Results tagged “development”

Talk about government incentives! The Seattle City Council’s Planning, Land Use, and Neighborhoods Committee is holding a special public meeting tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at Dr. Blanche Lavisso Park (East Yesler Way and 22nd Avenue South). But if you get there at 5 p.m., your chances of getting free ice cream are better. The meeting is to discuss changes to the mid- and high-rise sections of the multifamily code, which Sally Clark has struggled mightily to make public in ways ("Townhouses: Can the Patient be Saved?") that might interest people. Now she's footing the bill for ice cream. Sally, next time we're voting for you twice. Nope, we are. End of discussion.

• Orphan Road has another interesting idea about how to make Seattle greener--this time involving unpaving parking lots.
• The Ballard High School flag was at half-staff today, and My Ballard tells you why.
• Magnolia Voice announces that plans to alter traffic flow on Nickerson Street have been put on hold until the viaduct replacement project is more solidified.

The corner of Denny and Dexter represents the latest outbreak in an epidemic of uninspired developments destined to pollute our landscape for generations.

Lowell's APP program might be splitting up along North/South lines. Sable Verity dives into the controversy surrounding KUOW's coverage of one APP student's description of how she was treated in the program. Over at HugeAssCity, it's mourning time once again for the loss of the Ballard Dennys, now that the monstrous development plans for that space have been revealed. Lake City Live did a bad news (frowny face) round-up, and CHS has an interesting piece on what the light rail ride from Capitol Hill to the airport will really look like (eleven stops...!). Reverb has an update on Renton's Jimi Hendrix Foundation involving a comic book character named Captain Strata. Hmm.

Dominic Holden's got a good piece up about the future of Capitol Hill dessert emporium B&O Espresso. Now that a developer is moving forward with plans for six-story apartment building on the site, B&O owner Majed Lukatah is caught between a rock and a hard place:

Lukatah is also skeptical that he can still open a second location on Broadway—which could serve as a substitute location while the B & O is closed—even though he has already obtained the permits. Banks won’t offer him a loan to remodel the space, he says.

A 33-year-old business that has got to have an annual gross in the seven figures can't get a loan for a remodel? Here's hoping Tim Geithner can get the banks to take a page from the George Bailey playbook: "Where's that money, you silly, stupid old fool?! Where's that money?! D'you realize what this means? It means bankruptcy and scandal and prison! That's what it means. One of us is going to jail!" Whoops. That's not right. We mean the part where George loans money to people who need it.

We had a server snafu earlier this morning, which kiboshed our Neighborhood News roundup. Here's a summary version: that student who was shot to death while wearing a Nazi uniform was a UW German Studies major, even in this real estate market, someone still wants to kick the B&O out in favor of a 75-unit apartment complex, and Cliff Mass says probably no snow today, but watch out for tomorrow. Has your Zune started working again? Meanwhile, most of our secondary pages are still offline, and we're still experiencing some "server optimization" issues with commenting login times. If you have particular difficulties with anything, shoot us an email at tips (at) seattlest dot com. And Happy 2009!

THINK GLOBALLY: Global development is such a lonely two words. But it doesn't have to be. Think tank Global Washington invites you to drop in at their event Global Connections this afternoon, with guest speaker Adam Smith. It's all about helping Washington’s nonprofits, businesses, academics, and government agencies come together and increase their impact globally. The talky part is 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., and then there's an hour-long reception.

In 1964, most of Fort Lawton's land on the Magnolia Bluff was declared surplus by the U.S. military. That's when locals first banded together to voice their concerns over the future use of the area, forming a group called Citizens For a Fort Lawton Park and ultimately attracting the attention and support of a U.S. Senator in their efforts to prevent the government from turning the land into an ABM base. By 1971, the land was in the hands of the City of Seattle, and Discovery Park was formed.

Seattlest is instituting a new guest editorial thing on the grounds that our readers get tired of hearing the usual suspects snark about things and would like to hear new snarky voices. Last week it was Proposition 8. This week, we have Justin Carder--chair of the Capitol Hill Community Council, vice president of business development for Instivate, and founder of the Web site CHS Capitol Hill Seattle--and his plea for a park's existence.

