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IMG_4253, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

After a few false starts, Capitol Hill's first new dance club to open in years debuted Friday night to an enthusiastic crowd and with only a few reported hiccups. Is it hot in here or is it just me!?!

It's me.

Picture of the first Friday night at The Social and its little friend EVO Tapas Kitchen, below.

The Social project is one of this year -- the Laura Olson-Chris Pardo-Alex Garcia-backed the Social and Broadway's Q Capitol Hill. This is how the Social's social media-savvy backers described their venture:

We are excited to announce our latest venture: The Social - a three level 12,000 sqft ultra lounge/ restaurant and nightclub. The Social is located on East Olive and will feature three distinct rooms, including four bars and a 3000 sqft restaurant. The entertainment venue is being designed by award winning Capitol Hill firm Pb Elemental (recently named one of the Decades Best by Seattle Magazine). Our focus is to provide a well designed, fun, and high quality venue for the LGBTQ community. The Social is a joint venture of three Capitol Hill small business owners Alex Garcia (Emerson Salon, Banyan Branch), Shanon Thorson and Laura Olson (Po Dog, Auto Battery, Grim's) . Drawing on their specific talents we will be featuring a gourmet food menu, holding daily events and drawing from national and international DJ talent. The Social is scheduled to open this summer, watch for updates onhttp://www.facebook.com/TheSocialSeattle. We are excited to join the expanding scene on East Olive with Tommy Guns, CC Attles and Fred Wildlife Refuge.

Early on, the Social gained some buzz for its plan to incorporate technology and social media into its experience. We don't know about the iPads but we noticed the club issuing drink coupons via its Facebook page. Kinda beats Groupon, no? The club has also walked a fine line around its positioning as a gay dance club. "Everyone is welcome at The Social!" Garcia told Seattle Gay Scene. "All people, gay or straight, will feel comfortable. We want it to be a place where everyone can come in with their friends and have a good time."

We visited Todd Nordahl to talk about his food+drink component of the project here. 

IMG_4298, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

IMG_4262, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

IMG_4666, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

EVO Bar, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

IMG_4695, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

IMG_4315, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

IMG_4690, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

IMG_4593, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

IMG_4539, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

IMG_4482, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

Thanks to CHS contributor Douglas McLaughlin for all of the pictures. His slideshow below will take you from an early evening at EVO into the night at the Social.

Artist Jeff "Weirdo" Jacobson will be creating a mural today (inspired by the upcoming June 1st SAMRemix) from 11:30am - 7pm outside of The Stumbling Monk on Capitol Hill. Swing by and watch the mural creation in process! 

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(Image: CHS)

The Seattle barstool urban environment theory of Liz Dunn and her Melrose Market as catalyst for development and reshaping Capitol Hill might have something to it. Or maybe Dunn just went first. The early work to create a new 115-unit apartment building with 1,100 square feet of retail behind Melrose Market got started Friday at the base of Capitol Hill. 

With construction underway at Bellevue and Pine, and the process starting on the plan to develop Melrose and Pine, the 2010-born Melrose Market will be at the center of a rapidly changing lower Pike/Pine.

Add to that mix the mixed-use 1519 Minor project the demolition is creating space for. The developers behind the seven-story mixed-use building planned to tower above PIllars dog park started filing paperwork on the project way back in 2005. With the economic ups and downs, a plan to "revitalize" the existing office building was scrapped and developer Gerding Elden moved forward with the project designed by Perkins Will architects. The project will have parking for 30 vehicles, a "green" roof and is targeting LEED Gold certification.

Following demolition, expect construction of the new project to begin in about a month with at least a year of construction time to complete the dramatically colored building.

• 18th Ave purse snatcher gets away: A witness called 911 Thursday afternoon after seeing a woman robbed of her purse on 18th Ave. Police arrived but couldn't find the perpetrator, the witness -- or the victim. Police received another call some 90 minutes later from the victim in the crime. She told police she had been walking in the 1700 block of 18th Ave when someone ran up behind her, grabbed her bag and dashed off. The report on the incident does not include information from the victim on why she decided to wait to call police.
• Man beaten after stepping into Dick's altercation: A man who stepped in when he believed a man was mistreating a woman at the Broadway Dick's Drive-In Thursday night ended up getting beaten up for his concern. According to police, the victim told officers he was at Dick's around 11p when he saw a man slapping a woman at the popular late night food spot. The victim said he confronted the male -- reported to be around 6'1" and 175 pounds -- and called him a "Nazi" because of the man's black combat boots with red laces. The suspect told the victim to mind his own business. The victim told police he walked away from the restaurant and was followed by the suspect to the corner of Broadway and E John where the angry male allegedly slapped the Dick's bag out of the victim's hands. The victim continued to try to walk away but the suspect followed and punched him in the face near 10th and E John. The victim said he fell to the ground where the suspect continued to punch him in the face until a witness called 911 and the suspect fled the scene. An area check for a man matching the suspect description was not successful. The victim was treated by Seattle Fire at the scene for injuries to his face.

Other things to do at CHBP. From 2011's Day One (Image: CHS)

We've been hearing a lot about changes coming for the Capitol Hill Block Party starting with this July's 2012 edition. One of the new additions apparently will take the form of an arts program at the three-day festival curated by Ghost Gallery's Laurie Kearney.

This week, Kearney began circulating information on a fundraising effort to help provide stipends to artists participating in the Block Party visual art program.

You can learn more about the drive and its $10,000 goal here: indiegogo.com/GhostArtBlockParty

We're told Kearney is hoping to be able to organize sponsorship support, grants and possibly financial support from the festival's backers to augment the artist stipends. And, while the program's components are nearly set, there will also be a need for more artists to help contribute to projects like a planned graffiti wall.

2012 marks the third year of the expanded three-day format for the Block Party. Bigger names performing this year include Neko Case, Major Lazer and Diplo. Organizers have marketed the festival as "the final" Capitol Hill Block Party with allusions to the Mayan 2012 apocalypse and, possibly, the transitioning nature of the event as it matures into a bigger business and more significant component of Pacific Northwest summer culture.

Capitol Hill Block Party 2011, originally uploaded by spratt504.

Here's the full statement on the Block Party art program fundraising effort. Kearney has her work cut out for her. The first -- and only -- contribution made as of this posting far is 25 bucks from yours truly.

Ghost Gallery has been approved to curate the first-ever, innovative visual art program for the 2012 Capitol Hill Block Party! With over 27,000 expected guests, this is a wonderful way to engage our local artistic community and provide a dynamic, interactive environment for visitors of all ages.

 

Since most of the artwork involved will be large format, and/or technological in nature, the cost of materials will be significant for individual artists. Funds raised will be used to provide artist stipends to most, if not all, participating artists. Canvas, Paint, Metal, Projectors, Paper, you name it. It gets expensive. Our goal is to help our artists create what they truly envision for the festival, without being limited by financial constraints.

 

We are creating 3 levels of perks, where donors can receive limited edition tote bags, a bottle of boutiwue wine (for donors 21+), or even your logo on the Art Map!

 

Your contribution will help our artists focus on creating the work, rather than how they are going to pay for it. The impact of integrating a unique, thriving music festival with sophisticated, engaging visual art serves to liven our community as a whole.

 

If you are unable to contribute, you can help us out by spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter, and your own websites! Thank you so much for considering our project~

QFC Liquor, originally uploaded by Lookin4TallGuys.

Unlike the plans for the soon-to-be-former state liquor store at 12th and Pine, the Broadway store has faced a more uncertain future -- there might be a more lucrative way to put the property to use than joining the new era of privatized spirits retailing on Capitol Hill.

The Washington Liquor Control Board announced this week that the winning bidder for the rights to the Broadway store has backed out on his bid making the store one of 18 in the state heading for another auction one week before the June 1st rollover to the new way of doing booze business:

On May 24, 2012, the Washington State Liquor Control Board (WSLCB) will host a new live auction of the rights for 18 state liquor stores. Following the online auction that ended April 20, 2012, top-bidders representing 18 stateliquor stores did not pay their posted bid, sacrificing their deposit. Bidders representing 149 state liquor stores have already paid a total of $25.9 million in bid fees to the state.

“This has been a highly successful auction process,” said WSLCB Business Enterprise Director Pat McLaughlin. “We have already collected nearly $26 million in bids plus about one million more in fees.”

 Bids in the online auction that ended April 20 totaled $30.75 million. Following the live auction, the WSLCB estimates total bids and fees will exceed $31 million.

Live Public Auction Details

• ·         Date:               May 24, 2012
• ·         Time:               Registration at 9:00 a.m. Live bids at 10:00 a.m.
• ·         Location:         WSLCB Distribution Center, 4401 East Marginal Way in Seattle
• ·         Format:            Live public auction led by local auction company
• ·         Bid deposit:     $10,000

Successful bidders will win the exclusive right to apply for a liquor license at the current location within its current footprint. All state liquor stores are below the 10,000 square foot threshold for liquor sales established by Initiative 1183.

Earlier, CHS reported that the rights to the store at 400 Broadway E had been won with a $255,000 bid by a man named James Hasty . CHS has attempted to contact Hasty to find out more about this plans -- and find out if he's the same James Hasty as the NFL great and Bellevue business man -- but we our messages were never returned and the Broadway property's owner say it had been fielding inquiries from "non-liquor store" tenants about the space. The winning bidders in the state auction only acquire the right to sell liquor at the existing store or at a nearby location within a one-mile radius.

While acquiring the state store rights could put the winner in the unique position of being able to operate a smaller-than-10,000 square feet liquor store in the heart of a major city, there is concern the spirits retailing business might not be as lucrative as it has been in the past with QFC across the street and many local bars and restaurants transitioning to the new booze economy. The Broadway store did more than $2.9 million in gross sales in fiscal year 2011, according to the state.

While it's not clear if no deal could be brokered between the landlords and Hasty, CHS was told by the winner in an auction for another Seattle store that the 2nd Ave location's buyer ended up backing out because he couldn't settle on a lease with that location's owners. We've checked in with the 400 Broadway E property owners to see if we can learn more about the situation and will update if we hear back. UPDATE: No leases have been signed for the space, CHS has been told, and landlords are open to working with the winning bidder should one emerge from the upcoming live auction.

Unlike employees at 12th and Pine who will retained, the new owner told CHS, the state liquor store workers on Broadway will, of course, lose their jobs if the space transitions into a new area of business.

In the meanwhile, you can add one more Capitol Hill store to the roster of those planning to deal booze in the post 1183 world. Last week, Central Co-op announced that its board had decided to apply for a spirits retailing license following a community process to gauge the cooperative members' interest in adding hard liquor to the E Madison grocery's offerings.

Jill Wenger is ready to unveil the new home of her Totokaelo, a Seattle-founded fashion brand and store that has just completed its move from Western Ave to Capitol Hill's 10th Ave. The store neighboring Elliott Bay Book Co. will open its doors for the first time Thursday at 2p.

Wenger told CHS last month that the new Totokaelo will expand on the fashion and style provider's years of retail experience on Western and online:

The new store will continue to represent the fashion categories and style it's become known for, along with introducing: furniture, lighting, linens, ceramics, vintage textiles, rugs, objects and art.  The brand off-shoot "Totokaelo Art & Object" launches with the opening, and will encapsulate these new non-apparel related products.

Expect the 10th Ave space to also feature a new line of furniture.

In March, Everyday Music completed a move across the street from the space now inhabited by Totokaelo. The retailer joins Elliott Bay and will neighbor Oddfellows Cafe and fellow retailer NuBe Green. Around the corner in the Odd Fellows building, Molly Moon's has put its plans to expand into the former Flora and Henri shop on hold. Meanwhile, 10th Ave lost a tenant in February when sex club Tribe/Basic Plumbing abruptly closed down.

In our recent discussion with Totokaelo's Wenger, the CEO also addressed the store's price point:

(Image: Oddfellows)

What about the CHS commenters who will say pffft to an expensive boutique, I'll never shop there, blah blah bah? Anything to say to sway them? Or just tell them to fuck off?

Totokaelo is a specialty shop. It doesn't proclaim to have something for everybody. If you can't tell the difference between a 20.00 pair of pants and a 200.00 pair, then fuck it, buy the 20.00 ones, right?

But for the person that can tell the difference, the person that wants to discuss Raf Simmons' final collection for Jil Sander, or French seaming, or the Antwerp 6, Totokaelo won't disappoint.  We love what we do.  We are enthusiasts.

In my mind, there's a commonality between enthusiasts of any kind. Whether it be coffee, farm-to-table food, fixed gear bikes, etc. I appreciate it when someone finds something that gets them excited.   Hopefully the feeling is mutual.

You can learn more at totokaelo.com.

UPDATE: CHS stopped by but were told no photos of the space until some larger fish in the global media pond get their turn (rhymes with Blue Cork Limes). Here's a glimpse of the front and a sad little sidewalk shot. Look, shoes!

Sometimes, the local news business is just about being in the right place. Wednesday afternoon, CHS took a few minutes to enjoy a Little Uncle lunch in the triangle park in front of the under-construction and super-green Bullitt Center at 15th and Madison. Then CHS left. Not long after, we're told, "dozens of F.B.I., secret service, and Seattle Police officers" arrived -- and so did the president of Bulgaria.

According to people familiar with the details of the visit, Rosen Plevneliev included a visit to the construction site for the greenest commercial building in the world as part of a "NATO Summit trip to Chicago." We're told he was the former Minister of Construction and is very interested in green building and spoke on the need for human behavior change to meet ambitious and important energy efficiency goals.

The Bullitt project is working toward a late 2012 completion and was most recently approved to include a massive solar array in its green plans. The University of Washington integrated design laboratory and Northwest headquarters of the Green Building Council are slated to join the Bullitt Foundation in the low energy building.

Meanwhile, if like Plevneliev, you have an interest in things "eco," you'll want to mark your calendar for May 29th's Capitol Hill Housing forum on creating a Capitol Hill "EcoDistrict" -- 

Creating an EcoDistrict:
How do we make Capitol Hill a model of sustainable development?

Capitol Hill Housing presents the 7 annual Capitol Hill Community Forum

Date:               May 29, 2012

Location:         Broadway Performance Hall

1625 Broadway

Seattle, WA 98122

Time:               5:00 PM Doors Open

                        5:30 PM Presentation and Panel Discussion

7:00 PM Reception

An  is sustainability applied at the neighborhood scale.  provide a framework for realizing advanced sustainability – increasing efficiencies, reducing pollution, restoring ecosystems, and improving communities – through behavior change, building design, and infrastructure investments.  commit to achieving ambitious sustainability performance goals, guiding  investments and community action, and tracking the results over time.

In March 2011 the Bullitt Foundation awarded Capitol Hill Housing a grant to spearhead the creation of an  on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Working with architecture firm GGLO, Capitol Hill Housing spent six months researching the establishment of an in our neighborhood. On May 29, we welcome the community to our annual Community Forum as an opportunity to present our findings and open a dialogue between local representatives, national  experts, and our friends and neighbors on Capitol Hill.

At the forum, CHH will unveil the  report, an in depth study of starting an  on Capitol Hill. An ambitious plan to create the state’s first neighborhood , the report organizes goals into six areas: Community, Transportation, Energy, Water, Habitat, and Materials. Members of the community will have opportunities to volunteer to work on  projects that match their interests and areas of expertise.

Following a presentation of the  report, there will be a panel discussion led by moderator Ron Sims, former HUD Deputy Secretary and King County Executive

Distinguished panelists:

• Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn

• Denis Hayes, President of the Bullitt Foundation and Founder of Earth Day

• Naomi Cole, EcoDistrict Program Director at Portland Sustainability Institute

• Llewellyn Wells, President of Living City Block

• Rebecca Saldaña, Equitable Transit Oriented Development Program Director at Puget Sound Sage

The event is free and open to the public. Space is limited. Press is encouraged to attend. RSVP required:  http://chhforum2012.eventbrite.com/

The  overview and full report are available online: http://capitolhillhousing.org/inthecommunity/ecodistrict.php

(Image: CHS)

The investors who swooped in after financial troubles made one prime Pike/Pine development opportunity available earlier this year have decided to double down in the neighborhood. The Arizona-based Wolff Co. announced Wednesday that it has purchased the Sunset Electric building at 11th and Pine for $6.7 million. The developers plan to continue the approved mixed-use project started by seller Pryde Johnson which faced foreclosure on the property. 

“We believe very strongly in the quality of the Capitol Hill neighborhood and are excited to be a part of the effort to bring some of its more historic buildings back into service for the benefit of the entire community,” Tim Wolff said in a statement on the purchase.

Artist renderings of the planned structure (Image: Weber Thompson)

(Image: Weber Thompson)

(Image: Weber Thompson)

The ambitious project will incorporate a facade of the old Sunset Electric factory where the 11th and Pine poster wall stands today. The Sunset Electric project will include 89 residential units above the restored auto row building with two-floor tall commercial spaces at ground level and underground parking for 33 vehicles. The building is currently *partly* empty and boarded but a cultural center in the area thanks to its wild and wide array of posters, street art and random things that get stuck to its old, masonry walls. UPDATE: Thanks to Lola for the question in comments. We're checking whether the structure housing The Crypt and Purr is, indeed, part of the development parcel. We'll follow up with Wolff to ask them about plans to work with any existing tenants. UPDATE: According to county parcel records, Purr and the Crypt are part of the adjacent building not the parcel slated for redevelopment.

(Image: CHS)

Pryde Johnson purchased the building for $2.9 million in 2006. Its development project began the public design review process way back in summer of 2009. With the six-story project's land use permit approved and valid through March 2014, Wolff can pick up where Pryde Johnson left off and carry the Weber Thompson design forward.

(Image: CHS)

The Sunset name refers to a manufacturing company that called the 1916 building home for a time. It is also known as the Spray King  building and was once home to Winton Motor Co., according to neighborhood activist  Dennis Saxman. The project was planned to be part of the city's Priority Green Pilot Program. We published this series of artist renderings of the project here.

Wolff now has two major investments at play within blocks of each other in Pike/Pine. Last month, CHS reported on the $14.9 million purchase of the old BMW facility between Pike and Pine where the developers are planning a mixed-use apartment building that will incorporate the old facility's brick facade.

Both projects are now part of what is being called an "unprecedented wave" of development in the Pike/Pine neighborhood that is putting zoning and preservation laws to the test.

As with the 714 E Pike project, the developers have again created a site intended to provide information on the 11 and Pine development and collect feedback. You can find it at 11andpine.com.

(Image: SMR Architects)

There will be no such rejection tonight at what should be the final step in the public design process for, perhaps, the most well-loved mixed-use development in Capitol Hill history. Capitol Hill Housing's architects Wednesday night bring their updated plans for the 12th Ave Arts project in front of the newly re-inforced if not newly re-empowered East Design Board.

Project: 1620 12th Ave  map

Design Proposal available

Review Meeting:	May 16, 6:30 pm
	Seattle University Student Center
	901 12th Ave  map
	Room 130 - Multipurpose Room
Review Phase:	Recommendation past reviews
Project Number:	3012437 permit status | notice
Planner:	Lisa Rutzick

There are no character buildings at stake and no related development incentives for preservation to wrestle with. Instead, the project is planned to replace East Precinct's 12th Ave parking lot with a hard-not-to-love list of vitals for a new 6-story structure near 12th and Pine:

Affordable residential units for 30-60% median income households (a mix of studio, 1-bedroom, and 2-bedroom units at Levels 3-6)

17,000sf of office space (Level 2) — much of the retail space will be occupied by Capitol Hill Housing, the remainder will be leased to mission driven organizations.

6,000sf of retail space, including the infrastructure required to support a restaurant (Ground Floor)

(2) performing spaces — one fixed seat theater; one multipurpose / black box space (Ground Floor)

(111) parking stalls and essential services spaces in support of the Seattle Police Department, East Precinct (Below Grade and GroundFloor)

With theater groups already lined up to manage to the performance space, the $38 million project has a 2014 opening target. The architect on the project is SMR Architects, creator of the plans for CHH's Pantages Apartments on E Denny Way.

A capital campaign to cover a portion of the budget for the project from community giving continues. You can learn more here.

The project mostly sailed through its early design guidance session in October though there was this list of feedback from the public comment portion of the meeting. You can review the entire report on the October EDG here.

We've embedded the updated plans attempting to meet some of the community requests annunciated above as well as follow the guidance provided by the design board in October. The packet also contains some of the most fleshed-out renderings yet of how the project will look and feel as the board discusses elements like streetscaping, lighting and finishing materials planned for the building. The board will also finalize guidance on the project's requests for departures to zoning rules for the area including some proposed blank wall space and larger than average parking spaces that the applicant says are required to accomodate the parking needs of the East Precinct as SPD is slated to return to the project when it is complete.

How the office space will be eventually deployed hasn't been announced. But there is at least one organization that could be in search of a new home if another planned development gets back on track. That 10th and Union project we talked about up top? The building home to Capitol Hill Housing's headquarters was part of the demolition plans for the project rejected by the design review process earlier this year.

DRProposal3012437AgendaID3604