Tag Archives: 13th ave

‘Sporting use’ — Heavy real estate deal may lift Capitol Hill auto row warehouse to new heights on 13th Ave

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(Image: King County)

Powerlifters are making some heavy real estate investments on Capitol Hill.

The brokers behind the $10.1 million deal have announced the sale of 13th Ave’s Auto Accessories building with plans for “a recreational or sporting use.”

CHS reported in the summer of 2024 on the development maneuverings around one of Capitol Hill’s last auto row blocks as plans were filed for demolition of the 1920-era warehouse to make away for a new seven-story, multifamily mixed-use apartment building.

The announcement of the new deal says “future plans for the site have not been publicly disclosed” — “though it may be considered for a recreational or sporting use.” Continue reading →

Seattle Fire crews mistakenly sent to Capitol Hill’s 13th Ave in response to two-alarm apartment building fire on Beacon Hill

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(Image: Seattle Fire)

A two-alarm apartment fire in Beacon Hill is the latest reminder to be as clear as possible with your street directionals and cross streets when calling 911 in Seattle.

Seattle Fire says its response to a major fire on Beacon Hill Sunday morning was delayed when crews were dispatched to Capitol Hill after a 911 call “reporting a fire in an apartment building in the 1700 block of 13th Ave.”

SFD says the first crews reported no fire in the area as they arrived near 13th and E Olive St. Sunday at 12:01 PM, three minutes after the initial call.

The fire department says a second 911 call came in at 12:03 PM reporting the fire was on Beacon Hill in the 17000 block of 13th Ave South — more than two miles away. Continue reading →

Under New Ownership: First, Pride, then new life and new memories at The Cuff

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First, Cuff Pride Fest (Image: The Cuff)

Scott Walent lived in San Francisco for 15 years where he worked to fill the city’s nights as a promoter and co-owned the music venue Rickshaw Stop. He gave it up to move to Seattle in 2018 to build his career.

Seven years and a lot of nights later, Walent is an owner again, the holder of the keys to The Cuff Complex, the Capitol Hill leather bar that has been a backbone of Seattle’s queer scene for more than 30 years.

“I’m really focused on providing a range of music types and party types. We’re really focusing on having the gambit as far as we have in the queer community,” Walent tells CHS.

CHS reported here on Walent’s spring acquisition of The Cuff as the Queer/Bar family of Capitol Hill businesses decided to spin off the 13th Ave leather hangout to an owner who could focus on the historic gay bar’s unique place in the city’s queer nightlife scene.

Queer/Bar nightlife veteran and co-founder Joey Burgess is still on hand to help guide The Cuff this Pride weekend through its major Cuff Pride Fest street party but, after that, Walent is ready to move forward in reshaping The Cuff on his own.

There will be changes. And expansions. Walent said he’s working to produce a Girl’s Night Out event so lesbians, queers and allies can also feel welcome at The Cuff, adding how he’s “making sure that it’s not just the typical gay bar.” Based on the mix of people he’s seen at The Cuff, Walent is excited to give this new effort a try. Continue reading →

‘The backbone of a neighborhood’ — Capitol Hill leather bar The Cuff has new owner

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CHS reported on 30 years at The Cuff here in 2023

Through 32 years of changes in the neighborhood and changes in ownership, people have been getting lost in the dark corners and good times at The Cuff.

The quintessential Capitol Hill leather bar is now stepping out again on its own.

Scott Walent, a first-time nightlife owner, is stepping up and taking over the sprawling 13th Ave venue and center of Seattle queer culture as part of a rare downsizing of the Queer/Bar family of Capitol Hill businesses.

“We understand the weight of this responsibility and are committed to honoring the legacy of the previous owners, who so wonderfully navigated The Cuff Complex through the past five years,” Walent said in a statement to the Seattle Gay News who was first to report the changes. “We plan to maintain many of the values and traditions that have made The Cuff such a vital part of our community while infusing new vibes and programming into the calendar.” Continue reading →

Capitol Hill’s Station 25 busy with dumpster fires including a smoldering pile of trash on Bellevue Ave — UPDATE

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Thanks to reader Peter for the picture

Seattle Fire’s E Pine Station 25 has had an interesting start to its week on Capitol Hill.

Monday’s wind and rain storm knocked out power to thousands and left Seattle Fire scrambling all day to respond to building alarms triggered by the outage.

Tuesday brought literal dumpster fires to the neighborhood. The mess on Bellevue Ave was a trash fire at a whole other level. Continue reading →

Fire in under-construction 13th Ave apartment development investigated

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(Image: Seattle Fire Department)

Seattle Fire says nobody was found inside after a fire did heavy damage Saturday morning to the upper stories of an apartment building under construction near 13th and Mercer.

