Tag Archives: e madison

Have your say on Seattle U 12th and Madison development plans including 10-story dorm

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"View West on Madison"

“View West on Madison”

As a “major institution,” Seattle University has to go about building things a little differently. Monday night brings what could be the last chance for the public to weigh in on the school’s plans for a new 10-story dorm and office building on E Madison and a transformation of the ground floor of the storage facility at 12th and Madison into the new home of the Seattle U campus book store.

Not subject to the design reviews typical of big development around Seattle, the school is, however, subject to an advisory committee’s approval of its plans. The Pike/Pine Urban Neighborhood Council is encouraging people interested in the Seattle U project to attend Monday, June 20th’s meeting of the Seattle University Standing Advisory Committee:

Monday, June 20th, 5:30 to 7:30 PM
Seattle University, 901 12th Ave, Stuart T Rolfe Room, Ground Floor to the left of the Main Entry

UPDATE: New Location —  1000 E James Way – Student Center conference room 210 **The Student Center is located on the Seattle University campus, where 11th Ave and E James Way would intersect**

This group advises the City of Seattle and Seattle University on issues related to the design and construction of new buildings and other projects proposed under the City-adopted Seattle University Master Plan.

“SU is proposing a major redevelopment of the site they own at the southwest corner of 12th and Madison,” the PPUNC announcement reads. “Scope includes the Public Storage Urban Self Storage Building as well as the parking lot immediately to its west. This type of project will not go through Design Review, so this is your chance to opine.” Continue reading →

Capitol Hill food+drink | A Hill homecoming for Manu’s Bodegita

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With the amount of talent at work across the kitchens of Capitol Hill food and drink, we’re bound to have more and more homecomings featuring recent neighborhood graduates.

“I always thought it would be nice to get back on Capitol Hill with all those fans who appreciated the flavors of that little pop-up way back when in front of Montana,” Manu Alfau tells CHS.

Now, three years and a lot of Manu’s Bodega success later, Alfau is ready to return to Capitol Hill with Manu’s Bodegita. Continue reading →

Bus Stop | What Capitol Hill bus service could look like in 2025 and beyond

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The Madison bus rapid transit is slated to open by 2019.

The Madison bus rapid transit line is slated to open in 2019.

With its big U-Link bus restructure in place, King County Metro has quietly begun laying the ground work to adapt to the next phase of expansion of Sound Transit’s light rail system. Within days of Seattle getting its first look at how Seattle’s light rail network will look in 2040 — with service to Ballard and West Seattle, in addition to Everett and Tacoma on the extremities of the system — Metro released a map showing its first attempt to serve our region in conjunction with that system. CHS dug into the Long Range Plan map to find how those changes would affect Capitol Hill.

As we have seen in the past, these plans can change dramatically, even more so with the timelines in decades instead of years. But the map provides an insight into how transit planners at Metro are attempting to serve Capitol Hill riders. Metro is breaking these changes into two conceptual phases: 2025 service and 2040 service.

2025

The biggest change that will be in place by 2025 is Madison BRT. This project will consolidate service on Madison Street in dedicated lanes between downtown and Madison Valley, freeing up some service hours to be used elsewhere to complement.

As a result, Metro is eyeing moving route 2 off Seneca St. on First Hill and onto Pine Street in Capitol Hill.

This change, in turn, will pave the way for Metro to create a new crosstown workhorse between the Rainier Valley, Beacon Hill, and Capitol Hill from the current route 49. This route will serve 12th Ave, which perplexingly does not have any Metro service today despite being the eastern edge of one of Seattle’s largest private universities. This will also be the most frequent transfer between Madison BRT and light rail service at Capitol Hill Station. Continue reading →

Design review: holding the corners at 19th and Mercer and the Piecora’s building

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Screen Shot 2016-04-12 at 5.31.50 PM

View of the planned project on the northwest corner of 19th and Mercer building from Talulah’s patio. (Image: Public47 Architects)

It is out with the old and in with the new at the site of two planned Capitol Hill developments entering their final phase of design review Wednesday night. The original Piecora’s building at 14th and Madison was demolished last year and a big, old cedar tree at 19th and Mercer is on deck to come down in order to make way for two new mixed-used projects that will add a total of 172 market-rate units to the neighborhood.

The projects going before the East Design Review Board will also be adding highly visible commercial spaces on bustling corners, though there are no clues yet as to who might be moving in.

