Tag Archives: 19th Ave

CHS History | Where Capitol Hill’s capitol would have been

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(Image: Prospect Congregational United Church of Christ)

This essay was created by historian and writer Dotty DeCoster. It was first posted to CHS in 2009. We remembered Dotty here on CHS after her passing in 2015.

Did the folks who began the church that is now Prospect Congregational United Church of Christ know that the property they bought was part of the site of the proposed state capitol?

The chapel originally faced E. Prospect on a lot that is now on the southeast corner of E. Prospect and 20th Ave E. The current church building, built in 1924, faces 20th Ave E., although the address remains 1919 E Prospect.

The site of the proposed capitol was a single large block, bounded to the north by E. Prospect, to the south by E. Helen, to the east by 21st Ave E. and to the west by 19th Ave E. Continue reading →

911 | Rider taken to hospital in critical condition after Capitol Hill electric scooter crash

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt/Signal (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out Twitter reports from @jseattle or tune into the CHS Scanner page.

  • Scooter crash: An electric scooter rider suffered “heavy trauma” and was transported to Harborview in critical condition Tuesday after reportedly colliding with a curb at 19th and Madison, according to Seattle Fire and emergency radio reports. Seattle Fire says it was called to the scene just after 4:30 PM to the reported crash where the male rider in his 50s was found down in the roadway, unconscious with head injuries. The intersection was closed to traffic during the response. We do not have an updates on the rider’s condition from Harborview. Seattle Police was investigating the crash. Continue reading →

Governor says new solar microgrid for emergency energy at Capitol Hill community center first of ‘hundreds’ across state

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Seattle City Light Energy Innovation and Resources Officer Emeka Anywanwu led a tour with the governor Thursday

Capitol Hill’s Miller Community Center is not solar powered but its $3.3 million microgrid installation including storage batteries and 132 solar panels on its rooftop produce enough energy to power the 19th Ave E Seattle Parks facility and gymnasium through a major emergency.

Thursday, Gov. Jay Inslee and Mayor Bruce Harrell were on hand for a pre-Earth Day ceremony to celebrate the project installed during the pandemic but not yet fully celebrated by the community.

Calling the project the “beginning of a revolution,” Inslee celebrated “free photons from the sun” and said there will soon be “hundreds” of projects like the Miller microgrid on community centers across the state. Continue reading →

Money Frog replaces a Capitol Hill classic with its own version of multicultural, multigenerational appeal

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With reporting and photography by Alex Garland

In a shade of “good fortune”-toned red and with the blessings — and permitting help — of the couple that made the space home to a successful Capitol Hill restaurant for nearly 20 years, Money Frog is celebrating its grand opening this week on the still quiet but now just a tad more interesting 19th Ave E.

General manager Jin Lee says that she is trying to keep to a simple philosophy with the opening even as the young restaurant works to overcome paperwork challenges and to settle into its new home neighborhood.

“Things are 10x more expensive, sometimes it feels like things are 10x harder,” Lee said. “But it’s all about having fun.”

“Relax. We want to do this to have fun.”

It also helps to have a little help and guidance from the decades of experience of Thomas and Rebecca Soukakos who decided to downsize their restaurant efforts on the Hill and sold their much-loved Vios late last year to make way for the new Money Frog project. Continue reading →

Money Frog — ‘a pan-Asian bar and brunch spot’ — getting ready for smooth start on 19th Ave E — UPDATE: Soft opening

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UPDATE — SOFT OPENING: Money Frog has announced a “soft opening” on Wednesday, March 23rd from 4 to 9 PM.

KP Panyathong inside the space under construction earlier this year (Image: @khampaengpanyathong)

 

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By Danielle Marie Holland

CHS ended 2021 by telling you about one of the most fun Capitol Hill food and drink projects to look forward to in 2022. Three months later, Money Frog is taking shape and preparing for its debut on 19th Ave E. The crew behind the new restaurant and hangout is busy ironing a few things out.

