A 15th Ave E move as Rudy’s will jump across street to soon to open Capitol Hilltop development

(Image: Rudy’s)

Now they just need to make a space for ShopRite.

City construction permits show the first commercial tenant has been lined up for the opening-soon Capitol Hilltop mixed-use building on 15th Ave E. Rudy’s Barbershop, about to be displaced by another development from Hunters Capital on the other side of the street, is making plans to join the five-story, nearly 70-unit mixed-use apartment building with underground parking for 21 vehicles that has reshaped the corner of Capitol Hill’s 15th and Mercer where the old Hilltop Service Station used to stand.

The short move up the street into a new 1,100-square-foot barbershop ten barber stations, two hairwash sinks, and a new waiting and retail area will help add some stability to the street’s coming changes.

Rudy’s current 15th Ave E location is set to be demolished to make way for a coming mixed-use project that will also replace the street’s shuttered QFC grocery. Continue reading

A sixth story and a prized European hornbeam tree — Neighbors have their say on extra height for 15th Ave QFC redevelopment project

There are more powerful actions they can take but neighbors opposing a proposed sixth floor on the mixed-use development being planned for the old QFC block of Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave E got their say Wednesday night. Several neighbors supporting the plan and increased housing options on the busy commercial street on the edge of Capitol HIll’s single family-style house core also spoke up.

Around thirty residents voiced their opinions on the proposed mixed-use development as planners from the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspection took notes and coordinated the brisk Wednesday evening meeting.

While many criticized the idea of a six-story building rising above 15th Ave E, there were also plenty of attendees during the virtual meeting who expressed support for increasing housing density amid the city’s ongoing housing and affordability crisis.

“I live less than a mile from this proposed project. I think this is a great project. It should be approved as proposed,” said one. “This project is located in, and will add to an already existing business area.”

Capitol Hill developer Hunters Capital — whose mixed-use development up the street replacing the old Hilltop Service Station will wrap up construction later this year — is requesting a departure from area zoning for its QFC project to allow an extra sixth story of height. Continue reading

Reminder: Wednesday night land use meeting for proposed six-story 15th Ave E QFC redevelopment

Wednesday, the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections will hold its public meeting on the land use application for the mixed-use development being planned to rise on the site of the former 15th Ave E QFC.

Capitol Hill developer Hunters Capital is requesting a departure from area zoning to allow an extra sixth story of height. Continue reading

Where the Canterbury reigned over Capitol Hill for a half century, Meliora faces restart after less than a year of business

(Image: Meliora)

Seattle’s Singh restaurant family is used to success. Their Rasai is celebrated for its take on “progressive Indian” in Fremont.

Things haven’t worked out as well for Meliora, the “New American Restaurant” and cocktail bar opened to give a new, calmer life to the former Canterbury Ale House space on 15th Ave E.

After just over a half year of more than half empty seats, the restaurant has been temporarily closed for a restart:

We have temporarily closed our door for essential maintenance and enhancements in our unwavering commitment to providing you with the best possible experience. This break is aimed at ensuring your future visits are even more enjoyable.

Continue reading

Horizon Books ends a 53-year-old Capitol Hill story

Donald Glover

Horizon was giving away its remaining stock for free last weekend on 10th Ave (Image: CHS Facebook Group)

Let’s close this current chapter of neighborhood classics saying goodbye. Another of the longest running businesses on Capitol Hill closed quietly last weekend. It wasn’t a restaurant, cafe, or bar.

Horizon Books was proudly established on Capitol Hill 53 years ago making it contemporaneous with fellow class of 1971 business licensees Country Doctor Community Health Clinic, architect Roger Newell, and Vogue Coiffure Beauty Salon on our list of the oldest businesses in the area a few years back.

The bookseller that made its name on Capitol Hill long before Elliott Bay Book Company was transplanted to 10th ve quietly turned the page and liquidated its stock last weekend, handing out free books to anybody who stopped by its underground 10th Ave space home to “the largest and finest used books collections in Seattle.” Continue reading

On 15th Ave E, development faces debate over plans for a sixth story

 

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The people have spoken. A new mixed-use development set to rise on the block currently home to the empty 15th Ave E QFC, a collection of businesses including a Rudy’s Barbershop and local favorite ShopRite, and a handful of apartments will be the subject of a public meeting later this month after a petition drive and neighbors opposing the project’s plans for a sixth floor gathered signatures to force the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections hearing.

“I’m concerned about the impact of such a huge structure on the small businesses and parking in this neighborhood,” one of the signees writes.

“I oppose a building of 6 stories,” wrote another.

The special meeting comes as a new addition to the months and years of planning required for Capitol Hill firm Hunters Capital to develop the property which also must pass through the city’s design review process.

The project is planned for the busy 15th Ave E commercial strip on the edge of Capitol Hill’s northeast core of valuable single family-style homes.

