Community Post

Some Pieces Left for Cherry St. Business Puzzle

Four months ago we talked about Cherry St. and our abundance of vacant store fronts.   Since then we’ve made some good progress.   We’ve got a great new creole joint up at 29th & Cherry (go try it today!  The gumbo is heavenly).  And in December the Twilight will be taking over the long-vacant place that was once La Louisiana.   

But there’s still a lot of work to do.   The biggest is on the could-be-great corner of 23rd & Cherry, where Central Space (a new sponsor of the site) is looking for tenants for the old Dilettante building.  

Seattle must have the largest number of coffee entrepreneurs in the world.  And I’m guessing you might know a few, or know someone who knows someone who’s always wanted to start a cozy neighborhood gathering spot.   If so, start spreading the word:  the CD is hungry, jittery, and starving for a few more great places to catch a latte or a good dinner.  You’d be hard-pressed to find a location with better foot, transit, and car traffic than 23rd & Cherry.

Tougo, The Bottleneck, Central Cinema, Katy’s, and MezzaLuna have all proven that good businesses are a hit around here and will develop very loyal neighborhood customers.   We just need a few more folks to take a risk and provide the critical mass for what should be a thriving neighborhood business district.

Here’s a handy pictorial tour of all the opportunities:

 

23rd & Cherry – Lots of Space in a Classic Building

 

Lots of charm here.  Just add tastyness and they’ll come

A great place for a small grocery or good restaurant

Spread the word!

 

 

0 thoughts on “Some Pieces Left for Cherry St. Business Puzzle

  1. It was not. I’m pretty sure the building would have to be razed to really clean it up.

    But that doesn’t mean we couldn’t have a nice neighborhood business there for the time being, right?

  2. do you have one?

    also, i’d add that the discussion around a “road diet” for 23rd ave is gonna make those locations a lot more attractive. anybody interested in revivving this conversation?

  3. way too many windows for the Twilight. I protest:-)

    killer. I love that spot. cannot wait.

  4. I pass by that corner every day, wondering when the love will come. Very excited about the Twilight, hope a few more businesses come on down.

  5. The Twilight dealt effectively with the expanse of windows it inherited from “Oscar’s” when it moved across the street.

    I suspect Stephan did away with the windows when the free entertainment outside Club Chocolate City went away.

  6. I agree we need more great businesses in the Central District. However, we need no more “groceries” that are really nothing but convenience stores(that thrive on selling junk food, alcohol, and cigarettes) poorly camoflaged as “grocery stores” that really are a blight on the neighborhood. Their store hours are a menace to neighbors, the clientelle that they attract is problematic and drop litter and cigarette butts everywhere, the buildings are often not maintained, and the stores don’t really have anything useful. If you really need to pick up a last minute item that you forgot, you still need to get in your car, drive past 3 or 4 of these “grocery stores” and go to Red Apple or Safeway. Let’s keep hoping for some great coffee shops and restaurants, maybe even a good little natural pet supply store, but please, no more “groceries”.

  7. I would love to see some new restaurants, a cafe that has decent hours, a bookstore, a natural pet store would be awesome!!

    I also just heard that the flex spaces by the old dilettante building are going to be converted into tiny store fronts. I dream of all these spaces opening up and creating enough foot traffic and space for a central district art walk!