“The name of the restaurant is Money Frog. It’s nothing to do with tacos,” Joe Ye tells CHS.

The fresh collaboration between Joe and Lucy Ye of Hangry Panda in Greenwood and Khampaeng “KP” Panyathong of Taurus Ox on E Madison have been unraveling the taco confusion and more since the announcement late last December from Vios announcing that much loved Greek cafe’s last service after 17 years in the neighborhood.

At the time, the announcement described the new project taking over the 19th Ave E at E Aloha space as a two component restaurant and bar concept but the vision has been honed.

Hopefully that will be enough to help iron out another wrinkle: irritated neighbors. Continue reading →

Mount Zion on 19th affordable senior housing project receives state funding boost

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The state will give a more than $1 million boost to a senior housing project currently under construction on 19th Ave and hoped to help address displacement in the Central District.

The Mount Zion on 19th project was awarded $1,025,768 by the Washington State Department of Commerce announced as part of $18.6 million for 16 projects supporting the development of more than 1,500 affordable housing units across the state.

The property on 19th Ave just north of Madison is being developed by the housing arm of the nearby Mount Zion Baptist Church. The property was previously occupied by the church’s Price Arms apartments, a two-story, four-unit apartment building that county tax records indicate was built in 1901.

Plans call for a six-stories above ground and one below in a design from Rolluda Architects. The seven-story building include 10 studios, 50 one-bedroom units and a single two-bedroom unit. There will be seven parking stalls and 12 bike parking spaces. The plan also includes space for group meetings or activities, and a roof deck.

The housing is going to be rented at prices designed to be affordable to people making between 30% and 60% of the area median income with some of the units set aside for veterans.

The state funding comes in the form of Connecting Housing to Infrastructure Program (CHIP) grants that can provide up to $2.5 million for “sewer, water or stormwater improvements and/or waived system development charges for new affordable housing projects.”

Mount Zion, which also owns other land in the area around 19th and Madison, also has major plans for its main church property as part of a long-term planning process that created a framework for “a major expansion of new and existing structures.”

The 19th Ave project broke ground in October and is expected to be completed in winter of 2023.

The new building will add to options for seniors hoping to continue living in the central city. Pride Place, an eight-story affordable housing development dedicated to serving lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer seniors with 118 units of studio and one-bedroom apartments, 3,800 square feet of commercial retail space, and a 4,400-square-foot senior and health services center, is under construction on Broadway between Pike and Pine.

 

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Another Capitol Hill favorite is closing: Vios to make way for TacoOx and Money Frog on 19th Ave E

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(Image: Vios Cafe)

Thomas and Alexander Soukakos in 2015 — “Vios, which means life, became a hub of community and nurturing for families across Seattle as Soukakos raised his son, then two years old. Nearly two decades later, with his son off at college and opening contemporary Greek Omega Ouzeri, Soukakos is ready to turn the page and begin the next chapter of his culinary career.” (Image: CHS)

Another Capitol Hill institution is preparing to serve its final meals. 19th Ave E’s Vios Cafe will grill its “last souvlaki” on Friday, making a New Year’s Eve exit after 17 years in the neighborhood. The restaurant space will welcome an ambitious new food and drink project in the new year.

Like the coming closure of Cafe Presse on 12th Ave, the changes on 19th are part of the lifespan of a successful restaurant with small-scale ownership. Owner Thomas Soukakos is ready to simplify his business life — and travel.

“The downsizing of this upcoming chapter gives Soukakos more time to focus on culinary adventures both at home, and in Greece,” an announcement from Vios on the December 31st closure reads. “With future group excursions in the works, he hopes to continue to share his passion for the Greek cuisine with his customers; taking groups and leading wine and food tours in his native country.”

