Tag Archives: john

Fire damages former Queen Sheba restaurant tabbed for overhaul — UPDATE

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Thanks to a CHS reader for this picture of the response filling the intersection of John and Broadway

Seattle Fire knocked down a stubborn basement fire before it could more damage to a shuttered Capitol Hill restaurant Saturday afternoon.

Crews were called to the former Queen Sheba restaurant just after 1 PM to a report of smoke and flames coming from the two-story building in the 900 block of E John. Fire trucks and emergency vehicles filled the area around Broadway and the Capitol Hill Station light rail facility during the response.

SFD said it was able to bring the basement fire under control and there were no reported injuries. The Seattle Fire Marshal was investigating what caused the blaze.

CHS reported here on the closure of the longtime Ethiopian restaurant tucked into a converted 125-year-old house just off Broadway. The property’s owner said the plan was to rehab the building and find a new restaurant to take over the space.

UPDATE: Witness reports described two men seen possibly leaving the Sheba building after the fire was first spotted. Police took at least one person into custody near the fire scene.

 

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Goodbye to Capitol Hill’s Queen Sheba

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(Image: Queen Sheba)

(Image: King County)

A rare outpost of Ethiopian cuisine tucked into a converted 125-year-old house in the heart of Capitol Hill, Queen Sheba has permanently closed.

It had been an inconsistent couple years for the E John Ethiopian restaurant after two decades serving the neighborhood with the relatively affordable and vegetarian-friendly cuisine just off Broadway.

The restaurant survived years of nearby construction for Capitol Hill Station across the street and lived on to become part of the food and drink bustle around the busy transit center but also faced business challenges over costs and rent.

CHS’s attempts to talk with ownership about lease struggles in recent years were not answered. 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 →

Gunfire locks down Capitol Hill Safeway — SPD investigates shooting victim found injured in Central District

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(Image: CHS(

Seattle Police locked down the grocery store and the corner of 15th and John after a reported exchange of gunfire at the Capitol Hill Safeway early Sunday evening.

No victims were found at the scene.

25 minutes later, a 911 caller reported a male with a gunshot wound to the leg at 12th and Fir.

Police were called to the reported 15th and John shootout just after 5 PM as people in the parking lot and customers inside the store scrambled for cover. Continue reading →

Broadway protected-lefts, ‘BUS ONLY’ lane join busy mix of transit, bikes, pedestrians, and cars at Capitol Hill Station

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(Image: CHS)

 

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It took years — plus a few extra months — to make it happen but the “Broadway and John Street Signal” project is transforming the busy intersection’s traffic patterns.

The new “BUS ONLY/ONLY BUS” markings are applied restricting left turns onto Broadway from John to only transit. The rest of the project includes new protected left-turns on Broadway along with all the necessary markings and signal changes required to make it work.

CHS reported here in June on the planned two-month construction project’s long-anticipated start. The Seattle Department of Transportation couldn’t exactly explain why the work dragged on four months — “Project construction was originally anticipated to last approximately 3-4 months,” a spokesperson said, despite what the department said this summer. “The start of work was delayed about one month due to finalizing the signal design and weather,” they added.

The original vision has been boiled down by time and shifting funding sources after originally being raised as a community priority to improve safety in the area around Capitol Hill Station.

The final project has included rebuilding the traffic signals at the intersection of Broadway and E Olive Way/E John, adding new “left turn pockets” and a “separated signal phase” for eastbound traffic on E Olive Way, installing a new transit-only left turn lane for westbound E John, and removing an area of in-street bike parking “to accommodate transit turning movements.” Continue reading →

After years of plans, new ‘protected left’ signals and transit-only turn lane coming to busy intersection of Broadway, John, and E Olive Way

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(Image: CHS)

The Seattle Department of Transportation is finally ready to complete the long-awaited “Broadway and John Street Signal” project. Construction will begin later in June on a two-month project to create new protected left-turns and a “transit only left-turn lane” at the heavily used intersection fronting Capitol Hill Station and the concentration of Metro bus stops serving the area.

Boiled down by time and shifting funding sources, the proposal born years ago from community feedback will finally take shape this month to make the busy mix of pedestrians, bikers, and drivers at the intersection of Broadway, John, and E Olive Way a safer space.

Starting the week of June 19th, crews will begin work to rebuild the traffic signals to have protected left turns “where left turning drivers have the red while people walking and biking as well as oncoming traffic have the green,” SDOT says.

