Capitol Hill’s Korn Dog is now Chiqpa Small Chicken Patio where you can get giant chicken tenders… and Korn Dogs

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Capitol Hill’s Korn Dog era has ended — kind of.

New chicken tenders joint Chiqpa is ready to rule the roost — and maybe start its path to sharing its normal, mild, or hot tenders far and wide.

“Chiqpa is actually my first restaurant, and it represents a passion project for me. The inspiration behind it comes from my deep appreciation for Street Roasted and Fried Chicken Fast Food,” owner Babamyrat Davranov enthusiastically tells CHS. “I wanted to create a place where food is not just about the meal, but about the experience — a place where our guests can feel like part of the family.”

It has been a speedy turnaround for the Harvard and Pine space. Former tenant Korn Dog was serving customers as recently as last week. And, then, poof… Chiqpa emerged to take over the corner across from Seattle Central. The official complete name, by the way, is Chiqpa Small Chicken Patio. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | The Capitol Hill Burritos California now brightening E Pine by day and by night

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Those are not burritos!

Speaking of new paint, the northeast corner of 10th and Pine has a bright pulse of new life by day and by night as the new Capitol Hill Burritos California is now operational.

CHS reported here last month on the plans for Burritos California to take over the long-ago Kentucky Fried Chicken where Rancho Bravo held down the fort for years of affordable eats across from Cal Anderson Park. Continue reading →

Reverie Ballroom starts next dance on Capitol Hill with renovations, new paint, and plans for new connections like yoga, circus, and burlesque

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Opening night looked familiar at the Reverie (Image: Reverie Ballroom)

But change is coming with renovations, overhauls, and new paint (Image: Reverie Ballroom)

By Domenic Strazzabosco

Reverie Ballroom, housed on the second floor of the Capitol Hill’s Odd Fellows Hall on the corner of Pine and 10th, is up and running after taking over after 28 years of swing dance, waltz, salsa and more from the Century Ballroom.

“More than anything, I’m holding a vision of this place being a thriving arts center where people can come and try a little bit of all kinds of things,” said Eliza Wilder, the executive director of Reverie Ballroom.

CHS Seattle reported in January that Century Ballroom’s owners Hallie Kuperman and Alison Cockrill were not renewing their lease on the space and that a new group was stepping forward to continue using it in a similar fashion to the last three decades.

Though the transition happened on April 1, there wasn’t a single day when dance classes weren’t available. Wilder noted that since so much of the Seattle dance community relies on the rooms, she feared that even one day off would be too much for everyone. Continue reading →

Seattle passes after-hours club regulations

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The Seattle City Council approved legislation Tuesday regulating after-hours clubs that officials say have proliferated around the city and have become centers of crime and gun violence.

“Over the past decade, there have been dozens of shootings and homicides that have occurred in connection with these venues,”  a statement from council president Sara Nelson said.

The legislation passed unanimously Tuesday creates new requirements that include restricting venues to 21+ age limits, no service of alcohol between 2 AM and 5 AM, requiring at least two trained security personnel, running a security checks for weapons upon entry, providing video surveillance of exits, and what backers say will be “unimpeded police access while operating.” Continue reading →

Another fire damages old Queen Sheba building at Broadway and John — UPDATE

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Thanks to neighbor Teddy for the picture

A fire scorched the empty building formerly home to the Queen Sheba restaurant at Broadway and John Tuesday afternoon.

Seattle Fire was called around 2:45 PM to reports of flames on the outside of the building that spread to the interior. 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 →

Seattle City Council’s comprehensive growth plan committee eyes June deadline as neighborhood appeals denied

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The Seattle City Council’s comprehensive growth plan committee will move forward this week with a major question answered. No, the six appeals filed against the growth plan proposal will not bring the process to a halt.

Last week, the city’s Hearing Examiner dismissed the appeals including cases representing Madison Valley, Mount Baker, Hawthorne Hills, and “73 remaining Southern resident killer whales” in a single filing. “None of those issues gained traction or won a day in appeals court thanks to a 2022 state ‘safe harbor’ law that exempts actions taken by local governments to increase housing capacity from appeals under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA),” the Urbanist reports.