 

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Continue reading →

The Capitol Hill COVID Remembrance Project: ‘TAKE A RIBBON — WRITE THE NAME OF SOMEONE WHO HAS PASSED…’

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(Images: CHS)

A Capitol Hill faith community has created a modest memorial to honor the lives of those lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. You can add to the love on display at the corner of 19th and Aloha.

Sunday, the St. Joseph Parish held a small opening service for the Capitol Hill COVID Remembrance Project, an effort through November to provide a space for the community to remember friends, family, and loved ones lost to the virus.

White ribbons have been tied to the church’s fence, many bearing the names of loved ones who have died. A box of ribbons and a pen waits for anybody who would like to add to the memorial. Continue reading →

Fuel reopens on 19th Ave E ready to power your days with coffee and feed your mind with books

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(Image: Fuel Coffee)

A 19th Ave E coffee shop is back in motion and the neighborhood has a new book shop. The Fuel Coffee transition into the Ada’s family of cafes and bookstores has completed its first transformation with the 19th Ave E cafe finally reopened with a new look and plenty of new shelves lined with books.

Owner Danielle Hulton took CHS on a quick tour of the updated cafe’s blue and grey look and robust offering of new books for sale. The mix of titles represents many of the spines you might find at the science and tech-oriented 15th Ave E Ada’s Technical Books plus a more literary stream of selections and books for kids, Hulton said. Continue reading →

911 | Armed robbery outside Pike/Pine pizza joint, gunfire on 19th Ave, Boylston toilet arson

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See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS 911 coverage here. Hear sirens and wondering what’s going on? Check out Twitter reports from @jseattle or tune into the CHS Scanner page.

  • E Pike armed robbery: A bandit armed with a gun and a skateboard assaulted a woman and stole her backpack in a reported armed robbery before overpowering security and escaping the area outside an E Pike pizza joint Monday night. According to the SPD brief on the 8:30 PM attack, the victim told police she was sitting down to eat pizza at an outside table when the suspect got up from another table and began assaulting her before pulling out the gun. According to police, private security “briefly detained the suspect” and forced him to drop the gun to the ground but he was able to break free, grab the gun, and flee the area. Police searched the area near Broadway Ct were the suspect was last seen and the Seattle University campus was briefly put on lockdown during the response but there was no reported arrest.

  • Residents wait for the OK to reenter their building during the Boylston Ave fire response (Image: Capitol Hill Seattle Facebook Group)

    Boylston toilet arson: Residents were evacuated in a Thursday night arson fire on Boylston Ave that was extinguished before it could spread and do more damage. Seattle Fire responded to the blaze around 10:20 PM near Boylston and E Howell where someone had set a chemical toilet on fire at the site of the occupied building undergoing a remodel. “Fire investigators ruled the incident as incendiary (intentionally set) and have forwarded their findings to SPD’s Arson and Bomb Squad,” Seattle Fire tells CHS. Police say the fire did more than $10,000 in damage to the building and “fully destroyed the toilet.”

  • 19th Ave shots fired: Multiple 911 callers reported gunshots around 7:15 PM Saturday in the area of 19th and Pike. Police responded to the area after the reports of seven to ten shots and talked with witnesses who reported the incident involved a male and female in an argument. According to SPD radio dispatch updates, the male had taken the gun away from the other party and left the area. Police say they eventually made two arrests and confiscated a 9mm pistol. There were no injuries and no property damage was found. SPD’s Gun Violence Reduction Unit detectives responded to the scene following the previous weekend’s burst of deadly gun violence across the city.
  • First Hill phone thief busted: Police were able to chase down the suspect in a phone robbery after a “short foot pursuit” in a Sunday incident on First Hill. According to SPD, the thief grabbed the phone from his victim in a street mugging near Marion and Terry just after 9 PM. “Backing units located the suspect nearby. After a short foot pursuit, the suspect gave up and was detained without incident,” SPD’s brief on the arrest reads. Police were unable to locate the stolen phone.
 

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