Tag Archives: 23rd and union

Marjorie makes new start in the Central District with boost hoped to help Seattle restaurant owners also own the space they call home

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Midtown Square

Moodie

The rebirth of Marjorie in the Central District after a twenty-month and nine-block move down E Union will be a restart for restaurateur and community advocate Donna Moodie and a new symbol for Black ownership at 23rd and Union.

Thursday, Mayor Bruce Harrell will be on hand to celebrate the opening of Marjorie in its new home in the Midtown Square development where Moodie won’t just own the Jamaican-flavored restaurant — she’ll be part of owning the commercial space the new Marjorie calls home.

The city has announced Marjorie will be the second small business in Seattle to take part in its Business Community Ownership Fund, a new first of its kind program hoped to give small business owners more control over rents — and their futures.

Seattle’s BCO Fund was launched in partnership with the Office of Economic Development and Grow America in a combined $20 million investment, “aimed at addressing the challenges of small business displacement and escalating commercial rents across Seattle neighborhoods,” the city says. Continue reading →

23rd and Union locked down, no injuries reported after drive-by shooting

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Seattle Police locked down the area and there were no injuries reported at the scene after a drive-by shooting Tuesday at 23rd and Union.

Multiple 911 callers reported gunfire just before 4:30 PM in the area around the busy intersection. Arriving officers found shell casings along E Union and an Audi SUV reportedly targeted in the shooting, according to East Precinct radio updates.

Police closed the street between 23rd and 25th Ave to collect evidence and check the area for suspects. Continue reading →

Weekend brings second annual Juneteenth Pop-up Market — and DJ Riz — to 23rd and Union’s Midtown Square

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(Image: EcoDistrict)

Sunday, June 16th will bring the second annual REVIVAL: Juneteenth Pop-up Market to the Central District’s Midtown Square development at 23rd and Union.

The annual market event returns with support of the EcoDistrict and the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle as well as Midtown Square’s Arte Noir gallery.

(Image: EcoDistrict)


Continue reading →

A literary salon at 23rd and Union, Central District Poetry Nights grow at Soul Collective

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(Image: Soul Collective)

Folino

By Nicholas Williams/UW News Lab

A Central District hair salon has become the unexpected host of monthly poetry nights in the midst of neighborhood development at 23rd and Union.

Soul Collective, located on the block with the neighborhood PCC and across the Midtown Square apartments and neighboring businesses Jerk Shack, Neighbor Lady, Raised Donuts, and the Arte Noir gallery, is a space committed to sharing its artistic expertise of diverse ethnicities, backgrounds and hair textures.

Owner Alexandria Folino says she founded the small business to desegregate hair care in an environment of unpretentious luxury.

“I decided to embark on a journey of creating a space that felt right for the type of hair on my head and others that look like me because they have all heard that their hair is a specialty in the beauty industry,” Folino said.

Folino was approached with the idea of hosting poetry nights by poets Joshua Griffin and Julie Feng.

“Alex is from the district. Julie’s from the south end. I grew up in the north end and we’ve all seen this city change,” Griffin said.

“We can speak back to what 23rd and Union used to look like. So what are you going to do now after you leave this space? Hopefully, continue to find ways to be in the community and not find ways to uproot the community.”

Folino acknowledges the Central District has changed a lot since she grew up there and says, by having events like these poetry nights, she can participate in building the new culture of the neighborhood. Continue reading →

After 10 years of legal cannabis, Uncle Ike’s an early ‘social equity plan’ adopter in Seattle

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Uncle Ike’s Ian Eisenberg (Image: CHS)

With Seattle’s cannabis shops preparing for this week’s 4/20 celebrations as the state marks its 10th year of legal marijuana, one of the city’s leading retailers will be the first to take part in Washington’s new Cannabis Social Equity Program designed to increase participation in the industry “by those most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.”

State permitting shows that the original Uncle Ike’s at 23rd and Union will be the first cannabis business in Seattle to have its license fee refunded under the equity program.

According to a Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board spokesperson, Ike’s qualified for the program under a provision “that encourages all retail outlets to submit to the Board a ‘Social Equity Plan.'” Continue reading →

Hollingsworth holds first community public safety meeting: a letter to the liquor board over ‘lewd conduct’ inspections, a check on East Precinct response times, and addressing gun violence with jobs and counseling

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A community public safety meeting organized by the office of newly elected District 3 Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth after a shooting earlier this month at 23rd and Union took on issues far beyond the Central District neighborhood Tuesday night.