The council’s comp plan committee led by District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth, meanwhile, can resume its path toward finalizing a new 20-year growth plan for the city that includes new “neighborhood centers” across the city including D3’s Madison Park, Madison Valley, Montlake, and Madrona. The designation could “allow residential and mixed-use buildings up to 6 stories in the core and 4- and 5-story residential buildings toward the edges,” according to the proposal. Continue reading →

Kemi Dessert Bar is now — softly — open on Capitol Hill

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You have a few days to think about your choices. Friday, Kemi Dessert Bar will be open for another weekend of service as the 12th Ave sweet shop settles into rhythm on Capitol Hill.

CHS broke the news here in January on the plans from Kelly Miao to bring her creations to Capitol Hill after honing her craft in New York City’s “Instagram Bakery Scene” at a prestigious roster of NYC bakeries, bars, and restaurants. Continue reading →

Community meeting will discuss Lee Center demolition to make way for Seattle University Museum of Art

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SUMA design rendering by Olson Kundig

(Image: Lee Center for the Arts)

By Matt Dowell

An April 22nd meeting has been set between Seattle University and the community following concerns about the school’s plans to demolish its Lee Center for the Arts to make way for a new art museum on 12th Ave. An often behind-the-scenes public body flexed its muscles to get the meeting on the books after “unprecedented” public interest in the project’s early stages.

A year ago, Seattle U announced that a major donation from property developer Dick Hedreen, including his family’s 200-piece, $300 million collection of paintings, pottery, photography, etchings, and sculptures, would culminate in a new Seattle University Museum of Art (SUMA). When the university announced that the plans meant the Lee Center would have to go, students and faculty pushed back, saying that the building was a “critical space for students and community members” and that planned replacements were inadequate.

Now, the Seattle University’s Implementation Advisory Committee has stepped up. IACs are groups of city-appointed volunteers who monitor the development of Seattle’s major institutions – universities, colleges, and hospitals. The institutions are granted special zoning rules but must adhere to agreements made with their surrounding communities. Continue reading →

The Montlake Lid’s bus stops are now in service

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A worker helps install benches for the newly opened Metro stops (Image: WSDOT)

(Image: WSDOT)

Another key element of the $455.3 million project to widen 520 and lid the busy freeway through Montlake is now in place. King County Metro is now serving the Montlake Lid’s bus stop center.

Service on the lid began Saturday, Metro says, serving  routes 43 to Capitol Hill, 48 to Central District and Mt Baker, 255 to Kirkland Transit Center and Totem Lake Transit Center, 271 to Bellevue and Issaquah, 542 to Redmond, and 556 to Bellevue and Issaquah:

Metro is excited to offer four new bus stops as part of the state’s major SR 520 Montlake Lid project, offering easier connections for riders traveling between the Central District, East Capitol Hill, Montlake and the Eastside.
Around 13,500 riders use these routes daily. The new space offers three grassy acres and new trail connections to the Arboretum, East Montlake Park and the Montlake neighborhood.

“Reopening service at Montlake is a big step forward for regional transit,” King County Executive Shannon Braddock said in a statement. “These new stops restore vital connections that have been missing since 2019. It’s a win for access, convenience and connectivity across our region.”

Buses haven’t directly served the 520/Montlake Blv interchange since 2019 through years of construction on the expansion and new lid.

The activation of the project’s transit element is another step forward in balancing the sea of motor vehicle traffic that flows across the lid every day. CHS reported here in late 2024 as a new 520 bike/walk bridge opened as a late element of the project, joining the multiple new traffic lanes that opened earlier in the year across the new lid’s reconfiguration of the busy intersection of freeway and city streets.

The 520 replacement effort is now in its third and final phase. CHS reported here on the start of construction on WSDOT’s $1.4 billion Roanoke Lid and Portage Bay Bridge projects currently planned to wrap up in 2031.

 

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