The corner in the 1970s
The Seattle Landmarks Board will take up the nomination of an unlikely Capitol Hill candidate for preservation Wednesday.
CHS reported here on the nomination for the auto row-era commercial property at 1550 E Olive Way and the corner of E Denny that is being presented as a formality in the process to redevelop the nearly 100-year-old complex. Continue reading
A reported family dispute led to a shooting in the street at E Denny at Boylston early Friday morning.
According to Seattle Police and Seattle Fire radio updates on the just after 2 AM update, one person was shot in the knee in a dispute reportedly involving his brother. Continue reading
A design rendering of the building
By Jadenne Radoc Cabahug, CHS reporting intern
By summer, the northeast corner of E Denny and Harvard across from Twice Sold Tales and the Pantages House will open 93 new affordable homes for residents at risk of homelessness after YWCA’s $38 million deal to acquire a planned microhousing development.
The YWCA Seattle King Snohomish chapter acquired the new building on 800 E Denny Way to be used as permanent affordable housing designated to address barriers for low-income households that are at-risk or experiencing homelessness in Seattle. The building has 93 units that are studios and one-bedroom.
CORRECTION: CHS originally reported the building would be focused on providing LGBTQIA+ inclusive housing for women. YWCA has clarified that the building “will be open to people of all genders.”
“This is one community project that we hope will be a benefit to those that want to live in Capitol Hill, and particularly in the Seattle area where it’s very expensive to live,” Patricia Hayden, YWCA’s chief program officer of King County said. Continue reading
(Image: Viva La Quinta/Jesse L. Young)
While residents at one historic Capitol Hill apartment building are calling for their building to be saved from market forces that will likely bring costly upgrades and higher rents, tenants at another “saved” landmark building are going to get new neighbors.
Early filings with the city this summer show plans for a new twin apartment building taking shape to join the landmark-protected La Quinta apartments at 17th and Denny.
According to the early paperwork, developer DEP Homes is preparing a plan to demolish a set of old houses that have served a range of capacities from duplex and up over the years to make way for a new apartment building on the land behind the Frederick Anhalt-designed La Quinta and its clay tile roof, its dozen two-story apartments, and its large central Mediterranean Revival courtyard. Continue reading
The largest homeless encampment remaining on Capitol Hill was cleared by city crews Thursday.
CHS reported in late July that Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office had identified the Belmont at Denny camp “a priority site” for clearance after ongoing public safety issues including shootings and assaults at the cluster of tents set up on the parking strip and sidewalk along Belmont. Continue reading
Seattle Fire responded to a fire Thursday afternoon in one of the remaining single family style home mid-block along 11th Ave E between E John and Denny just north of Cal Anderson. The old home is one of a handful lined up to be demolished to make way for a new housing development.
SFD said the fire was quickly brought under control and there were no reported injuries in the just before 3 PM response.
E John was closed in all directions as Seattle Fire vehicles filled the area during the response. Continue reading
(Image: Sound and Fog)
Sound and Fog is coming to E Denny Way from West Seattle bringing along hard to find coffee roasts to Capitol Hill but swapping out its wine club for craft cocktails.
“This one is a little bit different,” owner Justin Krebs says of the planned expansion. “We’re not carrying the wine component.” Instead, the second location will be a coffee and cocktails “mash-up” in the spirit of Sound and Fog’s quest for unique cafe experiences.
“If you can get it down the street, I probably don’t want to serve it,” Krebs said of Sound and Fog’s focus on European roasts.
Krebs, a former Starbucks employee who opened the first Sound and Fog in West Seattle six years ago, will also have an interesting window on the coffee giant’s tangle with unionization efforts. Continue reading
Seattle Police gave up a high speed chase into downtown after a reported armed carjacking near Cal Anderson Park early Thursday night.
According to SPD and East Precinct radio reports, the heist went down near 11th and Denny as two men in ski masks reportedly held up the driver at gunpoint: Continue reading
Earlier this month, CHS reported on Capitol Hill’s La Quinta apartments hitting the market and the hopes of residents of the landmarks-protected building at 17th and Denny to have a shot at purchasing the property even as its listing was already live and a sale nearly ready to close.
Thanks to Seattle’s still relatively new under-used Notice of Intent to Sell ordinance, those residents now have at least 30 days to organize a possible bid.
According to an aide to City Councilmember Lisa Herbold, her office looked into the planned sale after learning of the situation through CHS’s coverage and found that at least one unit in the building is renting at rates affordable to those earning no more than 80% of the area median income, requiring the building owners to participate in the Notice of Intent to Sell program. Continue reading
(Image: Viva La Quinta/Jesse L. Young)
With an early start, the residents and neighbors of Capitol Hill’s Frederick Anhalt-designed La Quinta apartments have already worked together to win landmarks protections for the 1927-built complex at 17th and Denny.
Now they are in a rush to try to rally together to buy the landmarked building before a sale closes that will move the property into new hands after the death of longtime owner Ken Van Dyke in early 2020.
Residents have started a petition calling on the ownership company set up for the building to hold off on a planned sale and give the neighbors a chance to match the price:
Less than two weeks ago, we discovered that our home was being put on the market. As tenants, we are willing and able to purchase La Quinta collectively, as a cooperative. However, our landlord has refused us the opportunity to purchase, preferring to sell to a buyer who can purchase in cash. Continue reading
