(Image: Suzi Pratt)

“Construction” is not really the right word for an “ultra lounge.” An ultra lounge is created. Starting next week, honest-to-goodness construction creation work will start at the Broadway home of one of the next generation of Capitol Hill gay dance clubs.

Scott Smith gave CHS a tour of the soon to be transformed auto garage space that will become the 12,000 square foot Q dance club over the next several months. “Right here is where ‘the Beast’ will be,” he said as he pointed to near what is currently the roll-up door to Broadway in the former Capitol Hill Collision space. The “super-sofa” feature will cap the west end of the club — near the bourbon bar, naturally.

(Image: Suzi Pratt)

In the meantime, Smith and business partner Andy Rampl — “the straight one,” Smith says — might want to consider re-opening the garage business. A driver cruised right into the old garage space during our visit. Smith says he’s been asked to give an estimate. But there’s not long to wait. Next week, you should see activity begin at the 1426 Broadway garage across the street from the Harvard Market QFC.

That puts Q on pace for a summer opening — possibly sometime in June. Maybe July. Given the enormity of the project it’s best to leave things a little fuzzy.

The Social, already partially built out on E Olive Way, is now zeroing in on an April debut. Todd Nordahl, formerly of the late, great Rosebud, is heading up the restaurant portion of the project backed by a group of Capitol Hill entrepreneurs and the Laura Olson empire:

The Social is under way on Olive Way (Image: the Social)

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 LGBT 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 t o open this summer, watch for updates on facebook.com/ TheSocialSeattle. We are excited to join the expanding scene on East Olive with Tommy Guns, CC Atties.

Olson’s Auto Battery and Manhattan Drugs and Garcia’s Emerson Salon are CHS advertisers.

Despite the progress being made by the new guys, it hasn’t been the best time for the elder statesmen of Broadway dance clubs but there are signs things are getting better. We recently reported on the challenges faced by Neighbours as the City of Seattle required a series of upgrades to allow the club to continue at full capacity. Neighbours Underground appears to be a casualty of the process but the site has been busy this week with contractors working on the sprinkler system at the nearly 30-year-old club.

Q, it turns out, also has a plan for downsizing but this scheme is built in from the get-go. Smith says the 12,000 square foot space will be sectioned off to a 5,000 square-foot venue by sleek aluminum curtains on slower weeknights so the club can continue to operate without it feeling lonely in the nooks and crannies of the space. Add multiple DJ booths and a major investment in bleeding edge equipment and Q should be able to build a bustling party on any night of the week.

Today, however, you’ll only find the huge, empty garage. There’s an old auto elevator the partners are trying to get rid of if you are in the market. Smith walks east from the entrance along the south wall and explains the long, dramatic corridor that will extend the length of the club and provide a space for what promoters hope will be long lines of patrons able to wait inside, safe from the rain and, of course, looking fine. The hallways was a requirement from the Fire Marshal but, like other quirks of the 1912 building, Smith says the plan is to make it an asset. Same goes for the some 5,000 square feet of office, etc. space above the club. There’s no plan to put it to use yet but it will probably come in handy at some point.

There’s already been a change in plans for the main bar to a much larger, four sided “walk-around” counter flanked by three lounge seating areas and the mezzanine lounge that overlooks it. The project architects Bohlin Cywinski Jackson also decided to pop open the space above the bar to create a 20 foot ceiling and open up the wall behind it that will be lighted with digital color washes.

In other words, Q ultra lounge will be even more ultra than originally planned when it debuts after a few months of creation.

In the second such incident in only four days, a pedestrian was struck by a car at 15th Ave and E Denny Way Tuesday night.

Early reports indicated the female victim in her 20s was conscious but suffered arm and leg injuries. She was transported to Harborview. Thanks to Alexander for more details from the scene just after 8p:

FYI, looks like another car vs. pedestrian (or possibly bike, not 100% sure) at 15th and Denny, tonight at around 8pm. SFD sent two ambulances, an engine, and the medic supervisor. It appeared that the person was being transported in the Medic unit, which I believe indicates relatively serious injuries. I hope they are OK.

In an incident Friday afternoon at the same intersection, a woman was struck by a car as she crossed 15th Ave. The driver was evaluated for impairment but does not appear to have been cited. We do not have any updates on the woman’s condition or the extent of her injuries.

“Jurisdictions across the nation are being besieged with proposals to privatize government services, assets, and functions. Everything from public schools, prisons, highways, bridges, military, Social Security, air traffic control, natural resources, national parks, tax collection to pension funds, voting machines, liquor sales, lotteries, worker’s compensation, welfare, and parks.  And with very mixed results.”

