Construction

New eats and treats coming soon to Northeast Seattle (UPDATE)

April 12, 2013 by Rebecca 21 Comments

Our favorite kind of news? NEW RESTAURANT NEWS.

And we have LOTS.

…

Coming soon, to the old Pied Piper Alehouse space (2404 NE 65th St) is…

There are currently nine Patty’s Eggnest locations in Washington State, all of which are independently owned and operated. Patty’s specializes in breakfast. So much so that their Eggs Benedict have their OWN MENU. NINE different kinds, people.

Here’s more about their menu, from the About page:

We serve delicious, hearty meals made to order and made from scratch with fresh, choice ingredients. In a comfortable, family-friendly atmosphere, we’ll be happy to fill your table with home-cooked breakfast favorites. Fresh-squeezed orange juice, Swedish pancakes, scrumptious scrambles, and hearty chicken-fried steak are just some of the dishes that we feature on our menu at all locations. We also feature tasty lunches, like hot delicious sandwiches, big burgers with seasoned fries, and fresh salads. For several of our locations, we are open for dinner hours as well, serving fresh roasted turkey dinners and soup made-from-scratch.

…

Headed into some of the new restaurant space in the new south building at University Village is a new restaurant by Beecher’s Cheese Head, Kurt Dammeier: Liam’s.

Via Eater Seattle, Dammeier says:

We’ll serve all Northwest wine and our basic food I describe as ‘upscale homestyle’ — mostly dishes that are familiar or reasonably familiar to a suburban crowd, but made better.

Dammeier is also the guy behind Pasta & Co., which already has a home at University Village.

That same Eater piece claims that “a Joey’s and a Din Tai Fung will also be moving in.” That’s a lot of restaurants. But with 24,626 sq. ft. of restaurant space available in that new building, anything is possible.

…

Over in the Laurelhurst direction, Bill the Butcher is getting a new, unlikely neighbor:

Vegan bakery next to butcher. Keeping the 98105 weird – twitter.com/floraandflying…
— Nazila Merati (@floraandflying) April
11, 2013

Violet Sweet Shoppe, a vegan bakery and cafe, plans to open along NE 45th Street in May. If you’d like to help them along, financially, they’ve got a Kickstarter going.

I can’t believe it’s not butter.
(Cake picture courtesy Violet Sweet Shoppe.)

…

The old Casa D’Italia location (2615 NE 65th St) has been leased again, to a business under the name “Conception Hermosillo” (according to records with the Washington State Liquor Control Board).

But this is about all we know so far. TO BE CONTINUED.

…

The overlap section of a hypothetical Northeast Seattle Venn diagram of “Cloud City Coffee” and “Magnuson Park” will be excited about this last one.

Another find from the Washington State Liquor Control Board’s list of new liquor license applicants: CLOUD CITY SAND POINT.

O RLY? What’s the address? “6327 NE 74TH ST?”

View Cloud City Sand Point location? in a larger map

Hey, that’s inside Magnuson Park! What’s that address look like right now?

Oh my.

Let’s zoom out.

I don’t think it’s ready yet, do you?

Another one for the TO BE CONTINUED pile. We’ll contact Cloud City and Seattle Parks and Recreation on this one and report back.

UPDATE (5:35 PM): We’ve heard back from one of the Sand Point Tennis Center managers, Scott Marshall, who said, “Cloud City will be the cafe operator inside of our 6-court building. We are extremely excited about this partnership.”

Learn more about the Sand Point Tennis Center being built at Magnuson Park here.

Filed Under: Construction, Food, Laurelhurst, Magnuson Park, Maple Leaf, Northeast Seattle, Photos, Ravenna, Restaurants, Sand Point, University Village, Updates

Next step in NE 75th Street improvements? YOU.

April 12, 2013 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

On Monday, April 1, the Mayor’s Office and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) shared a NE 75th Street Improvement Plan they had been working on since the tragic events of March 25.

Part of that plan was a timeline for this improvement work (PDF), and it is time for Element Number 2: Issue Identification and Outreach.

Intersection of 25th Avenue NE and NE 75th Street, looking east.

This is where YOU come in.

SDOT has set up three meetings in neighborhoods along NE 75th Street at which residents can share their frustrations about and ideas for the arterial, as well as discuss these issues with SDOT staff.

There are three dates for residents to choose from. Please attend whichever date fits your schedule.

Tuesday, April 23rd, 6-8:30 PM, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center (6535 Ravenna Ave NE)
Thursday, April 25th, 2-4 PM, Wedgwood Presbyterian Church (8008 35th Ave NE)
Wednesday, May 1st, 7-9 PM, Calvary Christian Assembly (6801 Roosevelt Way NE)

View NE 75th St Community Meetings w/SDOT in a larger map

After these community meetings, the next step on the NE 75th Improvement Timeline is taking community input, combining it with collected traffic data, and coming up with a conceptual design to bring back to the community.