1830 E Mercer St. 

Land Use Application to allow a 5-story structure containing 32 apartment units and 2,260 sq. ft. of retail at street level. Parking for 10 vehicles to be provided below grade and surface parking for 2 at the alley. Existing structure is to remain.
View Design Proposal  (26 MB)
Review Meeting: April 13, 2016 6:30 PM, Seattle University, 901 12th Ave, STCN Student Center 130
Review Phase: REC–Recommendation  See All Reviews
Project Number: 3020860  View Permit Status  |  View Land Use Notice
Planner: Beth Hartwick

First up will be the five-story apartment building with 32 market rate units planned for the northwest corner of 19th and Mercer. The Public47 Architects design calls for a 2,350-square-foot corner commercial storefront and 12 below-grade parking spaces.

Neighbors have been weighing in on the project since CHS first reported on the development plans from property owners Glenn MacDonald and Amanda Twiss last year. While, ahem, creative differences with architects typically top the list of concerns during design review, plans to remove a potentially “exceptional” red cedar tree on the property have drawn strong objections from neighbors.Screen Shot 2016-04-12 at 7.10.16 PM

Screen Shot 2016-04-12 at 7.09.18 PM

Others said they would be sad to see the tree go, but are pleased to have more commercial space added to 19th and Mercer.Screen Shot 2016-04-12 at 5.58.08 PM

Unfortunately, the red cedar will in all likelihood be coming down as part of the plans supported by the design review board in a previous meeting. However, construction will not require the demolition of any existing structures, sparing Monsoon from the cedar’s fate. Continue reading →

What the Piecora’s building will look like

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ViEW TOWARDS SOUTHEASTAfter cruising through the first review of the project’s basic bulk and scale last summer, development giant Equity Residential has unveiled the architectural vision for the mixed-used apartment building that will fill in the empty lot where Piecora’s Pizza once stood at 14th and Madison. It’s been two years since CHS broke the news on the $10.3 million deal.

VIEW TOWARDS corner of 14th & madisonHere is how Equity and architects Ankrom Moisan describe the six-story project with 137 market-rate units averaging 606 square feet, 3,8000 square feet of commercial space, and underground parking for 81 vehicles:

To allow for the strongest, most viable retail, we propose a highly transparent commercial street front along 14th and Madison. The proposed retail entry/entries will mainly be along 14th or at the building corner due to the grade change along Madison. The proposed residential entry is along E Pike, allowing for some visual and physical separation from vehicle-oriented Madison. The residential entry will be setback from the property line to help with the slight grade change (+/- 4’) along E. Pike. As the grade steps up along Madison (+/- 10’), a landscape buffer is proposed to help with the transition from retail to residential uses.

Continue reading →

On Capitol Hill corner ripe for development, cash-strapped assisted living home will close

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(Image: Travis Peterson, courtesy of Ewing and Clark)

A dementia care home on Capitol Hill is preparing to close after the facility’s nonprofit owner announced Wednesday it was selling the 17th and E Madison property likely to be coveted by developers despite its possible landmark status.

Since it was opened by Full Life Care in 2004, the Gaffney House has served hundreds of Alzheimer and dementia clients in a rare, small-scale assisted living setting. Full Life executive director Nora Gibson told CHS the organization was forced to put the 1605 17th Ave house up for sale when it lost its loan on the property. Continue reading →

23rd Ave small business owners say corridor overhaul is putting them on the ropes

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701 coffee trying to make the best out of a difficult situation with deals for road workers. (Image: 701 Coffee)

701 coffee tries to make the best out of a difficult situation with deals for road workers. (Image: 701 Coffee)

The massive overhaul of 23rd Ave, and all the near-term traffic headaches therein, are coming to the E Madison intersection this weekend. The intersection will close and the 11 and 48 busses will be rerouted along with car traffic as crews will work around the clock until Monday morning.

23rd Ave is a workhorse of a road, running along the backside of Capitol Hill and through the Central District connecting neighborhoods and commercial areas. The $46 million overhaul of 23rd between S Jackson and E John will transform the artery into a much more efficient, much safer route for cars, transit, pedestrians, and — thanks to an adjacent greenway — bicyclists. But like so many massive transportation construction projects, while the long road may bring promise, the first few miles of the process are pure pain for local merchants. The city’s Department of Transportation and Office of Economic Development have pitched in with extra signage and communicating work plans, but some owners are saying it’s not enough. Continue reading →

As Seattle seeks new answers on homelessness, PSKS marks 20 years helping ‘kids from the streets’

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(Images: PSKS)

Each January, the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness conducts The One Night Count, a community-organized census of King County’s homeless population. This year, the count came to 10,047. Of that total, 824 were homeless or unstably housed youth, ages 12 to 25.

