Wilson chooses Waterfront leader for change at Seattle Department of Transportation

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Brady (Image: City of Seattle)

Mayor-elect Katie Wilson first made her name as a leader in Seattle as an advocate for public transit and safer streets. Her first major change in city leadership will come in the Seattle Department of Transportation.

Wilson this week announced that she is naming a new SDOT interim director, selecting the city’s leader on the project that created its new Waterfront Park and its relationship with Sound Transit for the role.

Angela Brady will step up from leading Waterfront Civic Projects and the Sound Transit representative role to lead SDOT. Continue reading →

Eleven : Eleven — Capitol Hill’s new ‘little campus of autonomous art studios and artists’ work’

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On 11th Ave between Pike and Pine, a new chapter of art and creation with a familiar cast of characters has opened. Eleven : Eleven represents the culmination of years of work by Blue Cone Studios and Forever Safe Spaces: a presentation gallery that its creators say gives the community a venue to showcase art without the limits that have blocked and separated artists in the past.

For Carolyn Hitt, founder of Blue Cone Studios, the need for a space like this on Capitol Hill has been clear for a decade.

“I’ve always known that we needed a presentation space. I’ve always known that we needed to make this little campus of autonomous art studios and artists’ work,” Hitt explains. “We’ve had three incubation spaces, and finally, we have a presentation space.”

The timing felt serendipitous. Hitt recalls discussing the possibility of opening a venue with Julie C, a co-founder and organizer for 11th Ave’s On The Block weekend art and market series, just weeks before the space became available. “Julie and I, prior to us realizing that this was available, and then having the audacity to think that we could do it… we were like, you know what? When it’s our turn, it’s gonna be right.”

What makes Eleven : Eleven important isn’t just that it’s a gallery, Seattle has those, it’s that it is designed to be genuinely accessible. The founders chose to create an all-ages venue in the middle of Pike/Pine, not a bar relying on alcohol sales.

“To have a space that is not a bar, to be able to offer the community all ages venue that it so very much deserves,” Hitt says, adding with conviction: “I say, You lack imagination, because I’m pretty sure we were gonna sort this out.” Continue reading →

Two pedestrians hit in rash of crashes around Central District and Capitol Hill

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The latest bout of rain and wind made for dangerous streets around the Central District and Capitol Hill Tuesday. The Seattle Fire Department responded to at least two incidents in which drivers hit pedestrians and a handful more motor vehicle crashes in the area on the blustery day. Continue reading →

So much rain in Seattle, council land use committee changes focus to floodplain legislation

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(Image: CHS)

This week’s storms that have caused flooding across the region outside Seattle are also having an impact inside City Hall.

The Seattle City Council’s land use committee Wednesday will set aside its planned agenda for action to extend a set of interim regulations in the city that will allow property owners to rely on updated National Flood Insurance Rate Maps to obtain flood insurance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Flood Insurance Program.

The Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections has been working on new legislation to come before the council to permanently update Seattle’s Floodplain Development regulations. Continue reading →

Broadway’s new Thai Lucine sets out to prove that you can wrap darn near anything delicious

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The Chicken Tom Yum Wrap (Image: Thai Lucine)

A new Broadway food and drink project shows that you can make a wrap out of anything delicious.

Thai Lucine has opened in the Barclay Broadway building just south of James. The sibling to Roosevelt Way Thai joint Ban Hua Sai specializes in on the go versions of Thai classics like the “Keow Waan” Thai Green Curry Wrap or “Massaman” Thai Peanut Curry Wrap.

A selection of Thai salad bowls, soups, and sides like pot stickers, spring rolls, and larb stix round out the offerings along with a menu of Thai coffees, teas, and milks. Continue reading →

Seattle’s only East Design Board review of 2025… continues

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(Image: PUBLIC47 Architects)

Changes to the design under the review process include an effort to make the Boylston Ave E facing lobby more “pedestrian friendly” (Image: PUBLIC47 Architects)

In July, CHS reported on a rarity across the city’s core neighborhoods including areas stretching across Capitol Hill, First Hill — the only meeting of the year so far for the East Design Review Board as it convened over approval of plans for an eight-story project above Eastlake.

Now in the final days of 2025 and with the housing affordability crisis in the city as sharp as ever, this 2727 Boylston Ave E project appears to have hung on to its dubious distinction.

Wednesday, the review board is set to convene to sign off on what CHS has found is the only project to come in front of the volunteer group this year.