Heavy smoke was reported billowing from the fourth floor of the new development around 11 AM as firefighters arrived to find the blaze spreading into the building. As ladder crews searched for anybody possibly trapped inside the under-construction structure ,SFD says its engine crews stretched hose lines to the fourth floor and put water on the fire. SFD reports it took 35 minutes to extinguish the blaze. Continue reading →

Clouds over Cap Hill Kitchens as TJ’s Street Tacos says Capitol Hill ‘ghost kitchen’ shut it down over complaints

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(Image: CloudKitchens)

Those are storm clouds gathering over 13th Ave at Cap Hill Kitchens, the latest location in the nationwide CloudKitchens network of delivery-focused food prep facilities. One local food and drink concept is already bailing on the project after its owner says CloudKitchens unhooked his restaurant start-up from the system and shut him down for raising issues about the company created by ex-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.

Pablo Vazquez of TJ’s Street Tacos says he was shut down by CloudKitchens after raising issues publicly about his dispute with the Los Angeles-based company over rent and what he says was its failure to get necessary permits in place on the schedule promised by the company. Vazquez says the services and systems restaurant concepts like his pay for also have fallen short as the CloudKitchens technology and apps “fail frequently causing money and food loss.”

Those complaints echo with those from other restaurants having poor and costly experiences at CloudKitchens facilities around the country.

“There are other businesses that need our help! I will not be silenced!,” Vazquez writes.

Meanwhile, other aspects of the CloudKitchens arrival on Capitol Hill are leaving a bad taste in neighborhood mouths as dinnertime rush hour on 13th Ave has become a parade of stuck and illegally parked delivery cars. Continue reading →

With TJ’s Street Tacos, Cocina Casera, American Jacks Vegetarian Restaurant, and Mother India Cuisine, Cap Hill Kitchens lands its ‘cloud’ food and drink concept on 13th Ave

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(Image: CHS)

“From back of house to front of house and everything in between, Otter helps your restaurant seamlessly manage daily operations…”

A new restaurant space has opened on Capitol Hill’s 13th Ave offering crafted grilled cheese sandwiches. And Caribbean wraps, sandwiches, and bowls. Indian. Venezuelan. Shawarma. “American Vegetarian” fare. And more Indian.

If you are noticing a swarm of new openings offering delivery from 1525 13th Ave, you might be having your first experience with a new Capitol Hill ghost kitchen. Boo!

It’s not that spooky. CHS reported on the plans for the project taking shape on 13th Ave two years ago last week when a California company made a $2.3 million purchase of the 1929-era building being leased as laboratory space to a provider of chromosome analysis services. Permits showed the company was planning a full overhaul of the building to create a 6,000-square-foot “commercial catering kitchen project” with multiple units for “food processing and craft work” on the block neighboring Capitol Hill leather bar The Cuff. Continue reading →

Design review: Tree preservation, parking, and new housing — A 13th Ave project with something for everyone on Capitol Hill

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A new project planned for the 600 block of 13th Ave E will continue the area’s transition away from most of its remaining single family-style housing. This week, the project takes its first bow in front of the East Design Review Board.

Under the project, three adjacent 120(ish)-year-old houses and a detached garage on 13th between E Mercer and E Roy will be torn down. In their place will rise a four-story, 50-foot tall building with about 36 apartments, a trade officials in the housing squeezed city say is necessary for Seattle to address ongoing affordability and homelessness crises.

The developer, Leschi Lakeside Property Management, working with Kirkland-based Milbrandt architects, are proposing the usual three options for how the building might be shaped. As this meeting is the early design guidance phase, most details are focused on the basic massing and layout of the planned development.

All three proposals call for parking access roughly in the middle of the building, and therefore, mid-block, which is less than ideal, but really the only option. All three are roughly rectangular in shape. There are plans to plant new trees along western edge of the property – the back of the building – to give the existing neighbors more privacy. Continue reading →

City says tents to be cleared from area around Capitol Hill church by Seattle’s homelessness Unified Care Team

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The City of Seattle team dedicated to homelessness outreach and “resolution” of camps is slated to clear tents, belongings, and debris from encampments that have formed on the blocks around 13th and Howell on Capitol Hill before the end of the month.

The tents and camping have been the subject of complaints including concerns from parishioners and officials at the area’s Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption. “They are afraid to come. We want them to get [the homeless] help, we want them to get off the streets,” the church community’s president told KOMO. “We don’t have the infrastructure as a small church to do that ourselves.”

The situation has now been widely reported and picked up at the national level by outlets including Fox News.

A spokesperson for the King County Regional Homelessness Authority provided a statement to CHS that echoed what the organization has been telling national media. “We are aware of this particular encampment, and are in communication with outreach teams, but the need for housing and outreach is much greater than current capacity,” the spokesperson said, referring CHS to Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office and the City Hall department that remains tasked with clearances of camps in the city despite the formation of the regional authority. Continue reading →