Tag Archives: 15th Ave

After five years of paperwork, ‘Master Use Permit’ issued for five-story Capitol Hill Safeway redevelopment

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(Image: Weber Thompson)

The development project to create a new Safeway grocery store and mixed-use apartment complex at the corner of 15th and John has overcome its final regulatory hurdle.

The City of Seattle issued a Master Use Permit for the long-planned project on Halloween day, records show.

The issuance is the final major step in the city’s development process for a project from developer Greystar and the Weber Thompson development team to create two new five-story buildings including a new grocery, around 330 market rate apartment units, some new, smaller retail spaces, and an underground parking lot for more than 300 cars on the Safeway property at 15th and John.

The development has been in the works for years. CHS first broke the news on the plans in 2019. Plans had called for a start of construction in 2024 and a possible 2026 opening of the project. Continue reading →

New kids shop Thistle & Poppy part of crop of businesses making indefinite stays on 15th Ave E as redevelopment of QFC block plays out

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(Image: Thistle & Poppy)

Cute kids in 5-panel hats? This shop is for you (Image: Thistle & Poppy)

The new lights strung up by the neighborhood merchant group will help. So will a burst of color from new 15th Ave E shop Thistle & Poppy.

The Seattle-born new and “reloved” online kids retailer is debuting its first brick and mortar store this weekend in the space left empty by the move of the neighborhood Rudy’s Barbershop up the street. Eventually lined up to be demolished to make way for a new mixed-used development, the current building will be Thistle & Poppy’s real-world home for the foreseeable future.

“Founded in 2022, Thistle & Poppy is an online retailer offering a curated selection of sustainable and heirloom quality goods as well as a collection of vintage and found clothing, toys, books, and objects,” owner Catherine Roth says about the “family concept shop.” Continue reading →

United States Postal Service says Capitol Hill’s rogue mailbox is ready for the 2024 election — UPDATE

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Ready and willing on 15th Ave E (Image: CHS)

It is a small piece of a giant system but Capitol Hill voters can hopefully rest a little easier knowing the United State Postal Service is checking every last box when it comes to making sure ballots are getting where they are supposed to go in the state’s popular all-mail system.

The 15th Ave E rogue mailbox is in service and carriers won’t leave ballots hanging in election limbo in 2024, the USPS says.

“The U.S. Postal Service is committed to the timely and secure delivery of election mail and has a plan in place to make sure all collection boxes are in working order for our customers,” a USPS spokesperson tells CHS.

Following last year’s November election, officials scrambled after it turned out 85 ballots were buried in mail that had not been collected from the USPS dropbox located near Kaiser Permanente’s Capitol Hill campus. Continue reading →

Police work to tie group of teens busted in robbery and carjacking spree to Capitol Hill-area mini-mart hold-ups

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(Image: Seattle Police Department)

Police are working to tie a flurry of armed robberies at Capitol Hill-area convenience stores to a string of nearly 80 increasingly violent hold-ups across Seattle and King County.

The Seattle Police Department says a task force arrested a group of teens and an adult suspect Thursday after tracking the group to Federal Way and chasing them down in a stolen mercedes:

The targets of the majority of these robberies were gas stations and late-night fast-food restaurants. The group would often consist of 2-3 males wearing facemasks and hooded clothing. The suspects would show up in a stolen vehicle which was either taken in a vehicle theft or a carjacking. They would enter the store, prop the door open, and point guns directly at the employees demanding they open the cash register. In many cases they would destroy computers they believed were tied to surveillance footage.

CHS reported here on Capitol Hill-area robberies possibly related to the group including a Friday night, October 4th hold-up at the Circle K on 12th Ave near Seattle University where the store and multiple customers were robbed at gunpoint. Less than 30 minutes later, the 7-Eleven at 15th and Denny was also help up at gunpoint where police say the suspect stole cash from the register along with a wallet and phone. The primary suspect was described a black male in his 20s, skinny and around 5’10”, wearing a black tracksuit and black ski mask, and carrying a black handgun with an extended magazine. Continue reading →

Cantinetta restaurant set to join 15th Ave E mix in new Capitol Hilltop Apartments development

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The Cantinetta original (Image: Cantinetta)

The Cantinetta Famiglia is back in the neighborhood. The centerpiece corner commercial space in the newly opened Hilltop Apartments building on 15th Ave E will be home to a new Italian joint from Cantinetta.

Permits show planning underway for the new 1,925-square-foot Cantinetta Hilltop project at the corner of 15th and Mercer. The building from Capitol Hill developer Hunters Capital opened this summer and the development firm had been on the hunt for a significant food and drink player to anchor its commercial tenants.

The building will also be home to Rudy’s and the Wax On waxing salon which are both moving up the street to join the mix below the 70 apartments units above the new building has added to the street.

It has been a busy few weeks for 15th Ave E food and drink. CHS reported here on the new $2.1 million property deal for 100-year-old former Coastal Kitchen building where food truck-born Fire Tacos & Cantina is planning to expand from its Alki original. Continue reading →

City says still working on repairs after Capitol Hill’s rainbow crosswalks and bus stop vandalism

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A rainbow crosswalk in brighter times

The 15th Ave E rainbow bus pad was still a mess as of Wednesday

The Seattle Department of Transportation says it is waiting for the right materials — and, then, the right weather — to make needed repairs after vandalism targeted Capitol Hill’s Pride rainbow crosswalks earlier this month.

“We are currently waiting for the arrival of necessary materials for the crosswalk. Once they arrive, we will assess the weather conditions to determine the best time to proceed,” a SDOT spokesperson tells CHS.

SDOT says the plan is to remove the existing crosswalks at Pine and Broadway on a Friday and Saturday night on a weekend when the work can be completed depending on the weather. Continue reading →

Review board OKs six stories for 15th Ave E mixed-use development planned for old QFC block

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The East Design Review Board has signed off on plans for the redevelopment of the old QFC block of 15th Ave E to rise six stories.

Wednesday night, the board approved the design and the requested zoning departure to allow the building an extra story in exchange for a layout that will preserve a prized European hornbeam tree along E Republican while also transitioning the project to the adjacent lower areas surrounding to the north.

A group of neighbors had opposed the plan for the extra height along this growing commercial corridor of Capitol Hill that has so-far lagged development seen in the neighborhood’s core. The decision could still be appealed to the city’s Hearing Examiner but no cases related to the development have yet been filed. Continue reading →

With question of six-story vs. five-story up in air, Capitol Hill 15th Ave E QFC block design review this week

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Developers have included views of what the building would like at six stories — and five

The long journey to Hunters Capital redeveloping 15th Ave E’s old QFC block reaches a crucial milestone this week as the project faces what could be its final public design review session with hopes the board will approve the Capitol Hill-based developers proposal to build the mixed-use structure six stories high.

The design proposal for the project’s final “recommendation” phase of the city’s design review process was planned to be considered by the East Design Board in August but the complicated review was pushed back until this week.


The developers aren’t taking anything for granted. Designers have included renderings of what the building would like at both five and six stories in the packet for Wednesday night’s meeting.

In addition to agreement on the overall massing, design elements, and materials planned for the building, developer Hunters Capital is hoping the board will bring to an end uncertainty over the building’s height. Continue reading →

Pride and repairs after vandalism targets Capitol Hill’s rainbow crosswalks and bus stop

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Thanks to a CHS reader for the pictures of the damage on 15th Ave E

Somebody is losing a cowardly fight picked over Capitol Hill’s rainbow bus stop and crosswalks.

The Seattle Department of Transportation and King County Metro said they were dispatching crews to assess damage and make as fast as possible repairs after vandalism targeting community crosswalks and a colorful bus stop in the area.

Officials said the damage was first reported Thursday.

“We strongly condemn acts of vandalism to Capitol Hill’s rainbow crosswalk and bus stop,” a spokesperson for SDOT told CHS. “These actions are unacceptable and undermine the values of inclusivity and respect that our community upholds.” Continue reading →

KOMO: Teen linked to Capitol Hill Safeway shootout arrested

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The Seattle Police Department has reportedly arrested one of the suspects in the shootout that locked down the Capitol Hill Safeway earlier this month — a 15-year-old who reportedly fled the scene at 15th and John on a scooter.

KOMO reports SPD says it spotted the teen Thursday night in the Yesler Terrace neighborhood. The kid reportedly fled on a scooter to a nearby 1100-block E Fir apartment building where police engaged in a short standoff believing the teen to be armed. “A family member who lived at the apartments calmed the boy down and got him to surrender,” KOMO reports. Continue reading →