Tag Archives: 12th ave

SUMA: Plans for 12th Ave Seattle University Museum of Art — and ‘Tulip on the Green’ — moving forward

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A rendering of SUMA (Image: Olson Kundig)

The planing for SUMA has been busy this summer. Early paperwork for land use and construction permits around the planned Seattle University Museum of Art has been a summer project for architects and planners around the project. The Seattle University Hill Implementation Advisory Committee, a body required by the city for oversight of major institutional planning, will meet Wednesday night on the project.

Seattle University Hill Implementation Advisory Committee (IAC) Meeting #18: Agenda Date: Wednesday, July 30, 2025 Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM In-person location: Seattle University Advancement and Alumni Building Stuart T. Rolfe Community Room 824 12th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122 Virtual Option: Webex Link Dial-in and Passcode: 206-207-1700 / 248 233 75775

You can learn more about the session and sign up for public comment here (PDF).

Wednesday agenda calls for a 35-minute session on the project’s permit timeline, a discussion around regulations related to amending the school’s Major Institution Master Plan and the “IAC’s Role in the Process.”

A 70-minute Q&A, public comment, and “committee deliberation” will follow. Continue reading →

This 120-year-old Capitol Hill house isn’t making way for mixed-use development — It is rising up

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A rendering of the planned project including the new street-level restaurant space and a new “brownstone” addition behind the old home (Image: Board and Vellum)

They are not tearing down the 1905-era house in the middle of a slowly growing wave of multifamily development up and down 12th Ave.

They are raising it up.

Passersby of the corner of 12th and Howell have noticed an unusual project for the area underway this summer as contractors have placed massive wood and steel supports below the jacked-up, 120-year-old, two-story, 2,200-square-foot home.

The plan is to keep it up there and build a new commercial space below the home.

The house is also being readjusted on the lot to make room for a new “brownstone”-style multi-story addition that will connect the corner to the block’s ongoing wave of redevelopment. Continue reading →

Colibri Mexican Kitchen is now serving family style on Capitol Hill

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(Image: Colibri Mexican Kitchen)

It’s a family venture at 12th Ave’s new Colibri Mexican Kitchen where uncle Ricardo’s dream of owning his own restaurant has come true.

“We are going to pour our love into it,” Celeste Bakr tells CHS about the new addition to Capitol Hill’s rich Mexican dining scene in the 12th Ave space previously home to vegan dining legend Plum Bistro.

While Colibri doesn’t feature any nods to the space’s vegan past, Bakr says her diners will find the Mexican kitchen “brings something a little different” with large portions and full plates that echo traditions of plenty.

“It’s typical in Mexico to serve lots of food — a love language,” Bakr says. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | ‘Not just my business, it’s our business’ — La Cha-Bliss Wines now open on Capitol Hill

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After a red carpet grand opening, 12th Ave wine shop La Cha-Bliss is ready for its first Pride.

CHS reported here on the new venture from Howard Russell who is building on a career performing as Ladie Chablis to create a new Capitol Hill wine store. Continue reading →

A decade of Balkan pastries and so much more at 12th Ave’s Byrek and Baguette

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12th Ave’s Byrek and Baguette doesn’t really need any hype or social media influencers to build its steady business from regulars and the kids from nearby Seattle University. A decade on this stretch of Capitol Hill will do that.

“We don’t do any advertising,” Natalie Gjekmarkaj said with a small laugh. “People just know us.”

Tucked in among the neighborhood’s busier corridors, the eatery doesn’t pop up on typical lunchtime sandwich searches. The focus here is byrek, the flaky, crispy, filled pastry of the Balkans.

“Even if somebody wants to come here and look for sandwiches, our restaurant doesn’t come up,” she admits. “But the people who know us? They’re coming. We have very loyal customers.” Continue reading →

Do you have video of the assholes wanted in assault at Capitol Hill Dave’s Hot Chicken?

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An employee at a Capitol Hill fried chicken joint is recovering after being punched in the face Tuesday night. Seattle police are searching for three suspects who assaulted the 29-year-old after they were asked to leave the establishment for harassing customers with homophobic slurs.

