With word that a new bakery is destined for a corner of the 23rd/Union intersection, CDNews readers have been remembering other great bakeries in the area in recent years. One fondly remembered provider of baked deliciousness was 14th and Union’s Panzanella. Here’s a look at what’s coming next for that former bakery space.

Work is currently just getting started on an overhaul of the old Panzanella building to create a new craft distillery and tasting room. The work right now is limited to the outside of the building but we’ve heard that internal work should begin soon.

Oola Distillery is a project driven by Kirby Kallas-Lewis. Seattle Metropolitan Magazine spoke with Kallas-Lewis back in June to give us an idea of what to expect from Oola:

Yes, all you people who care about such things, he makes his own mash. And not just for the aged spirits. “Even with vodka, there’s a lot that happens in fermentation that affects the product,” says Kallas-Lewis. Amen to that, Kirby.

Originally, there was talk that Oola would be ready to open its tasting room by the end of August. That clearly isn’t happening. Instead, look forward to enjoying the new life for the old bakery space sometime in 2011.

SPD’s chase of a man who decided to make a break for it after he was pulled over near Seattle U’s campus paid off an hour later when they found the suspect hiding near 13th and Marion.

The search that started around 1:47 AM early Monday morning had an added tension as the Crown Victoria the suspect had been driving and another vehicle in the area matched the descriptions of two of the several vehicles seen fleeing a weekend shooting in South Lake Union, according to police radio reports.

The chase took officers and a K9 unit through the streets, backalleys and yards of the area east of SU’s campus.

The suspect was arrested and booked on three charges including DUI and reckless driving.

Seattle Police have details of an armed robbery of a teenager at 24th and East Yesler Friday night. That report along with details of another reported attempted mace hold-up near the Jackson Starbucks, below.

Here is the SPD report on Friday night’s robbery. Not documented in the report is that the robbery came following a Friday night basketball game at Garfield which made the area around the school busier with students than normal, complicating the search for the suspect. A K-9 unit was deployed in the area but was not successful in turning up the suspect.

On December 17th at approximately 9:54 p.m. the 15-year-old male victim was walking home in the area of 24th Avenue South and East Yesler Way.  The adult male suspect ran up to the victim from behind and began walking next to him.  The suspect then stood in front of the victim and pulled a gold chain necklace off of the victim’s neck.  The suspect then pulled a small black handgun from his pocket and put the barrel of the gun to the victim’s chest and warned the victim to forget about him.  The suspect kept the necklace and fled on foot. 

Investigation indicates that the suspect and victim are not known to each other.  Responding officers and K-9 units conducted an extensive area search however, the suspect remains at large.

The suspect is described as a black male, 18 to 21 years of age, 5’9″ tall, 160 pounds, with black, shoulder-length dreadlocks, gold teeth, and was last seen wearing a red baseball cap and dark-colored denim pants.

Anyone with information about this incident or who may know the identity or whereabouts of the suspect is asked to call 911 or Seattle Police immediately.

Meanwhile, earlier Friday night just before 6 PM, a 911 caller reported that a female had pointed mace and tried to rob the victim at 23rd and Jackson before heading back inside the Starbucks.

There’s been a recent spate of robberies including mace and pistols in the area. There was no report of a gun involved in the 23rd and Jackson attempt and no mention of mace in the report or on police radio during the search for the Yesler suspect.

In our recent coverage of the effort to revitalize 23rd and Union even as others write the city space off hopelessly mired in urban decay, you might have missed yet another shiny ray of hope for the intersection in the form of cinnamon rolls and a good cup of coffee. The ‘Coming Soon’ signs are up in the old Philly’s Cheesesteak shop and the windows, in the universal sign of commercial change, are papered over. There is ‘hope’ in the air. Here’s what we know.

Ian Eisenberg has told CDNews he is working with a friend to open a coffee shop and bakery in the space in about two months. Today, the papered over windows are adorned with paper-cut snowflakes made by Madrona K-8 kids and coming soon signs showing a honey bee hive. We’re checking with Eisenberg for more details on the new business but he told CDNews he had serious inquiries from national chains seeking long leases for the well-traveled corner. Instead, Eisenberg hopes to put the space to use in the meantime until economic conditions improve and perhaps even greater redevelopment will come to the area.