• Burien is busy branding--and the city is using très fancy technology to do so. B-Town Blog posted the latest video and offered a bullet-point summary of the very nice branding elements you will see, should you choose to spend minutes of your life watching a YouTube about all the wonders Burien has to offer.
• PhinneyWood would like you to donate your watches to charity via Jody Laine of the Tiempo Watch and Clock Shop. Why not? You probably use your cell phone for time-keeping already, anyway.
• Care for some Irish Knockers? Why, yes, thank you for asking! Magnolia Voice had the skinny on the new menu at Mulleady's, including photos of the restaurant's interior (they have a very inviting fireplace!).

Back in February (brrr!), we reported on the venerable Capitol Hill institution, B&O Espresso, being forced out of its longtime location at the corner of Belmont & Olive because the property owners had plans for a multi-story apartment building there. This weekend we stopped in and saw the B&O's owner Majid behind the pastry case, and asked how things were going. Turns out that he's still planning on moving up to Broadway to take over the old Dilettante's spot (who in turn are relocating to the first floor of Brix, along with Vivace), but now the development of the original B&O location is on hold, and he's renting month-to-month. The opera posters are still hanging. The lemon chiffon cake is still flowing (so to speak). If the real estate downturn stays turned down, we may not lose a B&O, so much as gain one.

The Times called her a relic of old Ballard. "Forget that frivolous Ballard Denny's," they said. "It didn't tell Ballard's story, old or new. Edith's house is the real Ballard landmark."

So goodbye old Broadway QFC! Goodbye, old Broadway Taco Bell! Goodbye, old house! Maybe now we'll see some action on the plans for the block, as reported by the Stranger back in June 2006:

This site will soon [Ed: Hah!] become a 6-story mixed-use building. On the ground floor there will be 25,000 foot of retail. "I'm looking for boutiques--like apparel," says the developer Bob Burkheimer. "Independent shops, maybe a restaurant. The idea is to get more street-level retail on Broadway, liven it up."

Here's a view of the planned liveliness.

"Denny Triangle And First Hill" by Ryan Hadley

There was little real reason to expect anything different during Sunset Bowl's last night of operation. We read histrionic predictions somewhere that hipsters would swarm the place; this never materialized. There were perhaps a few more people--though that place was always packed whenever we went--and some may have stuck around later, but by and large the clientèle consisted of the same combination of loud, scruffy, tattooed, pierced, well-groomed, young, old, middle-aged, beefy, wiry, scrawny, trashy, nerdy, slightly-off-kilter, and unironic miscreants that one normally found there. In short, the place was filled with bowlers, drinkers, and karaoke singers.

Studying changing urban landscapes involves frequent disappointment and depression. Gin only goes so far to numb the pain. Being a resident is often no picnic, either. Market forces and decisions by real estate developers don't often jibe with the interests of the people who will actually be using that real estate or the residents near the area of the proposed development. It's easy to demonize "greedy" developers and "sell out" property owners, both of whom are often absentees. On the other hand, if somebody offered you $13 million for your property, we'd slap you if you said you wouldn't at least sleep on it.

"The Board's decision ... was sentimental and capricious, but not legal," says one of the two filings that make up the suit. "The Board's action was improper and illegal."

We hope this isn't a growing trend. From the Croc to the Sunset Bowl to all of Seattle's bars, it seems as though any place of which beer is an integral component is endangered with stifling regulation or closure or even the wrecking ball. The very latest, of course, is a portion of the old Georgetown brewery just a scant few days after the 104th anniversary of Georgetownian incorporation.

For all those interested, tonight the Capitol Hill Arts Center will be hosting a panel discussion with the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce on the topic of "Is there still room for culture on Capitol Hill?" The impetus behind the event is the generally rapacious rate of condo-conversion and construction that's pushed out notable businesses along Pike/Pine, and now finds its apogee in the sale of Oddfellows Hall, which threatens to displace a number of arts organizations that took advantage of the low rents. Without access to such buildings, arts organizations could face a rapid exodus from Capitol Hill, hastening its transformation to yuppie-land. All those interested should attend.

While the city goes about with itself, Seattlest spends countless hours in an ivory tower somewhere between Pike Place Market and the Lusty Lady. We pace the floor with a hunched back, wringing our hands, wrinkling our nose and whispering, "what, what, what... is the meaning of this?"