Officers responded to Dave’s Hot Chicken in the 1200 block of E Pike just before 11 PM Tuesday after the reported assault. Witnesses said that three males were harassing patrons while eating. One witness believed the harassment, including animal noises and name-calling, was due to their sexual orientation. A manager told the suspects to stop or leave. Continue reading →

How Indian restaurant and bar Mint & Martini expanded to Capitol Hill… from St. Louis

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By Matt Dowell

Mint & Martini, a new restaurant replacing Barrio on 12th Ave, aims to open by the middle of May. They’re bringing modern Indian and Indochinese cuisine to the big space.

Beyond the food, they want to make a fun place for people to hang out that fits the Capitol Hill scene.

“We’ll have a bar. It won’t be just your typical Indian restaurant,” the ownership tells CHS. ”We want people to come and sit at the bar, have drinks, chat, and do happy hours.”

The bar will feature a variety of cocktails and mocktails, including seasonal drinks “resonating with the Indian summer.”

Its hoped for arrival this spring will also represent one of the less heralded paths to joining the Capitol Hill food and drink scene. Mint & Martini’s ownership is not only coming to a new neighborhood. It is leaping to a new region of the country and a new city with hopes based on price per square foot and demographic opportunity.

As CHS reported in January, this isn’t the group’s first Mint & Martini. They opened a location last year outside of St. Louis, where they also own Red Chili Indian Cuisine & Bar. The St. Louis spot offers Indian-Italian fusion, like the Tikka Vikka pizza, “which substitutes the classic pizza red sauce for a spiced tomato- and cream-based sauce that adds a sweet and earthy touch”, according to one reviewer.

But Capitol Hill’s Mint & Martini won’t borrow much from St. Louis beyond the name. Continue reading →

Kemi Dessert Bar is now — softly — open on Capitol Hill

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You have a few days to think about your choices. Friday, Kemi Dessert Bar will be open for another weekend of service as the 12th Ave sweet shop settles into rhythm on Capitol Hill.

CHS broke the news here in January on the plans from Kelly Miao to bring her creations to Capitol Hill after honing her craft in New York City’s “Instagram Bakery Scene” at a prestigious roster of NYC bakeries, bars, and restaurants. Continue reading →

Community meeting will discuss Lee Center demolition to make way for Seattle University Museum of Art

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SUMA design rendering by Olson Kundig

(Image: Lee Center for the Arts)

By Matt Dowell

An April 22nd meeting has been set between Seattle University and the community following concerns about the school’s plans to demolish its Lee Center for the Arts to make way for a new art museum on 12th Ave. An often behind-the-scenes public body flexed its muscles to get the meeting on the books after “unprecedented” public interest in the project’s early stages.

A year ago, Seattle U announced that a major donation from property developer Dick Hedreen, including his family’s 200-piece, $300 million collection of paintings, pottery, photography, etchings, and sculptures, would culminate in a new Seattle University Museum of Art (SUMA). When the university announced that the plans meant the Lee Center would have to go, students and faculty pushed back, saying that the building was a “critical space for students and community members” and that planned replacements were inadequate.

Now, the Seattle University’s Implementation Advisory Committee has stepped up. IACs are groups of city-appointed volunteers who monitor the development of Seattle’s major institutions – universities, colleges, and hospitals. The institutions are granted special zoning rules but must adhere to agreements made with their surrounding communities. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill wine shop La Cha-Bliss: ‘A touch of fabulous in every pour’ — but nothing French thanks to ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

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(Image: Ladie Chablis)

(Image: La Cha-Bliss)

Seattle drag queen Ladie Chablis is getting into the wine business and the show is ready to begin.

Capitol Hill’s new La Cha-Bliss wine shop is ready to open any day now.

Known as Howard Russell off the stage, the first-time retail entrepreneur told CHS that the support of the LGBTQIA+ community helped the vinous dreams come to fruition.

“The location is ready—it’s ready to go. I’m just waiting on the liquor license to come through, and that’s where we’re at right now. My goal is to have this store open on the first week of April,” Russell told CHS last month.

Russell was on holiday with friends in December and took note of cute and quaint wine shops, commenting on how lovely it would be to have one. After returning to Seattle, a friend alerted Russell of the available retail space at 1412 12th Ave formerly home to a flower design shop.

“I went ahead, talked to the realtor and the broker… and they gave me a good offer on the place itself,” Russell said. “When all was said and done, they chose me [over seven applicants] to have my wine store there.” Continue reading →