Concept image from the Early Design Guidance document (see full document below)

Yesler and Broadway construction. Photo by Gordon Werner, used with permission

Change is coming quickly to Yelser Terrace.

The intersection of Yesler and Broadway will be closed for weeks for a redesign that will make way for the First Hill Streetcar and newly designed sidewalks and bike lanes. And while major demolition of the existing housing units has not yet begun, Vulcan has been chosen to lead the private redevelopment efforts, and one private development project is already underway on a vacant lot at 12th and Yesler formerly owned by Seattle Housing Authority.

As we reported previously, Canadian firm Gracorp Capital Advisors bought the lot from SHA for $2.88 million in the the fall. Now, local architecture firm Spectrum Design Solutions (members of which worked on 12th and Cherry’s The Douglas) will present its initial design concepts for a six-story, 119-unit building on the corner.

With commercial space on the ground floor and a mix of studio, one-bed and two-bed units, project designers say they are hoping to create a building for people of different income levels. From the Early Design Guidance document: Continue reading →

A man tells police his assailants were armed with a shotgun that they beat him with in an early Sunday robbery near 22nd Ave and E Olive St. The preliminary SPD report on the incident is below.

According to the report, the man was walking home around 2:30 AM when he was suddenly struck in the back of the head and knocked to the ground. The shotgun-armed muggers made off with the man’s cell phone and wallet. SPD’s search for the suspects was not successful.

Here’s the full report on Sunday’s robbery from SPD:

A man was struck in the head and robbed.  This morning at approximately 2:30 a.m., the victim had his headphones in listening to music. He was walking back to his house in the 2200 block of E. Olive St when he was suddenly struck in the back of his head by a blunt object causing him to be knocked to the ground.

When he turned around, the two suspects were standing over him. One of the suspects was pointing a shotgun at the victim’s face. The suspect then struck the  victim in the face with the shotgun several times. The suspects forcibly took the victim’s cell phone and wallet and fled the scene. The victim called 911 from his house. The victim sustained lacerations requiring stitches to the back of his head and under his left eye

Containment was quickly set up and a K-9 track was attempted without success.

Anyone with information about the suspects’ whereabouts is asked to call 911. Anonymous tips are welcome.

The Hill is alive with the sound of beer steins and bocce balls chasing the pallino. Our sister site Capitol Hill Seattle first broke the news about a beer hall and those most-exciting bowling courts coming to 12th Ave last July. This week, the team behind Poquitos will open Von Trapp’s, now described as a “Bavarian-inspired bier hall” with with five indoor bocce courts, two mezzanines, three bars, and a fireside “bier den.”

The space is enormous.

“We wanted to create something for everybody — including families,” Deming Maclise, one of the partners behind the venture tells CHS. Maclise told CHS his wife hails from Austria — so she can vouch for boules being a legit Bavarian pastime. In the meantime, Maclise and friends have built a beer hall seemingly big enough to hold every family on Capitol Hill.

An equally epic press release on the new addition to 12th Ave is below. “Beer will obviously be central to Von Trapp’s,” it notes. You can check out the roster of taps, below. Doug Wargo, formerly at Quinn’s, will manage Von Trapp’s beery bar. Cocktails, beer-based, are also available though a Bavarian cocktail hall just doesn’t have the same ring. Continue reading →