CHS reported here in October as the proposal was approved by the East Review Board in its early design guidance phase. Hunters and the Runberg Architecture Group are proposing to transform the old QFC block into new apartments, businesses, and plaza space they say would give the neighborhood a vibrant streetscape with a mix of trees old and new, small retail spaces to add to the street’s eclectic mix, and 170 new homes. Continue reading

After more than 30 years, Capitol Hill’s Coastal Kitchen to make way for something new on 15th Ave E

Coastal Kitchen will close this month after more than 30 years of business on Capitol Hill as the restaurant’s ownership says it has sold the 15th Ave E property to make way for a new restaurant.

The Sound Restaurant Family announced the planned closure and sale Friday. The identity of the buyer has not been revealed and is not yet public record. The 4,249-square-foot restaurant and the 1924-era building it calls home were recently listed for sale for $2.5 million.

“The 15th Ave E neighborhood in Seattle’s Capitol Hill is a vibrant and diverse area known for its unique character and community atmosphere,” the listing reads.

“We are so grateful to have been a part of Coastal Kitchen for these past eight years,” owners Dan and Jonathan Tweten said in a statement sent to CHS. “It’s been an honor to be part of this neighborhood and community, and we will miss it.” Continue reading

Capitol Hill classic Coastal Kitchen returns (late) weekday brunch and lunch to the menu — UPDATE

(Image: Coastal Kitchen)

Its diner-y days are gone. It’s a “fish house” now. But Capitol Hill’s Coastal Kitchen is back in the daily brunch, lunch, and dinner business.

The 15th Ave E stalwart launched new weekday brunch/lunch hours last week joining its dinner and weekend brunch service.

Returning to weekday daytime service marks a milestone for the restaurant which reopened after a lengthy closure with a full overhaul and refreshed concept late last year. Continue reading

Developer hears community hopes for 15th ave E QFC block redevelopment

With the city’s design review process in a drawn out transition period, the developers behind a project that will truly reset the commercial core of Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave E with new retail space and five stories of mixed-use housing held a neighborhood meeting last week to gather some of the feedback normally channeled through formal civic processes — or pushed aside altogether.

Capitol Hill-based Hunters Capital hosted the Friday afternoon session billed as “drop-in hours” to discuss the planned 15th Ave E development of the former QFC block with around 25 residents who came to express their hopes over pedestrian safety, community building, traffic mitigation, and neighborhood perennials like parking and, yes, public bathrooms.

“There are no public restrooms in Capitol Hill,” one resident said. With a potential increase in visitors to the neighborhood, the attendee expressed the need for public restrooms. Other attendees agreed. While some acknowledged there could be potential issues with public restrooms, being able to pee is an equity issue that should be raised.

Will the city’s pee equity issue be addressed in the project’s design? That seems unlikely but the discussion is the kind of thing that wasn’t typically supposed to be part of the city’s formal design review process. For a few minutes on 15th Ave E, it was on the table.

Longtime residents of the few existing apartment units above the QFC-block property that will make way for the new project also attended Friday’s session. Long-term tenants living in the building expressed to Hunters Capital that there has been a lack of upkeep on the current building and property management has not been responding to their concerns and not informing them about the dates of developing meetings.

Attendees said they hoped for better communication as they prepare for the changes.

Hunters Capital is planning a five-story mixed-use building with around 150 apartment units and underground parking for around 100 vehicles on the site. With around 10,000-square-feet of street-level commercial space, Hunters says it is hoping to connect with 15th Ave E by designing a wrap-around plaza and creating a pedestrian thoroughfare that’s open for pedestrians. Along 15th, they’re hoping to pull back the building at least four feet to widen the sidewalk.

Large in the minds of attendees — and the developer — is the future of retail and grocery shopping on the block. Continue reading

What will come next for ShopRite?

Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave E is known for its sense of community and vibrant local businesses but one store owner is facing an uncertain future. Mohammad Abid knows his building is going to be torn down.

What will come next for ShopRite and Abid’s passion for his store and the community it serves?

CHS reported here on early plans for a five-story, mixed-use development that will replace the the 1904-built Moore Family building and the former QFC grocery store on the block.

“Yeah, maybe four or six months, after finishing the project down the street, they will start here,” Abid expects. “Same contractor, same owner, same everything,” as the work up the street where Capitol Hill developer Hunters Capital’s project replacing the old Hilltop Service Station is rising.

ShopRite means a lot to Abid who has run the shop for more than 20 of its nearly 30 years of business.

Coming to the United States from Pakistan in 1984, Abid says he moved to the US for an educational opportunity. After attending Edmonds Community College and working a few small jobs, he found ShopRite. “Before this, I was not married. Then I opened a store, I got married, I bought a house, I had children. I did all this to put my children through school and I have.”

ShopRite and the busy owner have been fixtures in the community. Neighbors know him, and he knows them, serving the same people for years, learning their needs, and ordering the obscure items requested.

But the city and the neighborhood needs more housing and waves of development continue to pass through the city — especially in areas like 15th Ave E on the edges of the most densely populated areas of Seattle. Abid has seen the neighborhood grow, and now the change has arrived for ShopRite. Continue reading