Thursday, Feb. 2, 7:30 PM,Seattle First Baptist Church 1111 Harvard Ave, Seattle

Moderator – Eleanor Licata

Speakers –

Don Comstock, PhD, Stanford, teaches political economics in the graduate Management and Leadership program and the Environment and Community program at Antioch University. Don has created and led public and nonprofit organizations in fostering community development and community-based economic development. He also has consulted with public agencies and small businesses and published in the areas of organizational and community change, critical theory and participatory research.

Nora Leech is a member of the National League of Women Voters Study Committee on Privatization and was the chair of the Seattle League’s 2009 study on Privatization. She currently serves as the chair of the Seattle League’s Economics and Taxation committee and serves on the State League’s Lobby Team. Nora is a long-time member of the League as was her grandmother before her.

Jim Sawyer, a political economist at Seattle University, writes extensively on “root causes” of economic dysfunction, particularly within the realm of economic ideas. At the beginning of the Great Recession, he was working in France as a Fulbright Scholar and publishing in Belgium, France, Great Britain and the United States.

This is presented by the League of Women Voters and as a part of a national study.  It is free to the public. http://www.seattlelwv.org/node/1100

A major route on and off Capitol Hill was blocked Tuesday afternoon as a load of mirrors shifted and brought a semi truck to a standstill in the middle of the intersection of Denny Way and E Olive Way.

We’re sure there’s a demographic explanation for it. Four new dentistry-related projects are open or underway around the Hill. Here are updates on each.

• Sweet Tooth: We first told you about the plans for Sweet Tooth Family Dental to move into an antique shop on 14th Ave across from Safeway back in September. In the meantime, Dr. Gene Beck has opened his practice on Capitol Hill:

---

I am the owner of Sweet Tooth Family Dental on 14th and John.  The office is totally new but in a 1904 historic Capitol Hill home.  The remodel was carefully planned to respect the work that Henry and David of Henry’s Bed and Breakfast Antiques  did in 2007.  The space feels really homey and comfortable and almost like it has always been a dental office.  I’m hoping to have the office up and running by January 9th. I’ve been a dentist for 15 years and have worked in Seattle area for the past ten years.  I have a community health back ground and love working with families to improve and maintain dental health. I also love to bake, so plan to treat my patients with a a package  some of my baked goods to make their dental visit a little sweeter, thus the name Sweet Tooth.  We are a new practice and welcome all patients.  Our website is sweettoothfamilydental.com  and our office # is 206-323-1436.  Our address is 211 14th Ave E,  one house North of the violin shop in the big blue house.

Sweet Tooth, we should note, is a CHS advertiser.

• Packard Building: We’ve also learned about a dentistry project planned to bring a new tenant to the Packard Building. We already told you about the coming-soon gelateria at 12th and Pine. We can now tell you that D’Ambrosio Gelato will have a neighbor to help you take care of cleaning your sweet teeth. Filings with a city indicate a $50,000 construction project is being planned to transform a retail space in the Packard Building into a new practice space for Philip R Howard Family Dentist. UPDATE: The Packard will welcome Tara Sullivan, DDS and “The Dental Shoppe” this spring.
• Smiles on Madison: The Safeway and apartment complex at 23rd and Madison will also soon be home to a new dental practice. Filings indicate Smiles on Madison is destined for 2209 E Madison after a buildout of the space is complete.

• Swedish Hospital: First Hill also has added a special dentistry clinic focused on providing “complex specialty care:”

Swedish recently added adult specialty dental care to the extensive list of free services available to low-income uninsured and underinsured patients at the Swedish Community Specialty Clinic (SCSC). This is the only specialty clinic of it kind in the Puget Sound area. Staffed by local volunteer dentists and oral surgeons from the Seattle-King County Dental Society, the dental clinic focuses on complex specialty care. The focus is starting first with difficult tooth extractions and plans to add root canals in the future.

 Swedish is making the new specialty dental care clinic available to interested media for a two-hour window. This will be an opportunity to tour the clinic and interview key people including a patient, a couple of the volunteer dentists, as well as key administrative reps from Swedish, Project Access Northwest (PANW; www.projectaccessnw.org), and Washington Dental Service Foundation. Media will also be able to watch and photograph or film an actual procedure being done on a real patient.

