.
The wedding was held outdoors in the rain, in front of the old warehouse’s fenced-off entrance with a small crowd — and idled demolition machinery — looking on. There was a minister present, and a few Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were there to bless the ceremony. The minister read a few passages and orchestrated the exchange of vows between Babylonia and the warehouse.
The ceremony closed with the crowd singing a few songs including “Lean on Me,” with a few special verses added by Aivaz.
The ceremony lasted about half an hour and a community potluck with pizza, burritos, and a vegan wedding cake were served afterward.
We first reported early last week on the protest wedding held to bring attention to what organizers say is the ongoing gentrification of Capitol Hill. Developers at the time said the demolition of the building would likely play out over several weeks. But by Friday it was clear this love would be fleeting as the first walls of the 1904 warehouse started coming down.
While not the model candidate for a Capitol Hill “character structure,” the warehouse does have its industrial charm. And its roster of recent tenants including Cork House, which opened summer 2010, the Museum of the Mysteries, which left last fall, Black Label Spirits, which sadly is gone from the space before it started, and the Capoeira and Brazilian dance infused Union Cultural Center (Facebook), was the kind of quirky milieu that could only survive in Pike/Pine’s more dilapidated nooks and crannies. None of the entities — except for, perhaps, Cork House which has shifted its marketing to a “Cork for a Cause” online play — will likely be able to pay the rent in the new development.
Not everyone approved of the marriage. The two protesters stood outside of the ceremony, holding signs that read “Marriage is Between Two people” and “It’s Not a Gay Union.”
Aivaz has said she fell in love with the building on the night she was arrested after a group attempted to take the building over but was repelled by Seattle Police and SWAT. The court process for the 10th/Union 16, meanwhile, continues.
No word on any honeymoon plans for the doomed couple. We suggested a few rebound relationships for Aivaz here.
Here’s how Elaine Nonneman described her project in a message to neighbors posted on the Miller Park Blog:
