Tag Archives: boylston

Rain City Fit doing some heavy lifting with plans for transformation of Capitol Hill auto row-era garage into new RCF Barbell Club

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The more than 100-year-old garage is being lined up for redevelopment on Boylston Ave

Trainers like Kyle McKee are part of the Rain City Fit lifting community (Image: Rain City Fit)

A Capitol Hill fitness row is coming together on Boylston Ave. The new project could be a good sign for smaller, local real estate deals after a year of big brands backing out of their Capitol Hill investments. It is also a strong sign for the growth of one of Capitol Hill’s most popular home-grown fitness communities.

Permits and development paperwork show a former auto-row era service garage on Boylston just around the corner from E Pine is being readied for a new Rain City Fit project.

Development of the RCF Barbell Club will transform the 1923-era garage into a new 6,000-square-foot gym.

The Boylston project is a major investment for the Hill-based gym. Rain City Fit’s Ben Koenigsberg purchased the auto row-era property last year for $2.7 million according to King County records. Continue reading →

Councilmember says Capitol Hill park got a public safety ‘facelift’ with new strings of lights, improved maintenance

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Catenary lights, improved maintenance, and a volunteer group are helping give a challenged Capitol Hill park a “facelift,” Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth says.

“Tashkent Park in Capitol Hill just got a little facelift. New lights and regular maintenance that make a real difference,” the District 3 representative said over an instrumental soundtrack of T-Pain’s “I Can’t Believe It” in a video posted to social media Friday.

“Seven Hills Park, you’re up next for some love and upgrades,” Hollingsworth’s post concludes.

The announcement follows a community meeting held by the city in November to gather feedback as Seven Hills Park remained fenced-off while the city has planned changes there and at the Broadway Hill Park and Tashkent Park spaces due to complaints of crime and disorder. Continue reading →

Rapist who recorded assaults in Capitol Hill apartment sentenced to 46 years

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More than eight years after the assaults, an activist and entrepreneur who used Seattle University as his home base for establishing himself as a media pundit and expert on Native American issues has been sentenced to 46 years in jail for the rapes of unconscious women he videotaped inside his Boylston Ave Capitol Hill apartment.

His victims say Redwolf Pope drugged them and assaulted them without their knowledge.

Videos of the attacks revealed the crimes.

In September, a jury convicted Pope of five counts of rape and four counts of voyeurism for the assaults beginning in 2016.

The long path to justice in the case included time for Pope to finish a sentence in New Mexico. In July 2018, Pope was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a Seattle woman in a Santa Fe, New Mexico hotel room. Continue reading →

Seattle’s only East Design Board review of 2025… continues

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(Image: PUBLIC47 Architects)

Changes to the design under the review process include an effort to make the Boylston Ave E facing lobby more “pedestrian friendly” (Image: PUBLIC47 Architects)

In July, CHS reported on a rarity across the city’s core neighborhoods including areas stretching across Capitol Hill, First Hill — the only meeting of the year so far for the East Design Review Board as it convened over approval of plans for an eight-story project above Eastlake.

Now in the final days of 2025 and with the housing affordability crisis in the city as sharp as ever, this 2727 Boylston Ave E project appears to have hung on to its dubious distinction.

Wednesday, the review board is set to convene to sign off on what CHS has found is the only project to come in front of the volunteer group this year.

“The reality is that very few ground-up projects currently pencil,” Mike Yukevich of developer Eastlake Real Estate Partners says. Continue reading →

SPD makes quick arrest in Capitol Hill dumpster fires

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The Seattle Police Department says it arrested the suspect in a small series of arson fires around Capitol Hill Wednesday morning.

Multiple dumpster fires were reported on the morning including a fire at 14th and Pike reported just before 9 AM and another in the 1200 block of Boylston around 9:22 AM,

SPD reported the suspect appeared to be circling the area on foot setting the fires, according to East Precinct radio updates.

Police were able to track the suspect down thanks to 911 callers. The 45-year-old was booked into King County Jail for investigation of reckless burning.