 The clinic has three fully outfitted dental surgery and treatment rooms paid for by community grants and the Swedish Foundation. Severe mouth pain related to dental problems is one of the most common problems seen in hospital emergency rooms. Often, despite their best efforts, emergency department physicians can’t fully treat patients who have active oral infections or abscesses until a problem tooth is removed. Specialty Dental services are available by referral from a primary-care dentist and by appointment only. Swedish estimates some 25 volunteer dental professionals will see up to 450 patients in the first year of the clinic’s operation. As many as 45 volunteer dentists and oral surgeons will treat an estimated 2,000 patients in year two. SCSC opened in September 2010 with medical services, but because of the known need for specialty dental care in our region the clinic was designed with space that would accommodate three dental chairs. Swedish partners with PANW for operational support. PANW personnel provide effective patient triage and case management, and work with SCSC support staff to help maintain dentist schedules and set initial visits and follow-ups. Some community health centers offer primary-care dental for adults, but no one is doing specialty care. With the health-care safety net slowly being eliminated, hospitals have no place to send these patients, so Swedish and PANW had to step up to meet a growing need. The dental clinic is designed as a referral-based service. Patients likely to use it come through the Swedish system, or through a variety of low-income community clinics authorized to refer patients. For more information on specialty dental services, call Project Access Northwest at 206-788-4559 or visit www.swedish.org/Services/Swedish-Community-Specialty-Clinic.

Like any good neighborhood news site, CHS has a (not so) proud history of passive aggressive note posts. Some get to be a bigger deal than others. They’re easy pickings so we try to, um, raise the bar to bring you only the more notable examples of the species. This one qualifies because it’s a classic of the “passive aggressive note responding to a passive aggressive note” genre. And it’s on cardboard. Pictures from only-partly-responsible party Kevin direct from I-5 Shores, below.

Note 1:

Note 2:

“PS ASSHOLE < Sorry the Handicap Card had fallen down. Who's the POS Now???"

At least nobody got towed.

The changes we reported here involving a transfer in operations and overhaul of the Capitol Hill Times have hit the street — or at least the Web. So far, the typical stacks of copies of the free paper aren’t showing up around the Hill but the new WordPress-based Web site is live and a new sortie of articles has been posted including a look back at the recent snow. Meanwhile, Pacific Northwest journalists are taking their cracks at trying to tell the peculiar story of RIM Publications, a company built on the back of our region’s manifestations of the mortgage crisis.

The inaugural note from editor Stephen Miller sums the new effort up:

It’s a hell of an undertaking for a new publication, but The Capitol Hill Times has been around for a while. Editors before me have been dropping copy on Broadway since 1926. Unfortunately, the industry has taken a dive as of late, and this paper was a casualty. It lost touch with all of you as a result. I aim to change that.

The goal for this paper is not to re-create the Weekly and the Stranger or to eclipse the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog. Rather, we plan to bring a new voice to the discussion, to give you information you can use and to tell your story in a way it hasn’t been told before.

Last week, The Oregonian examined RIM parent company Northwest Trustee Service and owner Stephen Routh’s entry into newspaper ownership — complete with the hand wringing expected from a company with skin in the game:

Routh and his partners have built Northwest Trustee Services into a vertically integrated foreclosure machine. 

Need a law firm? Check. Northwest Trustee has its affiliate, Routh, Crabtree & Olsen, which has 51 lawyers and offices in seven Western states. Need an escrow officer to help with documents? Check. Northwest Trustee has a title company. Need a process server to post a foreclosure notice at a specific property? A property manager to maintain vacant homes? An auctioneer to conduct foreclosure sales? Check, check and check. Northwest Trustee has it all in-house. 

Until recently, one of the few elements of foreclosure that the 1,000-employee firm couldn’t offer its clients was a venue in which to advertise pending auctions. 

Oregon law could be shifting to make RIM’s gambit less effective, the Oregonia hopefully speculates.

Seattle’s own Crosscut also took a crack at RIM with a new post this morning documenting the company’s businesses and lamenting its approach to journalism:

Routh’s seemingly single-minded focus worries longtime community journalists; what happens, they ask, when the housing market returns and foreclosures decline? Most believe that the small RIM papers will be sold or simply closed when their need is gone. “I question the wisdom of a long-term business plan that depends on something as cyclical as the foreclosures market,” observes Bill Will, executive director of Washington Newspaper Publishers Association.

Surprisingly, perhaps, Routh told me he could be in newspapers for the long haul. He expects “three years, maybe beyond” of heavy foreclosure activity. The economy “is not working so well,” and the value of under-water home mortgages”makes the national debt look trivial.” So, those pages of foreclosure ads are not going away any time soon.

As for CHS, we can’t say how this is all going to play out and we’re happy to not have to depend on the foreclosure market to keep our servers turned on. But we can say one thing — this kind of shit will not stand:

When asked what the co-op has coming up, Charmaine answered, “We’ll be organizing our chick sales for the early spring, and looking for more ways to get urban farming in the spotlight on Capital Hill!”

