The ‘Squire Park exception’? Central District neighborhood at center of Seattle’s debate over creating more multifamily and affordable housing in more parts of the city

Posted on by
9

Saturday’s meeting was the first Squire Park Community Council’s first since the pandemic began (Image: CHS)

As Seattle urbanists dissect the 20-year growth plan being championed by Mayor Bruce Harrell and are identifying where in the city his administration excised more ambitious development and density goals, the “Squire Park exception” has emerged.

How did the residential blocks between 12th Ave and the Central District’s Cherry Hill end up a protected swath of single family housing-dominated growth goals in the mayor’s proposed plan?

As effective as the group may be, don’t look directly at the Squire Park Community Council.

It had not met in five years thanks to COVID-19 and the pandemic  — until Saturday. But the issues raised in the group’s first meeting by attendees and during a session with District 3 Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth fit very much with a slower approach to Seattle growth.

“The pandemic had a really devastating impact, I think, on many community councils, and particularly in Squire Park,” William Zosel, board member, told CHS. “One of the things that happened during the several years of absence is that two members died.” Continue reading →

The Country Doctor marks more than 50 years on Capitol Hill and in the Central District with new name — Seattle Roots Community Health

Posted on by
2

The Country Doctor is now Seattle Roots Community Health. The community health center with facilities across Central Seattle and school-based health centers at Meany Middle School and Nova High School says the new name “honors over 53 years of serving the Capitol Hill and Central District neighborhoods with community-driven, culturally appropriate, patient-centered care regardless of their ability to pay.”

“As we’ve grown, we needed a new organizational name that builds on our legacy and encompasses all of our clinics and the broad range of care we provide,” the organization’s CEO Brandy Taylor said in a statement. Continue reading →

The Lakeview ‘wedge’ house, Egan House latest historic home to hit Capitol Hill-area real estate market

Posted on by
1

Listing: “The Egan House, with its stark geometric shapes and sleek black & white color scheme unapologetically emphasizes its stand-out qualities. While some details (floating staircase, open volumes,…) were aligned with a formal Modernist approach, others were imbued with romance and an art-first attitude.”

Spring 2024 seems to be a good season for those in the market for landmark-worthy homes for sale around Capitol Hill for under $1 million. The historic Egan House is now for sale along Lakeview Blvd E below the St. Mark’s greenbelt for $995,000.

The 1959-built modernist wedge was designated an officially protected city landmark in 2009 about ten years after preservation advocacy group Historic Seattle acquired the property in a $240,000 transaction.

The group says selling the Egan House now out of its portfolio fits in with its history of preserving and respectfully developing and improving properties, leasing them to generate income, and, eventually, selling them to reinvest the proceeds in the organization and new opportunities: Continue reading →

This week in CHS history | Anti-gentrification activists target corporate shuttles, Rachel Marshall remembered, Starbucks Roastery workers organize

Posted on by
Reply

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

2023

 

A Capitol Hill remembrance: Rachel Marshall, of Montana, Nacho Borracho, and Rachel’s Ginger Beer

Glo’s Diner — now with organized workers in its new home above Capitol Hill Station — ready to open in May


Continue reading →

Seattle Fire rescues one, quickly knocks down blaze in 116-year-old Capitol Hill weekly-stay hotel

Posted on by
2

(Image: King County)

The 1908-built Curben Hotel on Summit Ave still stands after a fire Saturday morning required at least one person to be rescued during the response.

Seattle Fire was called to the 1700 block of Summit just south of Denny just before 6 AM to respond to an upper floor unit on fire in the three-story building.

Arriving firefighters performed a ladder rescue of at least one person. Seattle Fire reports they were treated at at the scene and in stable condition.

Crews were able to quickly bring the fire under control and a search revealed no additional victims.

It is not clear how many people will be displaced from the area of the building where the fire occurred in the longtime weekly-stay hotel.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, Seattle Fire reports.

 

PLEASE HELP KEEP CHS PAYWALL-FREE!
Subscribe to CHS to help us pay writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for as little as $5 a month.

 

 

Not every Capitol Hill drugstore is closing: Broadway Walgreens planned for remodel

Posted on by
18

(Image: Broadway Crossing)

Capitol Hill has had a tough couple months when it comes to massive retail corporations and the financial woes of the drugstore industry but there is a small bit of good news for people who get their prescriptions filled at Broadway and Pine.

