Seattle Social Housing Developer moving forward with new leader — UPDATE

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House our Neighbors campaign leader Tiffani McCoy is now leading the Seattle Social Housing Developer

The Seattle Social Housing Developer is moving forward under a new leader as the Seattle City Council takes up legislation this week that will set the terms for taxpayer funding to power the new development authority to borrow enough to build or acquire 2,000 units of affordable housing over 10 years.

Tuesday morning’s meeting of the council’s Finance, Native Communities, and Tribal Governments Committee chaired by Dan Strauss will take up the ordinance allowing the city to enter into an interlocal agreement with the Seattle Social Housing Developer “to establish the terms and procedures for the implementation, administration, transfer, reporting, and oversight” of the voter-approved social housing tax.

Seattle voters approved formation of the public developer and later a 5% tax on employers who pay any employee more than $1 million in compensation to finance the program. The tax is expected to raise more than $50 million annually. Continue reading →

The First Hill Streetcar — weird, hard-working, and a little lonely — turns 10

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The first rides in 2016 were free

(Image: SDOT)

2016 was a neighborhood-changing year when it comes to public transit on Capitol Hill. While the ten-year anniversary of Capitol Hill Station and light rail serving Broadway is coming up later this year, January brings a decade milestone for a smaller, weirder, but still hard-working piece of Capitol Hill’s transit puzzle.

Ten years ago this week, the bright cars of the First Hill Streetcar first hummed to life on Broadway and service began on the 2.5-mile line connecting Pioneer Square, the International District, First Hill, and Capitol Hill. At the time, the streetcar was envisioned as part of what would eventually grow with the infamous SLUT into a small streetcar network to service the core of the city.

Today, while the SLUT plugs away in South Lake Union, the First Hill Streetcar still stands alone. It might always. Continue reading →

Police: Post-heist thrift shop stop undid Capitol Hill bank robbery suspect

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Police say a Capitol Hill bank robbery suspect’s clean getaway was stained when he took his loot for a shopping stop at the neighborhood Goodwill Friday night.

According to the Seattle Police Department, the suspect entered the Columbia Bank branch at Broadway and Mercer just before 5 PM and handed the teller a note reading, “This is a robbery; I have a gun no dye packs.”

Police say the teller complied and the masked suspect was reported fleeing the bank on foot with “a fair amount of cash,” according to East Precinct radio updates.

According to police, details of the Friday hold-up matched a similar heist the previous afternoon targeting a downtown BECU. Continue reading →

Video: Cops rallied with ‘here to fuck people up’ speech before crackdown on Cal Anderson demonstrators

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Bodycam video revealing an officer pumping-up cops with a “here to fuck people up” pep speech in the lead-up to last May’s Seattle Police Department crackdown on demonstrators against an anti-trans Christian group’s rally in Cal Anderson Park has drawn criticism from officials and calls for the city complete its review of the heavy-handed response.

In the video, the officer says, “We’re going in this time with guns blazing and all our pieces in place,” in one segment from the video’s clips posted to social media after the recording was obtained through public records and shared widely, Continue reading →

This week in CHS history | Cafe Pettirosso says goodbye, MLK Day marches, COVID-19 vax clinic at Seattle U

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(Image: Cafe Pettirosso)

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

2025

 

With smaller crowds but lots of resistance, People’s March Seattle crosses Capitol Hill


Continue reading →

Ch-ch-changes as some of the last remaining parents of Pike/Pine hand over the keys to the Cha Cha — UPDATE

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(Image: Cha Cha Lounge)

Some of the last remaining progenitors of Pike/Pine cool are handing over a key neighborhood hangout to a new generation. New permits and state corporation filings show E Pike’s famed Cha Cha Lounge is moving into 2026 in new hands. Its street-level sibling Bimbos Cantina is apparently along for the ride.

“Viva La Cha Cha!,” is all owner Jeff Ofelt said in reply to a string of calls, texts, emails, and social media messages over the past week as CHS tried to pin down the Cha Cha’s iconic ownership group to learn more about the deal.