Two projects that provide insights into the state of development in their respective neighborhoods take steps in the Seattle Design Review process this week — one a 300-foot-tower at the base of First Hill, the other a 4-story multifamily project just off 15th Ave E.

802 Seneca
The project surrounding the new 300-foot apartment tower planned to rise above lower First Hill and Freeway Park might be the rare example of a developer responding to the community and taking a voluntary step back to square one in the city’s design process. With plans approved five years ago before the development was mothballed during the economic downturn of the late 2000s, developer Laconia revived its 802 Seneca project last year. In the meantime, height limits had risen and the development economy had irrevocably shifted. Instead of moving forward with the design framework approved years ago, Laconia’s Paul Menzies came back to Seattle with a significantly different project that still fit within the approved use of the First Hill land acquired for $4 million in 2005. Other similar projects in the area have barreled forward. But this First Hill tower project worked out differently.

Project: 802 Seneca St  map

Design Proposal available (84.2 MB)

Review Meeting:	February 1, 8:00 pm
	Seattle Vocational Institute
	2120 S Jackson St  map
	Room 102/103
Review Phase:	Recommendation past reviews
Project Number:	3012797 permit status | notice
Planner:	Shelley Bolser

“As a developer, you really want to get it approved. And you want to build it. And sometimes you get contrary ideas. The fact of the matter is you always get a better project,” Menzies told CHS of the decision to start back with an Early Design Guidance session for the rejiggered Seneca project.

That first meeting was held in early January and, by account of the notes from the session posted by DPD, the community dialogue was productive in shaping what will be a significant new structure on the First Hill skyline. The plan presented in January did away with the two-structure concept — instead there is one chunky 300-foot tower. The plan for condos is long gone. The name of the project is the Seneca Apartment Community.

The plan calls for more than 300 residential units and 3,700 square feet of retail. 285 parking spots are planned – and some of you will be glad to note that feedback from the January 4 EDG included comment that the project had too much parking for First Hill. The project could also help to increase connections to Freeway Park with a planned sculpture garden connecting the private and the public land. Kwan Henmi is the project’s architect.

For Menzies, who has been developing up and down the West Coast for decades, he’s looking forward to hearing more feedback on the effort to make the tower look more residential and less like an office building.

“It’s a good process,” Menzies said of the Seattle way of design. “It’s a process very much based on consensus. But not everybody can be satisfied, of course.”

At the current rate of progress, construction could begin this summer.

DRProposal3012797AgendaID3457 New

1406 E Republican
A mile and change away and some 250 feet shorter, a new project at 14th and Republican takes its first steps with the Capitol Hill Design Review Board this week. It, too, could face some sharp community pushback as new projects creep off of Capitol Hill's main arteries and into some of the area's quieter streets. Developer John Schack says the time has come to put the land currently home to a 1943 triplex to more appropriate use:

Actually, if you look at the intersection of 14th and Republican, our site is currently the only corner that doesn't have an apartment building on it.  That being said, we understand the concern of the community.  Our goal is to capture the intent of the newly revised Lowrise code by organizing our building around a series of ground floor courtyard spaces that will emphasize community, promote ad-hoc interactions/activity, and provide units with maximum access to light and air.  This is one of the backbones of our concept: to cultivate a symbiotic relationship between interior and exterior spaces by drawing out the benefits of each to provide a design that is greater than the sum of its parts.  Each living room and unit entry will be oriented toward the central courtyard to promote both a sense of community and security; "eyes on the street" if you will (thanks Jane Jacobs).  The added benefit of eliminating the double loaded corridor is that each unit will have the opportunity for cross ventilation; a rare feature for new apartment product.  Also, by organizing the building around these open spaces, the building has a natural modulation that is reactive to usable outdoor space rather than implemented for the sake of forced variety.

The development is the first project of Schack and partner Dugan Earl's new firm Revolve. Schack's architecture firm schack A+D is handling the design.

Project: 1406 E Republican St  map

Design Proposal available (3.59 MB)

Review Meeting:	February 1, 6:30 pm
	Seattle Vocational Institute
	2120 S Jackson St  map
	Room 102/103
Review Phase:	EDG--Early Design Guidance
Project Number:	3012837 permit status | notice
Planner:	Bruce Rips

Plans call for demolition of the triplex and construction of a four-story, 36-unit residential building with parking for 22 vehicles in a partially below grade lot. The land was acquired in November 2011 for $1.4 million.

And, no, sadly, those aren't slides on the roof in the massing diagrams. Schack says they're stairways. You can lobby him for the slide idea at Wednesday night's meeting.

DRProposal3012837AgendaID3449

Every night is industry night at CHS. Got a tip? Lay it on us here.

• The re-birth of Restaurant Zoe on Capitol Hill is imminent. Scott and Heather Staples, with fingers only a little crossed, tell CHS they expect to be serving diners in their new 14th and Union space in time for Valentine’s. And when we say new, we mean new. It seems that all that is coming along with Zoe from Belltown are most of the employees and the Stapleses’ reputation for creating great Seattle dining experiences.

“When you’re moving a 10+ year-old business, you’re essentially opening a brand new restaurant,” Scott told CHS Monday as he and Heather got ready to rush off to yet another crunch time meeting as the restaurant prepares to open. “We changed everything. The look. The logo. Even the music. Everything has loosened up. As well as the price point.”

Reincarnation cones at the new Zoe (Image: CHS)

The change, according to the married couple behind Zoe as well as E Pike’s Quinn’s and Fremont’s Uneeda Burger, is a function of time, place and personality.

“The thing about the reincarnation of Zoe,” Scott said, “is we’re 12 years older. All of those experiences that we’ve had are going into this as well as being in a new neighborhood.”

Heather says the new space in the old Panzanella Bakery building along with the Oola Distillery at 14th and Union will also shape the new Zoe.

“Both Quinn’s and Zoe have been really land-locked,” Heather said. “With the new Zoe, we had this asphalt parking lot where we’re able to add a four-season deck.” She says the new space is also being prepared for a kitchen garden and there are plans for keeping bees and growing tomatoes on the restaurant’s roof. There is also a plan to grow ivy and hops up the size of the building. “We want that urban garden feel,” Heather said.

It will be a marked change from the glossier days when Zoe first opened in Belltown 12 years ago.

“It’s a really fun change,” Heather said. “We’re not the same people. The city is not the same place. Fine dining is not what it was.”

You can keep track of opening day progress on the Zoe Facebook page.

• We should note that another space at the Oola complex at 14th and Union is completed — and active. The 10 Degrees event space is hosting dancing and events.
• The Stranger, by the way, tasted a lot of Washington liquor (twist their arms). Here’s what they liked.
• No telling what impact the arrival of Eat Local will have on Capitol Hill restaurant revenue. We forecast zilch. There’s always room for pie.
• Speaking of Broadway retail space, big box liquor providers have their eyes set on Seattle. 

“We have three leases moving along very quickly, two in Seattle and one in Spokane,” said David Trone, president of Total Wine & More, a Maryland-based company with 78 big-box liquor stores in 11 states. The chain plans to open 10 shops in Washington eventually, including stores in Vancouver and Tacoma.

• Wine and beer at Starbucks? Shocking.
• With Super Bowl weekend upcoming, soon time for us to again roll out our annual list of Capitol Hill bars and restaurants with TVs. Or you could just tell us about your favorite place to watch the sports balls on the Hill in comments and we can be done with it.
• Editors reading this column: Did you note our post last week helping you keep track of all the “coming soon” 2012 Capitol Hill restaurant and bar openings? Feel free to augment your editorial calendars and plan ahead.
• The mother of the Seattle happy hour has no happy hour (yet) at her new Capitol Hill restaurant. She won’t need one with reviews like this and “an optimism unbent by two difficult years, confidence, and culinary mastery.”
• Also, this guy ate there.
• Happy (late) January anniversaries to Unicorn (2010), Still (2010) and Olympia Pizza’s The Bar (2010).
• The partners behind Tavern Law sound downright diplomatic when discussing the recent exodus.
• Planning for V-day? Pannevino has a menu posted. Anchovies & Olives, Marjorie and Volunteer Park Cafe have sent out pressers on special menus. Give em a call.
• Or, hell, really splurge and celebrate early by taking your sweetie for a free 5 ounces of frozen yogurt. Yogurtland is celebrating National Frozen Yogurt day on February 6.
• Pop-up Savage Cuisine is in full hype mode. You can give them a try tonight at Volunteer Park Cafe.
• Want to make noodles on Broadway?
• Montana the bar will be more than a (very comfortable and fun) bar, of course, also planned to be home to headquarters for Rachel’s Ginger Beer.
• The city wants Neighbours to make improvements or downsize.
• “On a quiet Wednesday morning there were plenty of seats, very few laptops and more than one table of moms enjoying the same quiet morning with their kids that we were.”
• “Henderson, who now also has a diner in the hip Capitol Hill area of Seattle, says he likes to use bacon jam as a “finisher” for dishes.”
• 8oz Burger Bar boasting it plans to offer best “selection” of draft beers on Capitol Hill. Discuss.
• The guy behind Madison’s Crush cooks for the geeks behind Google.