Tag Archives: harvard

Mapping the buffer: Inside the safety and design planning for Broadway’s Crisis Center

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A .25 mile radius around the facility


 
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Central Crisis Care Center

As renovations begin on the former Polyclinic building that spans between Broadway and Harvard along Union, local safety planning for King County’s upcoming Central Crisis Care Center is moving forward on two tracks: an immediate evaluation of neighborhood security gaps and an eventual handoff to an operator-run advisory council once patients arrive.

Last week, CHS reported on the political process across two mayoral administrations that formed a new six-member advisory group responsible for a crucial $3 million safety and community plan to help the surrounding neighborhoods make a better home for the new crisis center when it opens in 2027.

Here is a look at what the group has been working on, the challenges and shortcomings it is facing — and a critical handoff that must be executed with a new group once the center opens. Continue reading →

Affordable, tiny, and bright, Cafe Ashiana making lasting impression at Harvard and Pine

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(Image: Cafe Ashiana)

(Image: Cafe Ashiana)

By Brenna Gauchat

Walking through Harvard and Pine, you might find your eye catching on the handwritten menu posted on Cafe Ashiana’s front door. Its sunflower-yellow walls will certainly catch your attention.

The Indian fast-food joint is one of the latest tiny additions to Pike/Pine, greeting customers with the smell of chicken tikka grilling behind the counter as its owner, Syed Begum, chats with his regulars.

Begum told CHS this is exactly the type of restaurant he always envisioned opening. No flashy signs or grand openings, just serving fresh meals that are affordable.

It sounds impossible on Capitol Hill. But Begum and his mother, Sawar Begum, own Asiana Caterers that serves larger events like weddings. They buy ingredients in bulk to split with the catering service allowing the restaurant to keep prices low for storefront customers.

“You get a good meal, not just fried stuff. Good protein, good rice portions,” Syed Begum said. Organic meat is grilled in front of guests and Begum uses a dough rolling machine – similar to those in pizza parlors – to make their roti, an Indian flatbread, fresh for every wrap.

“Coming off the grill, that’s the best thing you can have.”

Items on Cafe Ashiana’s menu are priced under $20 and options are kept simple: chicken, lamb or beef offered in a few different marinades and served in a sandwich, Rumali wrap or rice plate. Almost everything is made-to-order, with exceptions including curries and biryani plates. Continue reading →

At Harvard and Pine, new owners at Pelicana, lines at Phê, and Indian at Cafe Ashiana

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(Image: Pelicana USA)

Capitol Hill’s restaurant sale season continues with a “business as usual” transition at the corner of Pine and Harvard. Recent filings show the corner’s Korean Fried Chicken joint Pelicana has changed hands.

The new owners Hye Ri Park and Taehwan Lee are bringing experience from the world of teriyaki to the fried chicken joint. Seattle food and drink entrepreneur J Hwang opened Pelicana — and helped usher in Capitol Hill’s new KFC era —  in the former home of Bill’s Off Broadway in 2021.

The bones of the old Bill’s make Pelicana a pretty decent hangout in addition to its Ban Ban chicken, cheese sticks, and Bburingkle fries.

Pelicana is beginning its sixth year on Capitol Hill with more passersby than usual. The corner has been busy with some long, viral video-stoked lines for neighboring Vietnamese coffee shop Phê. Continue reading →

Three years later, E Olive Way’s guerrilla crosswalk is now legit

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(Image: CHS)

Three years after somebody painted a guerrilla crosswalk at Harvard and E Olive Way — and the city promptly removed it — the Seattle Department of Transportation has installed the real deal.

CHS reported this summer on the construction notice for the project to add the new crosswalk and pedestrian crossing signs and signals, expanded sidewalks at the east corners of the intersection, street markings and flexible posts.

CHS reported here in November 2022 after a guerrilla crosswalk was installed at the intersection and quickly wiped away by the city. “We have heard the message loudly and clearly that the public wants more crossing and safety improvements,” SDOT said at the time. “We appreciate the passion which has driven someone to paint their own crosswalk, however this is not the right way to voice your desire for change.” Continue reading →

Mexican Consulate invites you to a Capitol Hill Dia de Muertos celebration

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With the annual Broadway Hilloween kids carnival lost to post-pandemic challenges, there will be a new family-friendly gathering to celebrate the spirit of the season on Capitol Hill.