Though it’s hard to beat a good cinnamon roll. In CDNews comments, Eisenberg said the new shop will be as much a bakery as a place to get coffee:

think more bakery than coffee shop. I love that we have great coffee shops in the area, I just wish there was parking to run in and grab a coffee. Stbx at 23rd and Jackson is my normal place cause I know there will be a place to park.

Also pointed out in comments, the new shop joins a busy Central District coffee corridor with Cortona, Katy’s and Tougo already pulling espresso along Union. Three more, and the neighborhood will achieve Capitol Hill’s caffeine per square inch density. The reality is that relatively low overhead shops are a pretty useful re-generation type of business as areas shift their commercial culture.

Eisenberg’s new venture might also soon enjoy some local competition. This CDNews community post says that a bakery is considering making a home on Cherry in the former home of King Creole.

As for Eisenberg, he’s already overhauled the car wash near 23rd and Union as he continues to put the spaces he owns in the area to use.

The old cheesesteak shop has sat empty since 2008. Rey Alberto Davis-Bell was convicted in the 2008 murder of Degene “Safie” Dashasa. Philly’s owner Dashasa had regular confrontations with drug dealers at the intersection as he tried to clean up the area near his business. Davis-Bell is serving a 123-year sentence for the murder.

Gift exchanges are an office holiday tradition that will never die. It’s too much fun to have an excuse to gift wrap a Chia head. Or a Jesus candle. Or a framed, autographed photo of yourself. But not everybody has an office to celebrate in this holiday season. Leave it to the Stranger to pity the self-employed, under employed and unemployed. The Slog crew is bringing the joy of holiday giving of amazing crap to Central Cinema Thursday night to celebrate the 2010 Slog Happy Gift Exchange:

Besides food, cartoons, and drink specials, we’ll also havePRESENTS! To participate in the gift exchange, you just have to bring a wrapped gift to the party—something old, something new, something you don’t want anymore—and we’ll put ’em all in a pile. Then we’ll draw numbers and everyone will take turns picking a package. There are always interesting things in the mix—cock cozies, fancy bottles of champagne, banana holders (as in a plastic container for fruit, not a man’s thong), porn, mixed tapes, and so much more. Last year I got a Thai cookbook. The year before that I got an autographed photo of Joh posing as Matthew McConaughey.

23rd and Union just can’t get a break. As landowners show signs of turning the four corners around and SPD and county prosecutors make headway on stemming the drug trade in the area, now it turns out there was a dangerous light pole at the intersection. Danger! Danger! High voltage.

The Thanksgiving day death of a dog electrocuted when it stepped on a metal plate near a streetlight in Queen Anne has lead to a process to inspect 20,000 metal utility poles and the discovery of three more electrified poles in the city — one on Capitol Hill, one on First Hill, and one in the Central District — each due to central Seattle’s aging infrastructure.

Here are the locations and the details of the electrified poles that Seattle City Light found in their inspections so far:

• 13th Ave E at East Aloha — 60 to 80 volts — Cause: Deteriorated wires
• Boren at Marion — 90 to 105 volts — Cause: Unknown
• 23rd and East Union— 60 to 80 volts — Cause: Unknown

Each of the lights has been shut down until repairs can be made, according to City Light.

While the exact cause of the escaped voltage is not known for two of the three locations, age appears to be a factor in each as old wiring was to blame on Aloha and the two metal poles involved in the First Hill and Central District locations were both 30 to 40 years old.

The voltage in each of the three locations was potentially dangerous. The Queen Anne dog death involved about 90 volts but even 30 or 40 volts can be lethal to small creatures — including humans.

Another pole with frayed wiring was also found in the High Point neighborhood prior to the discovery of the three latest problem poles.

No word on how far along City Light is in its audit of Seattle’s 20,000 streetlight poles and 10,000 metal vault covers. The department says it plans to have the work completed by at least May but is looking at options to “expedite” the process. In the meantime, you might want to watch your step around our city’s aging infrastructure.

If you are concerned about a specific pole or vault cover, you can contact City Light at (206) 684-3000 or call 911 if the situation is urgent.

Here’s the statement released by City Light documenting their latest status on the situation:

Last week Seattle Superintendent Jorge Carrasco briefed the media and the public on City Light’s plan to inspect 20,000 metal streetlight poles and 10,000 metal “hand holes” (small metal streetlight vault covers). This update is intended to provide a progress report since that briefing.

