North Link Light Rail Update: QFC closing, Brooklyn Station naming, street greening

April 26, 2012 by 15 Comments

Roosevelt Station updates

Signs of impending light rail construction are bittersweet, aren’t they? The FUTURE is coming, but the neighborhood has to make room for it first.

Case in point, the Roosevelt QFC’s last day is Saturday, May 12. Roosiehood reports that the store’s staff will be transferred to other local QFC stores. According to the Seattle Times, the Roosevelt QFC was the first in the chain, opening in 1955.

The other recent sign of the impending FUTURE is the Standard Radio building being dismantled. Sound Transit’s contractor has removed the Vitrolite glass tiles from the building’s exterior. In May, the curved canopy and its neon lettering will be removed, and stored for later use in the station.

And one last bit of Roosevelt Station-related news: The stretch of NE 66th St (from I-5 to 15th Ave NE) identified by the Seattle City Council as a “Green Street”* is getting a planning committee (made up of Sound Transit and “neighborhood representatives and city staff”). For more on “Green Streets,” visit the City of Seattle’s website here.

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In other North Link Light Rail news, there are some upcoming events for Brooklyn Station (or whatever you choose call it) that you might be interested in…

Brooklyn Station Construction Open House

Tuesday, May 1, from 6-8:30 PM, at the Neptune Theatre (1303 NE 45th St). Presentation starts at 6:30.

Agenda items include:

  • Revised construction schedule
  • Updated street, sidewalk and parking restriction plans
  • Construction noise and the nighttime noise variance process
  • Potential construction mitigation measures
  • Station naming

Brooklyn Station 60% Design Open House

Wednesday, May 23, from 6-8:30 PM, at the Neptune Theatre. Presentation starts at 6:30.

Agenda items include:

  • Design plans for Brooklyn Station
  • Initial concepts for station art
  • Station naming

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* Not the same as a “Greenway,” by the way. Here’s a Seattle Department of Transportation page on “Greenways.”

Filed Under: Businesses, City Council, Construction, History, Light Rail, Meeting, Photos, Roosevelt, Seattle Department of Transportation, University District

Take a tour of the new old Boulevard Grocery (PHOTOS)

April 18, 2012 by 9 Comments

The exterior of the building is still forest green with red trim, but the interior of Boulevard Grocery (2007 NE Ravenna Blvd) has undergone quite a transformation this year.

Since Seven Coffee Roasters’ Sean Lee took over the business around the close of 2011, the barely 800-square-foot neighborhood grocery store has added two more jobs to its own resume: cafe and art space. All three facets seek to tempt both long-time residents and university students alike to come in, enjoy each others’ company, and head home with food and drink for their tables.

We stopped by the 96-year-old-building in January (for the soft open) and again here in April to witness the progress and share it with you here.

From left to right: Owner Sean, Barista Patrick, and Manager Jeff (photo taken at the soft open)

Whole bean Seven Coffee Roaster coffee was first to line the shelves back in January...

...and has since been joined by other goods such as pasta, oatmeal, soup, condiments, and more.

The Four Loko is gone, happily replaced by 22 oz bottles of local beers.

Wall o' wine at the rear of the store.

During our January visit these built-in benches had just been completed. They've since been joined by a large table.

The new pastry case, rife with hand pies from High 5 Pie.

Sandwiches by Blue Saucer in Maple Leaf wait to be purchased for a picnic.

Bread by the Essential Baking Company, delivered every other day.

Free toast with coffee special advertised next to a jar of doggie treats.

Sorry, kitty: No treats for you.

A small flock of origami birds cluster together on a windowsill.

A painting of Boulevard Grocery itself, done by a local.

The Compassion Wizard even hangs out here.

A mixed media work by Narboo (note the plastic soda can rings on the left).

A limited run of handpainted bags on display -- portions of each sale go to the artist, the store, and a charity.

With the beans removed, your coffee bean bag artwork is suitable for framing.

For more on the gallery side of Boulevard Grocery, check out this piece by Lauren Kronebusch of The Daily at the University of Washington: “Boulevard Gallery: View From A Coffee Cup.”

Boulevard Grocery is also holding an artwalk this Friday, April 21st, from 6-9 PM. Works by Greenwood’s Narboo and Starheadboy will be showcased, with live acoustic music.

Filed Under: Businesses, Families, Food, Photos, Ravenna, Ravenna Park, University Park

Welcome our new sponsor, Taylor Gardens

April 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Say hello to the Ravenna Blog’s newest sponsor — Taylor Gardens, a local small garden consulting and maintenance business based in North Seattle.