The business face and voice of Cha Cha and Bimbos over recent years, Ofelt first crafted the Mexican lounge and cantina vibe 30 years ago with its original location on E Pine with co-owners Rebecca Olson and future husband and Pike/Pine founding father Wade Weigel. Continue reading →

‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ the theme of 2026 MLK Day in Seattle

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Seattle MLK Day organizers have turned to the writings of Martin Luther King Jr. for the message behind this year’s workshops, rally, and march from Garfield High School.

From the volunteer-run MLK Jr Organizing Coalition:

This powerful question comes from Dr. King’s 1967 book Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?. In it, he warned that America stood at a dangerous crossroads—facing deep racism, poverty, militarism, and division. He challenged us to decide: would we descend into chaos, or would we build a community grounded in justice, democracy, and love? Nearly six decades later, we face a strikingly similar crossroads. Democracy itself is under attack—from voter suppression and political violence to laws rolling back hard-won rights. And even Dr. King’s own legacy is under attack, with his words often misused to silence the very struggles he gave his life to advance. That is why this year’s theme is so urgent. “Where do we go from here?” is not just history—it’s a question for us, right now.

The group’s 43rd annual celebration begins Saturday with a youth forum at Washington Hall followed by an opportunity fair and workshops Monday morning at Garfield High School before a 11 AM rally in the school’s gym and a march set to begin at 12:30 PM from the Garfield parking lot.

Around 4,000 people took part in the event last year.

Learn more at seattlemlkcoalition.org.

 

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Nope, even the World Cup can’t bring 24-hour light rail service to Seattle

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(Image: Sound Transit)

As Seattle ramps up to host hundreds of thousands of fans for the slate of six games it is hosting in this summer’s men’s World Cup, Sound Transit says it plans to have a test of new late night bus service every 30 minutes between downtown and the airport in place before the tournament.

“This overnight pilot will ensure 24- hour transit access from Seattle to the airport,” Sound Transit CEO Dow Constantine said in the announcement. “While our proposed regional overnight bus network is still in development, adding this pilot now provides expanded flexibility for airport passengers and employees as we prepare to welcome the world during the FIFA World Cup.” Continue reading →

Whereas the 8 is pretty much always late, Seattle mayor calls for plan to speed up clogged bus route

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WHEREAS, Route 8 has such terrible on-time performance that they call it the L8, Mayor Katie Wilson is making a bid to improve the vital bus line’s performance with an executive order issued Thursday that calls for a dedicated bus lane and “other transit improvements” on Denny Way.

Part of two executives on the day including an initiative to speed the creation of new shelter and housing projects launched Thursday, Wilson’s Denny Way executive order is taking on a Seattle transit issue that has decayed for years.

CHS reported last summer as advocates said they were renewing their push — Can they ever really fix the 8?, we asked. The Transit Riders Union Wilson founded and Central Seattle Greenways said yes despite  King County Metro and SDOT’s failure across decades to arrive at solutions. Continue reading →

13 Capitol Hill food and drink joints to look forward to in 2026

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(Image: Fire Tacos)

(Image: CHS)

By CHS’s count, 35 new bars, cafes, and restaurants opened across the Capitol Hill area in 2025. There are, of course, plans for more in 2026.

A core of the Capitol Hill economy and a source of jobs and opportunities across the area, food and drink joints are also centers of their neighborhoods and, often, a big part of the connections we feel when we look at the streets around us.

After the challenging years of the pandemic, some of those connections might feel frayed with boarded-over windows and shuttered spaces. Here is a look ahead at 2026 where, hopefully, some of those papered windows are ready to open back up and re-connect you to the spaces in your neighborhood.

  • If you count months before opening, Fire Tacos Cantina on 15th Ave E will be the most highly anticipated food and drink opening of the year on Capitol Hill. CHS first reported on the project in September… 2024. Owner Erika Torres confirms the project is still a go more than a year later after the long path through small business growth and City of Seattle permits. Fire Tacos will put the former Coastal Kitchen space back into motion with an expansion of the food truck venture and Alki Beach-born original to bring birria tacos, margaritas, and more to the center of the 15th Ave E neighborhood. When? Expect Fire Tacos to finally fire up in February. Continue reading →