“So far, we have inspected 270 metal streetlight poles at High Point and GreenBridge developments and have found no additional contact voltage situations at these locations,” says Carrasco. “We will move on to Holly Park and Rainier Vista tomorrow. In addition, we have identified three other individual metal streetlight locations where there was voltage present. These include 13th and East Aloha East, where there was 60 – 80 volts. We found very deteriorated wire. The original cables were installed in the 1920s. Another location was at Boren and Marion, where there was 90 – 105 volts present. This pole is 30 – 40 years old. And, the final location was at 23rd and East Union with 60 – 80 volts from a metal pole that is 30 – 40 years old. There was no indication of the cause of voltage release at the last two metal streetlight poles. We have de-energized the lights until repairs can be made.”

City Light will continue its own inspection efforts and is evaluating options to expedite the original end date for inspection completion in May. City Light will routinely up-date the public on the progress being made with inspections.

SDOT was forced to close a stretch of Lake Dell Avenue Sunday due to concerns about hillside slippage following this weekend’s heavy rains. Lake Dell between addresses 175 and  265 was closed Sunday as SDOT planned to reevaluate the area Monday morning.

This image from the Seattle Municipal Archives shows a home along Lake Dell Avenue that was heavily damaged in a 1933 slide.

A man on the 48 bus at 23rd and Jackson on Friday afternoon reported that a group of teenagers had stolen his iPhone.

The victim told police that the group of about 7 got on the bus near Garfield High School and robbed him as the bus arrived at 23rd and Jackson around 4:45 PM. The victim said he was on the bus with his phone out when one of the teens approached him from behind, grabbed the phone and jumped out the door of the bus with the rest of the group. The victim told police he used a service that might allow him to track the phone’s location.

According to police radio reports, officers believed they were familiar with at least one member of the group and were on the lookout for him following the bus robbery. An officer contacted one group found nearby while another officer called the stolen phone’s number but no ringing could be heard.

A person crossing Union at 21st Ave was struck by a car on this rainy Sunday afternoon just before 1 PM. At this time, we have no information about the victim or the extent of injuries but can confirm that the injuries were first reported as serious and that the victim was transported to the hospital for treatment.

Union was closed for about 30 minutes while emergency crews and police responded to the scene. There were no radio calls made to ask for special units to test the driver for impairment. We’ll follow up with Seattle Fire to see if we can find out more about the victim’s condition.

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Remember that big rock blocking Madison Valley’s big dig? It’s a huge pain — so it’s coming out, Sunday night. Note that the work storm pipeline work crew will also step up the tunnel boring schedule with nighttime work to get back on schedule.

When we last discussed the problem with the Shaft 5 project manager, SPU said the rock could be up to 60 inches wide. It lies in the dirt beneath the pavement in front of Bailey-Boushay House.

Night Work on E Madison Street and Martin Luther King Jr Way E

Crews have encountered several large rocks as they tunnel below E Madison Street. While rocks can frequently be removed without the need for excavation, the boring machine has currently encountered a rock that does require excavation from the surface street due to its size and location.

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 In order to minimize impacts to traffic, crews will excavate and remove the rock this Sunday night, 12/12 (see details below). Crews will also complete tunneling of this segment at night in case additional excavation is required. Any affected surface area will be plated during the daytime to allow traffic to be open in both directions. No daytime construction activities are planned on E Madison Street. (See attached construction flyer for more information).

 

Construction details

þConstruction hours will be from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the pipeline construction, Sunday evenings through Friday mornings. Other project-related work will continue during daytime construction hours. No work will take place on Friday or Saturday evenings to minimize impacts to businesses.

 

þDuring any potential excavation, uniformed police officers will be onsite to direct vehicles.

 

þSome street parking may be temporarily unavailable to accommodate this work. “No Parking” signs will be clearly posted.

 

þIncreased noise, dust and vibration can be expected, especially during the excavation.

 

þIncreased lighting from the construction work area and construction vehicles.

 

Additional construction update

Daytime work is also planned this Saturday, 12/11, near Shaft 4 (Martin Luther King Jr Way E and E Arthur Place). Standard Saturday construction hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

 

We appreciate your understanding and patience during this work. Stay tuned for future updates.

 

To learn more about this project, please visit www.seattle.gov/util/MadisonValley.  For questions or comments on the project, please email [email protected] or call the Madison Valley Stormwater hotline at (206) 455-5345.