“The reality is that very few ground-up projects currently pencil,” Mike Yukevich of developer Eastlake Real Estate Partners says. Continue reading →

Seattle City Council prepares to wrap up 2025 ‘Phase 1’ growth plan that will push debate over many changes — including the Squire Park ‘donut hole’ — to 2026

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The Seattle City Council is preparing to put a bow on their 2025 process to overhaul the city’s new foundation for its 20-year growth plan — but not without some possible final tweaks to proposed border changes in comp plan committee chair Joy Hollingsworth’s home district.

Tuesday afternoon, the council will vote on multiple bills putting the comprehensive plan changes forged by Mayor Bruce Harrell and the council into action that include new “Neighborhood Centers” and state-mandated “Middle Housing” laws expanding zoning hoped to allow a greater range of housing types in more parts of the city.

Hollingsworth and council planners say the second phase of changing the growth plan with debate over the block by block particulars of neighborhood centers and transit corridors will take place “in early 2026” as Mayor-elect Katie Wilson’s administration takes the helm.

Included in Tuesday’s raft of “Phase 1” legislation is a last-minute plan Hollingsworth says will push the debate over the future zoning for the area between 14th Ave and 18th Ave on the borders of First Hill, Capitol Hill, and the Central District into 2026. Continue reading →

After Bondi Beach tragedy, menorah ceremony lights up Volunteer Park for Chanukah

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(Image: Chabad of Capitol Hill)

It has been tradition for people to gather in Volunteer Park to celebrate Chanukah. This year’s Seattle gatherings and celebrations came just hours after the deadly Sydney attack at Bondi Beach.

Sunday, the first night of the Jewish holiday was celebrated in a menorah lighting ceremony overlooking the Volunteer Park reservoir organized by Chabad of Capitol Hill.

In a statement to CHS, Rabbi Levi Levitin addressed the tragedy and thanked the Seattle Police Department for helping to keep the night safe and secure:

The mass shooting targeting a Chanukah celebration in Sydney was felt deeply by Jewish communities around the world. Chanukah is about bringing light into the public square. Guided by that message, we continued with the Menorah lighting in Volunteer Park as planned, publicly celebrating our Judaism. Continue reading →

Heavy rain and winds on Capitol Hill as storm brings flooding outside Seattle

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So far, the Green River levee breaks haven’t reached Led Zeppelin scale but Western Washington is set for a stormy few days of wind and heavy rain.

On Capitol Hill, the issues so far have been minor urban flooding and possible power outages as the area remains under wind advisory until 10 PM Monday and then is forecasted for another windstorm starting Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service’s Seattle office says:

A period of very active weather will dominate the week
ahead as a series of strong frontal systems produce cascading impacts across Western Washington. In addition to ongoing river flood concerns, periods of windy conditions are expected today and again Tuesday night into Wednesday. Snow levels will tumble to the passes Tuesday night and Wednesday with heavy snowfall expected in the mountains. Cool, unsettled conditions will remain in place
through the remainder of the week with substantial additional snowfall in the mountains.

The area will remain under a flood watch through Thursday. Outside the city, areas around Tukwila and Renton were the latest to be threatened by rising waters as the Green River levee was reported breached Monday afternoon prompting an evacuation of the heavily populated, and densely developed commercial areas that includes a hospital and two schools.

In addition to gutters overflowing and wind, Capitol Hill-area trees are also in for a rough few days with soaked soil and heavy limbs.

 

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SUV smashes into E Pike self-serve kombucha taproom in chase reportedly involving human trafficking and gunfire — UPDATE

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(Image: SOMA Kombucha with permission to CHS)

Reports of a car chase and gunfire culminated in a crash caught on security video as a SUV smashed through the front of a self-serve kombucha taproom on E Pike early Monday.

Capitol Hill’s SOMA Kombucha will remain closed after extensive damage to its storefront. The neighboring HoneyHole sandwich joint sustained some damage to its shared wall but is expected to open as usual.

A Seattle Police Department spokesperson said a report on the incident was not yet complete but CHS has learned the crash involved at least one vehicle in pursuit of the SUV before the crash and reports of gunfire.

UPDATE: SPD says the driver of the crashed car was “with his girlfriend, fleeing from her pimp.”

“The pimp threatened them at the scene of the crash and forced the woman into his vehicle,” SPD’s brief on the incident says. “Officers quickly found this vehicle and the woman a few blocks away. The suspect exited the car before officers arrived and fled on foot.”

SPD says there was reported gunfire but officers did not find evidence of a shooting.

No arrests have been made at this time.

Continue reading →