Resources, housing and support are outnumbered by the homeless or unstably housed and can be especially difficult to access. In 1995, the Becca Bill, a Washington truancy law the essentially criminalized youth homelessness and pipelined kids into the criminal justice and prison system, exacerbated the problem of youth access. 20 years ago, Elaine Simons responded to the Becca Bill and other injustices she saw against homeless by founding Peace on the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS).

“It started literally in a little room,” says current PSKS executive director Susan Fox. “We were founded by youth who were advocating against policies that were detrimental to youth who might be homeless.”

Now, PSKS finds itself on the forefront of Seattle’s efforts to address homelessness and inequity as the topic becomes a political cause, new shelters are proposed, and money is finally being put forward to help create real solutions. Continue reading →

Planned Parenthood funding fight has ripple effects on both Capitol Hills

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The national controversy over the “gotcha” videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing fetal tissue with fake researchers took a Capitol Hill turn last week on social media.

#ShoutYourAbortion went viral after Seattle writer Amelia Bonow used it to talk about the abortion she received at a Planned Parenthood clinic on Capitol Hill. The message was partially in response to the controversy that still threatens to bring the federal government to the brink of a shutdown.

Bonow and fellow Seattle writer Lindy West, who shared Bonow’s post and the story of her own abortion, have done countless national interviews over the past week and received plenty of support. In what has become a sadly familiar situation, the backlash has veered into harassment. One major conservative news site even published Bonow’s home address.

While Planned Parenthood is most vilified for providing abortions, the procedure make up a fraction of the services it offers. Roughly 3% of Planned Parenthood clients nationwide visit clinics to receive abortions and 12% of clients use Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands clinics for the procedure. And while Planned Parenthood enjoys strong support in the city, losing funding at the federal level could have significant impacts for the two Central Seattle clinics. Continue reading →

Five streateries coming to Capitol Hill (Plus, the new Sugar Plum parklet)

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A Central District parklet along E Union opened last year between 23rd and MLK (Image: CHS)

A Central District parklet along E Union opened last year between 23rd and MLK (Image: CHS)

Five of Seattle’s first dozen nine new “streateries” will be located on Capitol Hill. The hybrid combining the parklet concept with traditional sidewalk patios will create small seating and deck areas for customers in the section of the streetside typically reserved for parking. When the sponsoring businesses aren’t open, the streateries are intended to serve as public park space.

Here’s the roster of Capitol Hill locations announced Monday by the Seattle Department of Transportation:

  • Montana (conversion) — E Olive Way
  • Comet and Lost Lake (conversion) — 10th/Pike
  • Mamnoon — Melrose
  • Bottleneck Lounge — E Madison
  • New project from Comet/Lost Lake partners in former Kingfish Cafe space — 19th Ave E

Two of the five represent a conversion from permitted parklets at the locations into the new format that allows for businesses to operate the spaces as sidewalk cafes exclusively for their patrons during business hours — though the Comet/Lost Lake parklet was never implemented.

In addition to securing approval from neighboring businesses, the streatery hosts are also on the hook for paying for the displaced revenue from removed on-street parking –$3,000 per space, per year. In the case of Montana, site of the city’s first parklet that took up all of 1.5 on-street parking spaces, the E Olive Way bar is on the hook for $4,500 per year  doesn’t owe a damn thing because there’s no paid parking (yet) on E Olive Way. Dave Meinert and the guys at the Comet? They’ll owe around $6,000 per year, apparently. (Updated at 7 PM)

Montana owner Rachel Marshall tells CHS she doesn’t know about the timing for the conversion of her space on E Olive Way saying that working things out with the state liquor board will be her next step — along with writing that check to the City of Seattle.

Meanwhile, the city also announced that 15th Ave E will get a new “old school” parklet in front of the under construction Sugar Plum. The announcement, below, also teases a First Hill location for a new parklet — we’re asking for specifics on where that is planned to be located. UPDATE: SDOT says the press release is incorrect — the location being referred to is not on First Hill but in the Denny Triangle area, instead. Continue reading →