Filed Under: Civic Envolvement, Construction, Meeting, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Seattle Department of Transportation, Traffic, Wedgwood

Meeting between city, neighborhood representatives yields NE 75th St improvement plan

April 2, 2013 by Rebecca 8 Comments

In the early afternoon of Monday, April 1, before the Memorial Walk for the Schulte family, neighborhood groups, pedestrian/bicycle safety advocates, and staff from Eckstein Middle School, gathered at Eckstein (3003 NE 75th St). They met with representatives from the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), the Mayor’s Office, and the Seattle Police Department and discussed plans to improve the safety of NE 75th Street.

MCI_memorial07

The Mayor’s Office met with SDOT several times throughout the last week, and developed a list of planned improvements and actions for NE 75th Street (4 KB PDF; presented to the assembled groups that afternoon), including:

• Installing a flashing school zone beacon on Northeast 75th Street in front of the school

• SDOT will begin the process of evaluating and potentially installing a school zone speed camera on Northeast 75th Street

• The crosswalk at Northeast 68th Street and 25th Avenue Northeast will be remarked with fresh and highly visible paint

• The intersection of Northeast 68th Street and 25th Ave Northeast will be evaluated for a traffic signal

• SDOT will install new pedestrian countdown heads [crosswalk signs with timers] at 75th Street Northeast and Northeast 31st Street

• SDOT has already installed pedestrian countdown heads at 75th Street Northeast and Northeast 35th Street

The timeline for these improvements shows a tentative completion date of August 2013 (just before Seattle Public Schools are back in session for the 2013-1014 school year).

Filed Under: Construction, Crime, Eckstein Middle School, Mayor's Office, Meeting, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Seattle Department of Transportation, Seattle Police Department, Traffic, Wedgwood, Wedgwood Community Council

Jonathan Adler store headed for University Village

March 12, 2013 by Rebecca 4 Comments

Poking around in the City of Seattle’s Department of Planning and Development permits last night, we found a permit from last December for within University Village saying:

Remove existing canopy and storefront to space #24B in bldg D at University Village and install new storefront and conopy [sic] for tenant “Jonathan Adler”, and occupy per plan.

Oh, Jonathan Adler. I wonder if it’s the same guy as the designer, author of four books, judge on Bravo’s Top Design, and who also has his own stores (the nearest of which is in Portland).

Sure enough, listed on the locations page of jonathanadler.com, was the following:

Screen grab from jonathanadler.com’s location page (click to check it for yourself).

If you are not familiar with Adler’s work, there are, of course, many examples on jonathanadler.com. And here’s a snippet from the About page of his website, speaking to his design aesthetic:

Jonathan’s creativity is fueled by various sources of inspiration: Mid-century modern, art and global pop culture combine to create the signature Adler aesthetic. The company prides itself on its ability to combine a serious design philosophy with a colorful sense of optimism. The guiding motto, “If your heirs won’t fight over it, we won’t make it,” reflects Jonathan’s commitment to impeccable craftsmanship and irreverent luxury.

Page 2 of this design plan for University Village from 2008 (23.3 MB PDF) shows that Building D is the structure which currently houses stores such as Eddie Bauer, The North Face, and the new Room & Board. As for which space is #24, we are unsure at this time.

We’ve sent an email in to the powers-that-be at University Village to see if they can shed more irreverent and luxurious light on the subject.

Filed Under: Construction, Northeast Seattle, Real Estate, University Village Tagged With: BREAKING FASHION NEWS

Section of 15th Ave NE north of Cowen Park Bridge to close for utility repairs

March 8, 2013 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

Next week, drivers and pedestrians alike may want to avoid a section of 15th Avenue NE due to some utility repairs that will close all but one lane.

View 15th Avenue NE Utility Repairs in a larger map

From the Seattle Department of Transportation traffic advisory email:

Next week a private contractor working on underground utilities will close all but one lane on 15th Avenue Northeast between Northeast 63rd and Northeast 65th streets. North- and southbound traffic will alternate with the assistance of traffic flaggers, and the sidewalk on the west side will be closed with a pedestrian detour to the east side of the street, also assisted by traffic flaggers. The crews plan to work from Monday March 11 to Friday March 15 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, and possibly into the following week, if needed.

Outside of 9AM-3PM, the roadway and sidewalk will be reopened. Inside of 9AM-3PM, we may want to use NE 75th St instead.

Filed Under: Construction, Ravenna, Roosevelt, Seattle Department of Transportation, Traffic

Demolition begins along NE 63 St in Roosevelt; 6-story apartments to come (UPDATE)

February 28, 2013 by Rebecca Leave a Comment

From Jim O’Halloran this morning (of Roosevelt Land Use fame), some breaking construction news. As in: Four houses along NE 63rd Street in Roosevelt are about to be broken.

Implements of demolition along NE 63rd St between Roosevelt Way NE and 12th Ave NE. Photo by Jim O’Halloran

Four single family homes are making way for a six-story building containing four live/work units and 108 residential units. There are to be 70 parking spaces underground.