Gardening projects that Taylor Gardens can assist with include garden coaching, garden maintenance, bed renovation, hosting a garden party workshop, seed propagation help, suggestions for improving your yard if you’re planning to sell your home, and many others services.

A full list of services and rates can be found here.

Here’s more about owner Jeanie Taylor, from the Taylor Gardens ‘About’ page:

The Taylor in Taylor Gardens is Jeanie Taylor. She was a professional propagator for six years, has 15 years of horticultural experience, and was a senior gardener for the City of Seattle. She holds a B.S. in Botany and an M.S. in Conservation Biology from the University of Washington, where she wrote a thesis on the reproductive biology of the endangered plant Hackelia venusta (showy stickseed).

Jeanie enjoys working with individuals and small groups to save biodiversity one garden at a time. She does garden maintenance and renovation and helps home gardeners with projects, pruning, and garden questions. She conducts classes and demonstrations by request, most recently for the Washington Native Plant Society and the City of Seattle. Her video tutorial on propagating plants using live stakes can be viewed online.

You may also know Jeanie’s work from her garden column for Wallyhood, a neighborhood news site in Wallingford.

For more information on Taylor Gardens, click on the ad to the right, or visit TaylorGardensNW.com.

 

Filed Under: Businesses, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna Blog sponsor

Neighborhood planning coffee talks begin this week, local biz first topic

February 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

In the coming months, as a part of the community-led planning process for the 35th Avenue NE business district, the Wedgwood Community Council is hosting a series of coffee chats related to neighborhood planning.

Eight talks are planned. The first of which, “Creating the Conditions to Support Neighborhood Businesses,” is this Thursday, February 23, from 7-8:30 PM, at the Wedgwood Presbyterian Church (8008 35th Ave NE). Speakers include Theresa Barerras from the Office of Economic Development, Beth Dufek from Impact Capital, and Wendy Schwartz, the owner of the late Fresh Boutique.

Probable topics of the remaining seven talks are:

  • Density and its benefits
  • Making a neighborhood walkable and the importance of proximity
  • Design at a human scale. A primer on architectural design concepts and “design guidelines with teeth”
  • Place-making and successful streetscape features
  • Financial realities of development.  Incentivizing successful development
  • The trade offs of land use planning (e.g, up-zoning increases property taxes, increased traffic/parking, etc.
  • Incorporating affordable housing and economic diversity into land use planning

We’ll include the dates and locations of these future talks here, once they are scheduled.

Although these talks are being put on by the Wedgwood Community Council, anyone in Northeast Seattle is welcome to attend.

Filed Under: Businesses, Civic Envolvement, Meeting, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Wedgwood Community Council

Overnight fire at Italian eatery Cafe Da Pino (UPDATES)

February 10, 2012 by 3 Comments

Seattle Fire Department units responded to a call at Cafe Da Pino (2207 NE 65th St) just after 2 AM.

Details are few at this time, but KING 5 News’ overnight photographer, James S, said (via Twitter) that there was a small fire in the wall, and that no flames were visible outside the restaurant.

The building the small Italian eatery is located in also contains Vitality Pilates and Thrive Art School.

We will have more details about the fire and damage later in the morning, and will post updates here.

UPDATE (9:31 AM): Picture of the building taken at 8:30 AM shows minimal damage to the exterior of the building. Vitality Pilates at the west end of the building (out of the picture) appeared to be open.

Picture of building that houses Cafe Da Pino, taken the morning after the fire.

UPDATE (10:17 AM): We have details now about the fire from the Seattle Fire Department’s Kyle Moore.

Someone driving by around 2 AM called 911 after seeing flames coming from a wall of the restaurant. After forcibly entering the building, fire fighters encountered lots of smoke, but no flames or heat. They determined the cause was faulty knob and tube wiring in a wall, which had been smoldering for some time. The fire was cut out of the wall. There were no injuries, and the damage is estimated at $20,000 (primarily smoke damage).

UPDATE (12:29 PM): Q13 FOX has story up about the Cafe Da Pino fire, which includes a picture of where fire fighters had to forcibly enter the restaurant (the east side of the building).

UPDATE (3:14 PM): The Seattle Fire Department’s Fire Line site has some photos of this morning’s action.