Seattle Fire says its crews were able to quickly handle the dumpster fires without significant damage or injuries.

 
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Belmont-Boylston ‘double house’ designated a Seattle landmark

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(Image: Historic Seattle)

The Seattle Landmarks Board last week voted to designate the Belmont-Boylston “double house” at 1411 Boylston Ave for official city protections.

The board voted unanimously in favor of designation, under Standard D, recognizing the 1901-era structure’s “distinctive visible characteristics” in a decision that extends protections to the exterior of the building and surgically restricts future changes to “the interior stairs between the first and second floors and both sides of the demising wall.”

CHS reported previously on the landmarks process that has come as part of Historic Seattle’s preparation to sell the property it renovated after purchasing a swath in the area in 1989.

The Seattle City Council must now pass an ordinance imposing the restrictions on the designated property.

Meanwhile, another landmarks board session in March will consider the nomination of the latest property on Capitol Hill’s Millionaire’s Row to be put up for landmark status. CHS reported here on the Burwell House and its owners’ hopes the 1904-built 14th Ave E house will be deemed worthy to advance in the landmarks process.

 
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Subscribe to CHS to help hire writers and photographers to cover the neighborhood. CHS is a pay what you can community news site with no required sign-in or paywall. To stay that way, we need you. Become a subscriber to help us cover the neighborhood for $5 a month -- or choose your level of support 🐦‍⬛
 

Seattle landmarks board considers Belmont-Boylston ‘double house’

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A 1901-era, three-story apartment building at 1411 Boylston Ave nominated for protections in January will move ahead with a meeting on designating the property as an official landmark Wednesday afternoon.

Possible protections for the so-called Belmont-Boylston “double house” are coming as Historic Seattle prepares to sell the property it renovated after purchasing a swath in the area in 1989. Continue reading →

Belmont-Boylston ‘double house’ considered as landmark in preparation for Historic Seattle sale

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(Image: Historic Seattle)

First Historic Seattle saved the old Boylston Ave house as part of a six-building preservation effort on the street. Now it is doing the work to have  its 1901-era, three-story apartment building at 1411 Boylston Ave recognized as an official city landmark as it prepares to sell the property. A hearing on the nomination will take place Wednesday.

Historic Seattle acquired six Belmont-Boylston properties in 1989 and rehabilitated the old houses in what it called the Bel-Boy project. The organization sold five of the six buildings in 2008. It says 1411 Boylston Ave was retained and has been operated as a 17-unit, single room occupancy, low-income apartment building. Continue reading →

Part gym, part bar, here’s what new Capitol Hill Henry’s Gymnasium looks like — UPDATE

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(Image: Henry’s Gymnasium)

(Image: Henry’s Gymnasium)

Capitol Hill’s newest addition to its fitness and health scene has a “Comprehensive Recovery & Wellness Suite” and a “Full-Service Bar.”

Henry’s Gymnasium is now open on Boylston.

CHS reported here in September on the latest plans for the facility filled with “high-energy music” and “crystal chandeliers throughout” and an expansion of the Henry’s Gym concept that launched in 2023 in Lower Queen Anne.

“Henry’s distinctive new location in the 100-year-old Boylston Garage is more than just a gym,” owner Glen Swain said in a press release announcing the opening. “We’re community-oriented and focused on truly celebrating diversity while honoring the human spirit and community history through art.” Continue reading →

Upcoming landmarks meetings include nomination of Capitol Hill ‘Bel-Boy’ apartment house

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(Image: King County)

While design review meetings for new development have slowed to a trickle, the winter will include hearings over potential landmarks protections for three properties around Central Seattle.

The Seattle Department of Neighborhoods last week announced two new area  nominations.

Next week, the Landmarks Preservation Board will consider the nomination of the 102-year-old Lake Court Apartments on the shores of Lake Washington in Madison Park.

In February, the board will consider a nomination for protections for a 1901-era, three-story apartment building at 1411 Boylston Ave owned by Historic Seattle. Continue reading →