The project will include rebuilding the traffic signals at the intersection of Broadway and E Olive Way/E John, adding new “left turn pockets” and a “separated signal phase” for eastbound traffic on E Olive Way, installing a new transit-only left turn lane for westbound E John, and removing an area of in-street bike parking “to accommodate transit turning movements.”

For people on foot and bikes outside the busy transit station, the changes are hoped to bring more time and safer crossings while the new transit-only lane will help ease the way for buses. Continue reading →

Chin up, this neighbor has added a new place to work out at their Capitol Hill corner

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Lots of neighborhood mysteries pop up in the CHS Facebook Group — What were those sirens? Why is that business closed? When will that business open? — but a recent post had neighbors stumped.

What is this structure at the corner of 19th and John Thomas?

“At first I thought it was a pull-up bar and dip bars .. so I was like: ‘Oh sweet … the city is installing some sort of fitness trail around the neighborhood,'” the poster wrote. “But at second glance the pull-up bar is awfully high … So now I’m wondering if these are some sort of structures installed by the homeowner to grow plants around.” Continue reading →

What the 15th and John Safeway redevelopment — Greystar Capitol Hill? — will look like

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The future view from E John

Plans are taking shape for the new Safeway-and-apartment complex set to rise on what is now just a Safeway at 15th Ave E and E John. The project also now has a name. Depending on how a major lawsuit over rental price fixing allegations shakes out, Greystar Capitol Hill could end up an infamous entry into the neighborhood’s mixed-use development branding hall of fame.

The proposal has been making its way through the design review process, and is now scheduled for what could be its final meeting before the East Design Review Board. After rounds of refinements, developer Greystar and architects Weber Thompson have landed on a final proposal.

Design Review: 1410 E John St

Land Use application to allow 2, 5-story apartment buildings (336 units total) with retail. Parking for 373 vehicles proposed. Existing building to be demolished. Early Design Guidance conducted under 3038145-EG. View Design Proposal  (49 MB)    

Review Meeting
February 15, 2023 5:00 PM Meeting: https://bit.ly/Mtg3038146

Listen Line: 206-207-1700 Passcode: 2481 882 5283
Comment Sign Up: https://bit.ly/Comment3038146
Review Phase
REC–Recommendation

Project Number

Planner
David Sachs

The existing Safeway and its adjoining surface parking lot will be demolished. In its place will rise a pair of 5-story buildings. A new Safeway will be built on the ground floor, facing John and wrapping around to 14th Ave E. Along 15th, there will be space for a handful of small retailers. Plans have three areas carved out for retail space, but two of the three seem large enough that they might be able to be split up, so there could be up to five stores along 15th.

Above it all will be 336 apartment units. The units are planned to be a mix of studio, open 1-bedroom, 1-bedroom and 2-bedroom. Below ground, there are plans for about 373 parking stalls, 150 of which will be dedicated to the grocery store. Continue reading →

Police investigate gunfire at 10th and John

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There were 911 reports of gunfire and a person shouting they had been shot but police found no victims in a Sunday night incident near 10th and John.

Callers reported the gunfire and shouting in an altercation reported just after 11 PM Sunday. Arriving police found the parties in the dispute and located a .45 caliber handgun in one of their vehicles. At least one shell casing was located nearby on the northeast corner of 10th and John, according to East Precinct radio updates.

Police reported they were in contact with the belligerents and said there were no reported injuries at the scene.

No immediate arrests were reported.

 

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Developer to hold ‘neighborhood discussions’ as final design for Capitol Hill Safeway redevelopment is pounded out

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A rendering of the E John facade (Images: Weber Thompson)

A draft proposal for the February design review shows the current concept for the project (Images: Weber Thompson)

Developers of the project to redevelop the Capitol Hill Safeway with a new 50,000-square-foot grocery store, housing, and massive underground parking lot won’t face the final round of the city’s design review process until next month but they aren’t leaving anything to chance.

Developer Greystar and architect Weber Thompson will hold two “virtual neighborhood discussions” this week as they pound out the final proposal for the design to create two new five-story buildings including the new grocery, around 334 400 market rate apartment units, some new, smaller retail spaces, and an underground parking lot for about 350 cars.

“During the Virtual Open House, we will present materials related to our project and proposed neighborhood benefits and answer any questions you may have. We will also have a project survey on the website that you can fill out to communicate what is important to you,” Greystar says in the announcement: Continue reading →