Click the photo above to read "Electrical Wiring caused Fire at Ravenna Italian Restaurant" on Fire Line

Filed Under: 911, Ravenna, Restaurants, Seattle Fire Department, Updates Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Ravenna Blog – Sunday Edition

January 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Filed Under: 911, Businesses, City Council, Food, Lost/Found, Sunday Edition, Traffic, University District, University of Washington, University Village, Video

Work begins on first of three new buildings for University Village

January 27, 2012 by 3 Comments

Excerpt of map included in the Northeast Design Review Board report from October 20, 2008 (click to download the 205 KB PDF)

University Village revealed in a blog post dated January 18 that the construction happening now at the southern end of the shopping center will be a “700-stall parking garage that will be open for Holiday 2012.”

But this is only the first of three new structures planned for the upscale shopping center in the coming years.

According to notes from the October 20, 2008 Northeast Design Review Board meeting (205 KB PDF), the current construction (which will include restaurant and retail space once completed) will eventually be joined by two others further to the north.

The following (brief) descriptions of all three new buildings are taken from the 44-page design proposal (23.3 MB PDF) presented by to the Northeast Design Review Board on October 20, 2008.

Building 1: Parking, restaurant and retail (South parking garage)

Along with 713 parking spaces (replacing the 369 spaces from the current lot and adding 344 more), this new six-story building will include 24,626 sq. ft. of restaurant and 81,880 sq. ft. of retail space. The top floor of the garage section will be rooftop parking.

While Building 1 is a single unit, it will have the appearance of three different buildings, much like other structures in University Village today.

Excerpt of the University Village design proposal map showing the new south parking garage (on page 2 of the master document; click the image to download the 23.3 MB PDF)

The permit to demolish the old Key Bank building (4501 27th Ave NE; since moved to the old Blockbuster Video building at 4715 25th Ave NE) was issued on Monday, January 23.

Frequent visitors-by-car to University Village may want to study up on the new vehicular circulation plan around the new garage before it opens — the southwest entrance to the shopping center will be affected the most.

Here are some views of the construction area taken yesterday, Thursday, January 27 (photos by Eric Wahl):

 

View looking southeast from the parking lot south of Blue C Sushi (future view of the garage entrance)

View from under the NE 45th St viaduct, looking west

View looking south from the east side of the south parking garage construction zone

Building 2: Plaza, retail, and restaurant (Village Center)

Two-story building with 11,461sq. ft. of retail space at ground level and 12,125 sq. ft. of restaurant space above (1,750 sq. ft. of which is outdoors). An open public plaza area on the west side of the structure has seating and a water feature.

Building 3: Retail and plaza (Gateway)

Another two-story building with retail on both floors (9,350 sq. ft. on the first floor and 16,133 sq. ft. on the second) with plaza areas on the south side (on first and second floors; again with seating and a water feature).

There are as of yet no timelines revealed for the construction of Buildings 2 and 3.

Filed Under: Businesses, Construction, Northeast Seattle, Photos, University Village Tagged With: , ,

Slushfest Friday: What’s open/closed around Ravenna (UPDATES)

January 19, 2012 by Leave a Comment

For the second day in a row, we’re offering a page full of local information on weather-affected schools, businesses, and events in Northeast Seattle.

If it’s closed or open, canceled or postponed, opening late or closing early, and somebody tells us about it, we’ll post the information below (and update it throughout the day).

Schools

ALL Seattle Public Schools = CLOSED
North Seattle Community College = CLOSED (classes and activities)
University of Washington = CLOSED

Businesses and Facilities

8 Limbs Yoga = OPEN regular hours (Wedgwood location)
Bagel Oasis = OPEN until at least 2 PM
Blossoming Buds Cottage = OPEN regular hours
Good To Go Customer Service Center = OPEN from 9 AM-7 PM
Laurelhurst Community Center = OPEN at noon
The Local Vine = OPEN regular hours (at University Village location)
Meadowbrook Pool = OPEN at noon
Magnuson Community Center = OPEN at noon
Maple Leaf Ace Hardware = OPEN
MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry) = OPEN
Northeast Branch of the Seattle Public Library = OPEN from 1-6 PM
Northgate Community Center = OPEN at 1 PM
Planet Happy = OPEN
Queen Mary Tea Room = OPEN regular hours
Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center = OPEN at 12:39 PM
Swink Style Bar = OPEN regular hours (University Village location)
Trophy Cupcakes = OPEN regular hours (University Village location)
University District Food Bank = OPEN until 3 PM
Vios at Third Place = OPEN for full service in restaurant AND pub
Wedgwood Top Pot Doughnuts = OPEN