City construction permit paperwork indicates Walgreens is mounting an effort to remodel its Broadway store with a roster of upgrades including a 600-square-foot pharmacy expansion.

The project comes after competitor Rite Aid shuttered two Broadway stores including the Bartell Drugs in Broadway’s Harvard Market shopping center to end 2023 amid bankruptcy woes brought on in part by settlements in massive federal and state opioid lawsuits. Continue reading →

Bollards, banking, and big water pipes for smoking marijuana or other drugs: Happy 10th 4/20, Seattle

Posted on by
Reply

The Reef, pre-bollards (Image: CHS)

This July will mark a decade since the first recreational pot shops opened in Seattle so Saturday will brings the 10th “4/20” of legal cannabis in Washington.

Whoa.

If you are high enough to get lost in that math, enjoy. For the rest of you, the city’s cannabis retailers will surely be rolling out sales and promotions to help you celebrate.

Capitol Hill’s first pot shop didn’t debut until late in 2015 as tiny Ruckus “defiantly” opened just off 15th Ave E. Its tit for tat tussle with the larger Uncle Ike’s chain’s efforts on Capitol Hill is now the stuff of cannabis legend.

After 10 years Ruckus is still there and the Hill’s clusters of shops have grown to include two Ike’s locations and a new cluster of shops on E Olive Way including The Reef. Continue reading →

Seattle plan would give city power to tear down problem vacant buildings used by campers and drug users

Posted on by
8

The Vito’s building burning last summer (Image: Seattle Fire)

New legislation being proposed by the Harrell administration would put the power to demolish vacant buildings that become magnets for squatters and drug use in the hands of Seattle City Hall.

The bill proposed by Mayor Bruce Harrell will be taken up by the Seattle City Council as officials hope to give Seattle Fire Department Chief Harold Scoggins new powers to “to take quick action to remedy derelict buildings that threaten the health and safety of our neighborhoods.”

The city says the number of vacant building fires has surged from 77 in 2021 to 130 last year including the massive blaze last summer that destroyed the First Hill building home to low-income apartments and Vito’s nightclub. That building had been shuttered for repairs following a previous smaller fire but had become popular with squatters and drug users. Continue reading →

New era? This Capitol Hill restaurant is ready to move on from its pandemic streatery

Posted on by
12

A view out to the soon to be removed Barrio streatery

Some of the dining habits and street seating setups of the pandemic may never go away but times have changed enough for one Capitol Hill restaurant to move on from its COVID-era “streatery” and restore an increasingly rare feature along 12th Ave — street parking.

“We are selling our Streatery!,” Barrio Mexican Kitchen and Agave Bar announced this week. “Thank you to our guests, team, and neighbors for making covid a bit more bearable by enjoying this streatery with us, but the time has come to move on.”

Get your offers in now for the 60-foot long x 8-foot wide patio that the restaurant installed during the years of restrictions and precautions under a city program put in place to regulate the proliferation of street patios that sprung forward during the pandemic. Continue reading →

Bad Chancla, good talk: Chef José Garzón brings Latin flavor and ‘stories through food’ to E Olive Way

Posted on by
2

Chef José Garzón is more than just a culinary master; he’s a storyteller whose dishes weave tales of culture, tradition, and personal history. As the concept generator of Garzon, Chifa Baby, Lola Supperclub, and, now, Bad Chancla on E Olive Way below The Reef pot shop, Garzón’s journey from musician to well loved chef is a testament to his passion for food and community.

Having played in bands from Sunset Lily to MxPx, Garzón has traveled around the world playing music and eating street food. Each of Chef Garzón’s culinary ventures offers a unique dining experience that reflects his diverse background and culinary influences. From his celebration of Latin American street food to Lola Supperclub’s homage to his beloved caretaker in Ecuador, Garzón’s menus are a fusion of flavors and narratives.
Joining with other local chefs, Garzon is hoping to be a part of the change in Seattle’s kitchen culture “the kitchen scene or whatever you want to call it. It’s so different these days. And a lot of people will tell you, it’s bad, but I think it’s great. It’s growing and it’s healthier. You know, chefs and management now care about days off. We care about your well being.” Continue reading →