Hollingsworth said Tuesday inside an unfinished restaurant space in the Midtown Square development where the meeting was held that she is starting her term at the council asking questions and digging into D3 concerns like the liquor control board’s “lewd conduct” inspections at a handful of Capitol Hill gay bars and clubs.

A question at Tuesday’s meeting is why this kind of enforcement is a priority — especially given other public safety needs and the history of violent police raids targeting queer venues.

“There were ten bars, and four happened to be LGBTQ,” Hollingsworth said.

Hollingsworth said Tuesday she has written a letter to the liquor and cannabis board and is asking for an explanation.

“I’m trying to get public safety to be a nonpartisan issue,” Hollingsworth said Tuesday.

The meeting touched on safety issues across D3 but focused especially on ongoing gun violence and recent shootings, including an instance when blew out Midtown Square apartment windows earlier this month. Some community members emphasized the need for a stronger police officer presence, while others wanted to address violence in a proactive way rather than reactive.

“We have seen a significant amount of gun violence,” Hollingsworth said. “This is a reaction to the stuff that’s been going on in our district.”

CHS reported on this Cherry Hill shooting Sunday night, and the January 23rd shooting that left one person hospitalized. Hollingsworth ran her campaign with a focus on public safety, and is making it a priority in office after a record number of homicides in 2023.

“Most of the emails we get in from our email box is [about] public safety,” Hollingsworth said. Continue reading →

Hollingsworth holding 23rd & Union Public Safety Meeting over area gun violence

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An image from Hollingsworth’s first newsletter of the councilmember with Victoria Beach who recently retired as chair of SPD’s African American Advisory Council

Newly elected District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth will host “a candid conversation about community safety in the Central District” Tuesday night.

Hollingsworth announced the “23rd & Union Public Safety Meeting” during a Monday briefing of the Seattle City Council.

23rd & Union Public Safety Meeting With Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth

Come join Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth at the intersection of 23rd Avenue and E. Union Street for a candid conversation about community safety in the Central District.

Tuesday, January 30th 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Midtown Square
2301 East Union Street

The session was organized following this nighttime Wednesday, January 23rd shooting incident that sent one person to the hospital and bullets flying into at least two nearby apartment windows at the Midtown Square mixed-use development on the southeast corner of 23rd and Union. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill’s MariPili and Central District’s Communion make James Beard 2024 best PNW chefs list

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Two Capitol Hill and Central District chefs have made the list as semifinalists for the James Beard award for Best Chefs: Northwest and Pacific. The nominations alone are an honor and a good reminder you should stop by soon.

In the Central District, Kristi Brown of Communion has been honored as a best chef semifinalist. Continue reading →

‘Affordable housing in the heart of the Central District,’ leasing under way at Africatown Plaza

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A design rendering of the building’s unique design

The building as seen under construction last summer. A facade of Corten Metal Panels, Hardie Panel, and Natural Cedar will round out the final shape. (Image: GGLO)

Affordable housing development Africatown Plaza has opened its leasing process, Africatown Community Land Trust CEO Wyking Garrett announced in an interview with Converge Media.

Talking about the changes at 23rd and Union and the development of Midtown Plaza, Garrett said the path for the investments at the corner “really didn’t include us” but, with advocacy and working with developers including Community Roots Housing, “now if you go there, you see us, you see us our journey and experience represented in the art. You see us represented in the actual design of the built environment with Africatown Plaza and its very unique, iconic design.”

The 24th and Spring building’s ground floor has been planned to provide offices for Africatown’s new headquarters, and an affordable space that will include a commercial kitchen to be used by “local culinary entrepreneurs.” Continue reading →

One to hospital, police looking for another possibly hit in 23rd and Union shooting

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One person was taken to the hospital and bullets hit at least two apartment windows in a shooting Wednesday night at 23rd and Union. Police were also looking for another possible person who may have been hit and fled the scene.

Seattle Police were called to the area just before 9:30 PM and found one person down with a gunshot wound near the Uncle Ike’s pot shop. SPD said the patient was transported by Seattle Fire to Harborview Medical Center in stable condition. Continue reading →