Events

Roosevelt High School Drama Winter Production (“Quilters”) = CANCELED (waiting for word on a new opening night)
Roosevelt Station Meet the Artist event = CANCELED, but will be rescheduled

Filed Under: Businesses, Northeast Seattle, Open/Closed, Restaurants Tagged With: , , , ,

Ice Storm Thursday: What’s open, what’s not, around Ravenna (UPDATES)

January 19, 2012 by 1 Comment

Anything open out there? Ravenna Ave NE and NE 65th St, taken at 8:51 AM

 

Here’s what we’ve heard is closed (or open) in or near the neighborhood today (in alphabetical order):

ALL Seattle Schools = CLOSED
Apple Store = OPEN, but closing at 2 PM
Bagel Oasis = OPEN until 2PM
Bartell Drugs = All local stores OPEN, but University Ave NE location’s pharmacy is CLOSED
Blossoming Buds Cottage = CLOSED
Burke Museum = CLOSED
COA Tequileria = OPEN at 4 PM, with their new menu!
Create & Barrel = CLOSED
Delfino’s Chicago Style Pizza = OPEN
GAP = OPEN, but closing at 3 PM
glassybaby = OPEN, closing at 3 PM
Grand Illusion Cinema = OPEN
H&M = OPEN, but closing at 3 PM
The Herbalist = OPEN but may close early
Judy Fu’s Snappy Dragon = CLOSED
The Local Vine = OPEN
Maple Leaf Ace Hardware = CLOSED
MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry) = CLOSED
Northeast Branch = CLOSED (as are all Seattle Public Library branches)
Pinup Salon = CLOSED
Planet Happy Toys = CLOSED
Queen Mary Tea Room = OPEN
Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center = CLOSED (as are all Seattle Parks and Recreation facilities and activities
Ravenna Third Place Books = OPEN until 5 PM
Sunlight Cafe = OPEN
Taste of India = OPEN
Trophy Cupcakes = all locations OPEN until 3 PM, and first 10 to say “Snow Day” Get a FREE cupcake
University District Food Bank = OPEN from 10 AM-3 PM
UW Neighborhood Clinic – Ravenna = OPEN at noon, reduced hours
Varlamos Pizzeria = OPEN
Vios Cafe = OPEN until 2:30 PM
Wayward Coffeehouse = OPEN
Wedgwood Safeway = store and pharmacy both OPEN
Wedgwood Top Pot Doughnuts = OPEN until 3 PM (dozens 1/2 off if you mention seeing the deal online!)
Whole Foods at Roosevelt Square = OPEN until 6 PM
Zoka Coffee = OPEN until 4 PM

Our next ‘hood neighbors at the Roosevelt Neighborhood Blog are also keeping track of closures (and have a Cowen Park sledding video to boot).

We’ll update this post throughout the day. If you learn of any other openings or closures, let us know and we’ll add them in.

Filed Under: Businesses, Northeast Seattle, Open/Closed, Restaurants Tagged With: , , , , ,

Room & Board to open in newly vacated U-Village Barnes & Noble space (UPDATE)

January 12, 2012 by 1 Comment


The Seattle Times announced today that Minnesota-based modern furnishings maker Room & Board would be moving in to the recently vacated Barnes & Noble space at University Village (2623 NE University Village St).

Room & Board will take up just over half of the building’s available space, and will be located on the second floor. The opening is slated for this fall, says the Seattle Times.

No word yet on what the leftover 19,000-square-feet will be occupied by, but the decision to split the space up comes as no surprise — this plan was revealed as a possibility back in October when the bookstore’s closure was first announced.

The University Village Barnes & Noble opened in 1995 after the Lamonts department store’s lease expired in 1994 — in a manner baring a slight resemblance to Barnes & Noble’s own issues-about-leases exit from the upscale outdoor mall. Lamonts had operated in the U-Village for 26 years, replacing the Rhodes Department Store before it.

What do you think, folks? Room & Board a good fit for the old space, or were you secretly hoping for The Return of Lamonts?

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UPDATE (Friday, January 13): The print edition of today’s Seattle Times had an artist’s rendering of what the Room & Board might look like (provided by Room & Board), as well as a picture of the same corner of the building (taken by Seattle Times photographer Ken Lambert) while it was occupied by Barnes & Noble.

Filed Under: Businesses, Construction, Northeast Seattle, University Village, Updates Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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