Saturday, Harvard Ave’s Consulate of Mexico in Seattle is throwing a party with its neighbors at STG Kerry Hall:

Dia de Muertos
Saturday Nov. 1, 2025

Kerry Hall | 3pm – 5pm | All Ages

Each year, Día de Muertos invites us to honor our beloved who have passed, celebrate traditions, and embrace the beauty of celebrating death through life.
Continue reading →

That helicopter manhunt over Capitol Hill? It was part of Seattle’s war on graffiti

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Tuesday night’s arrest (Image: @douglasm69 with permission to CHS)

Seattle Police have made it clear they are familiar with the suspect the King County Sheriff’s Guardian One chopper, a police K9 unit, and multiple officers chased across Capitol Hill Tuesday night before making a gunpoint arrest.

But SPD hasn’t said why they know the man, a veteran of Mayor Bruce Harrell’s war on graffiti, so well.

While he hasn’t been charged in the latest arrest, police have been chasing Montrell Shawn Clifton for years. Continue reading →

Mintish Coffee House brings Palestinian heritage and community connection to Capitol Hill

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Brothers Nano and Mahmoud Farajallah and friend Abdullah Alabed

Capitol Hill has a new gathering spot. Mintish, a Levantine-inspired coffee shop on Harvard Ave E, represents both a business venture and a cultural bridge for brothers Mahmoud and Nano Farajallah and friend and business partner Abdullah Alabed.

The cafe is now open at 515 Harvard Ave E in a space that the owners transformed themselves from what was once the last vestige of legendary Capitol Hill hangout Bauhaus.

Mahmoud Farjallah, who was born in Seattle but raised in the Middle East, returned to Washington 12 years ago to study accounting at the University of Washington. His friend Alabed grew up in Jordan. Both are Palestinian-American, and their family story reflects the displacement many Palestinian families have experienced over generations. Nano was in Dubai during the interview with CHS.

“My dad was born in Gaza,” Mahmoud Farajallah explained during the shop’s soft opening week. “Unfortunately, I never went to Palestine, but it always grew up with me.” Continue reading →

With the Knights of Columbus at Gridline’s core, Harvard Ave’s newest residential development is 112 years old

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In March, CHS reported on the disappearance of construction cranes and design reviews for new projects on Capitol Hill. There are exceptions. There is also a development to welcome to the skyline in the interconnected zone between Capitol Hill and First Hill.

Capitol Hill’s newest residential development, the Gridline Apartments, has reached near-full occupancy less than a year after opening its doors. The two-building adaptive reuse project developed by SRM Development includes 178 units split between the West Building, with 49 units, and the larger North Building, with 129 units. The development offers a mix of affordable and market-rate housing, catering to a range of renters.

The project has grown up and around the neighborhood’s old Knights of Columbus building. Gridline was born of an overhaul of the landmark-worthy building that surrounded the old structure with new apartments

The smaller West Building opened in November 2023 and achieved 95% occupancy in about nine months. The North Building, which opened in March 2024, reached stabilized occupancy by late January 2025, taking just over 10 months to fill. As of now, both buildings are approximately 97% occupied.

“We’re pleased with how quickly these buildings have filled,” said Mike Erickson of SRM. “The location, amenities, and quality of the buildings have resonated with renters.” Continue reading →

With a line wrapping to Broadway, hundreds turned away as crowds wait all day to cast votes at the Consulado de México en Seattle

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With reporting by Alex Garland

Lines wrapped around the block and hundreds were turned away as voters in the country’s national election thronged the Consulado de México en Seattle on Capitol Hill Sunday.

Some of those lining up to register and vote reported a day-long wait to participate and said the consulate only had four booths to handle thousands of citizens from Idaho, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington as the consulate in Portland was not opened to be part of the day of polling. Continue reading →

There still isn’t a crosswalk at Harvard and E Olive Way

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A photo Matt Baume sent to city officials showing yet another crash at Harvard and Olive

Even with a new representative on the city council more dedicated to public safety, transparency, and access, “One Seattle” slogans from City Hall, and leaders paying lip service to the importance of pedestrian and bike rider safety as they shape the city’s next billion dollar transportation levy, it still takes a hell of a lot of work and a few squeaky wheels for the Seattle Department of Transportation to add a needed crosswalk at a dangerous intersection on Capitol Hill.

Matt Baume, a neighborhood writer, has been documenting the crashes at E Olive Way and Harvard Ave E for about ten years, all the while trying to get safety improvements put in place. With new leadership in the district, Baume wrote to D3 Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth in January to share his concerns after yet another crash, this time involving three cars and several passengers including a family with a small child. Continue reading →