The project’s page on the city’s Department of Planning and Development site shows that the demolition permits were issued last November. But the permit for the “Shoring & Excavation of site for future building construction” was issued yesterday, Wednesday, February 27.

UPDATE (12:57 PM): From Jim via email, “A scant four hours later…”

The “after” shot, photo again by Jim O’Halloran.

Filed Under: Construction, Photos, Roosevelt, Updates

Rumblings in Sisleyville, local restaurants on the move – Ravenna Blog Sunday Edition

February 17, 2013 by Rebecca 3 Comments

It’s back! Let us know if you missed it, and we’ll keep putting out the Sunday Edition in the future.

Filed Under: Civic Envolvement, Construction, Eckstein Middle School, Sunday Edition

Roosevelt Station Construction Update Open House (LIVE COVERAGE)

January 29, 2013 by Rebecca 4 Comments

The buildings on the Roosevelt Light Rail Station construction site are no more, and it’s time to talk next steps with the neighborhood.

Sound Transit is holding a construction update open house tonight, Tuesday, January 29, in the Roosevelt High School Library (1410 NE 66th St) from 6-8 PM (presentation begins at 6:30 PM).

From the Northgate Link Extension update (via email):

Sound Transit is hosting an open house on Jan. 29 to discuss details of:

Utility work planned in 2013 and early 2014

Update on other construction work

Promoting the local business district

Seattle City Light staff will also be on hand to answer questions about upcoming power line and pole work.

You can find more information about the Roosevelt Station here.

~~We will be at tonight’s meeting, and will be reporting on it LIVE right here.~~

UPDATE (Wednesday): Unfortunately, none of our one-and-a-half hours of presentation notes were save in the post! However, Sound Transit has emailed us a PDF of the presentation slides (click on the picture below to download).

Roosevelt Station Construction Open House presentation (2.8 PDF)

Roosevelt Station Construction Open House presentation (click to download the 2.8 MB PDF)

Filed Under: Businesses, Civic Envolvement, Construction, Light Rail, Live Coverage, Meeting, Roosevelt, Roosevelt High School, Sound Transit, Updates

Roosevelt QFC demolition has begun (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

November 27, 2012 by Rebecca 1 Comment

“Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”

The Roosevelt QFC (6618 Roosevelt Way NE) – the first QFC in the chain — is meeting its end as we speak, as the grocery store gives way to Sound Transit light rail station construction.

We went by with our camera this afternoon, and recorded some of the destruction.

Video of some of the demolition

From 12th Avenue NE (east side)

From Roosevelt Way NE (west side)

From NE 66th Street (south side)

From the Roosevelt High School track (above 12th Ave NE)

Filed Under: Construction, Light Rail, Photos, Roosevelt, Sound Transit, Video

Roosevelt townhouses to move on down the road in early August

August 1, 2012 by Rebecca 1 Comment

August is a tremendous month for Light Rail in North Seattle, as construction plans go into the ACTION phase.

But before Sound Transit starts any station site excavation at the Roosevelt Station location, there will occur some townhouse relocation.

Nickel Bros truck at 12th Ave NE and NE 66th St

The four townhouses on NE 66th St were purchased from Sound Transit (and thus saved from demolition), and are being moved 4 1/2 blocks away to the now former site of the Betty MacDonald house and adjoining property on 15th Ave NE.

The former location of the Betty MacDonald house, just south of the Fruit Stand at 15th Ave NE and NE 65th St.

Here’s a map showing the current (upper left) and future (lower right) locations of the townhouse buildings:

View Roosevelt townhouse move in a larger map

One of the townhouse buildings prepared for the move from NE 66th St to 15th Ave NE.

Now, just how does one move BUILDINGS through a busy neighborhood? That’s not quite our area of expertise. But we can ALL find out just how it’s done come the Friday evenings of August 3 and 10.

From Sound Transit’s Northgate Link* Extension Update newsletter (emphasis ours):

Preparations to relocate four townhouse buildings on Northeast 66th Street are in full swing. The relocation will occur late at night over two weekends starting Friday, Aug. 3. More townhouses will be moved the following weekend, Friday, Aug. 10.

We invite you to witness this monumental move on one or both weekends. Meet at the northeast corner of Northeast 66th Street and 12th Avenue Northeast around 11:45 p.m. on either of the Friday nights. Sound Transit staff will be there to answer questions. As the townhouses move east down Northeast 66th Street, we’ll walk along the sidewalk with them.

Sound Transit says that the buildings “should be on the road by midnight,” and at their new address “no later than 6 a.m. each Saturday.” Four buildings (of two units each) will be moved in total.

Ravenna Blog will be there, camera in hand, for the action this Friday night — it’s a Seafair Weekend parade we don’t wanna miss.

____________________

* Now that the three northernmost stations in the Light Rail system have their permanent station names (“U District Station,” “Roosevelt Station,” and “Northgate Station”), the name of the extension as a whole is now “Northgate Link Extension.” Now you know.

Filed Under: Construction, Events, Light Rail, Photos, Roosevelt, Traffic Tagged With: ZOMG TRAINS