The $50,000 CleanScapes award money will go toward a new playground in Washington Park, per an announcement by CleanScapes last week.

Those who’ve been following the process here will recall that Madrona was one of the neighborhoods in the Thursday collection area (along with portions of Montlake, Madison Park, Madison Valley, Capitol Hill, First Hill and Yesler Terrace) that could submit proposals for a community project based on waste reduction from 2009-2010. The Business Owners of Madrona (BOOM) submitted an idea for sidewalk art that would tell the history of the neighborhood.

According to CleanScapes, 13 total projects were submitted by neighborhood representatives, with members of their respective community councils serving on the project selection committee. To be eligible, projects had to meet four basic criteria: the project had to be a capital improvement, located in the winning neighborhood collection area, easily accessible by the public and the total cost of the project could not exceed $50,000.

The public meeting for the project will be in January, and when the playground is installed CleanScapes plans to invite volunteers from the community to help.

What do you think of the winning project? For those who’d like to see their own neighborhood get a project, remember that CleanScapes is currently running another waste reduction competition from 2010-2011.

Back in 2007, CDNews looked at an East Columbia house as a possible physical manifestation of the real estate pricing bubble. Here’s a look at what happened to 2315 E Columbia in the next three years.

Three years ago here at CDNews Scott predicted that a $1,000,000 price tag was too high for the heart of the Central District. 2315 E Columbia Street, then listed for $999,950 was one of several homes that seemed “priced not to move” as the housing boom started to bust in Seattle in 2007-2008. 

Prior to our first post on the house back in 2007, the property was purchased for $185,000 in 2006 and the rundown home at the site was demolished to build the new residence. So what became of it after the bubble burst or started leaking or whatever happened to real estate in the United States?

After its time on the market with a near-$1 million price tag, this 3,850 square foot home, boasting 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, was eventually sold at a foreclosure auction on January 12, 2009 for $500,000 and then resold at a slight profit on August 17, 2009 for $597,500. Today, presumably, it makes a happy home.

Its jumbo sized nearby neighbor sold for more at $635,000 on June 9, 2009, after being listed at $879,000.  That property also has 4 bedrooms and 3.5 baths, but  is just slightly smaller at 3,320 square feet.  It appears that the property never having gone into foreclosure probably kept the price higher than its counterpart.  In researching comparable sales to 2315 E Columbia we discovered some very nice properties: Newer construction at 825 27th Ave which sold this summer for $710,000, and a beautiful 1918 craftsman at 130 29th Ave that went for only $600,000 this October. 

While $1,000,000+ homes are common north of Republican on Capitol Hill and east of 34th in Madrona, the 23rd Avenue and Martin Luther King Way corridor between Madison and I-90 still seems an unlikely area for homes over $700,000. Considering that in recent years the Central District seems to have attracted a lot of young families, it’s likely going to stay that way for a while.

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.

There’s an improv theater down the street full of human drama, some amazing physical feats and beautiful fortune. And Garfield High features one of the nation’s leading actors. Washington’s number-one ranked Garfield and prep star Tony Wroten Jr. take on Bothell in a Friday night tilt before matching up with O’Dea on Saturday.

If you haven’t seen Wroten play before, here’s a preview:

The Garfield senior will attend the University of Washington next fall.

Meanwhile, the Garfield sports community mourned the death of long-time coach Ron Patnoe who died in November at age 76. He was remembered for his part in the Garfield “Purple Reign” dynasty in this 1991 Seattle Times write-up.

You can learn more about the Garfield basketball program at http://www.garfieldbulldogbasketball.com/

By the way, the Garfield girls b-ball team is undefeated thus far. They play before the boys game Friday night at 6:30 PM.

All games at the Garfield high gym, 400 23rd Ave.

In the past five years, the Central District has had more pedestrian fatalities than any other residential neighborhood in the city, according to a map put together by SDOT. Walking in Seattle — a pedestrian advocacy blog — published the map and pointed out the CD’s “unfair” number of deaths. With six deaths in five years, only the downtown Central Business District had more deaths.

23rd Ave, with fatal collisions at Jackson and Dearborn, is particularly dangerous. There were also deaths on Cherry near 21st, Jefferson near 15th, 14th south of Yesler and Rainier at Massachusetts. Just out of the neighborhood, there were deaths at Broadway at Madison and 12th at Jackson.

So what can be done to reduce collisions? On a personal level, try to cross hilly streets either at the top or bottom of the hill. Make eye contact with vehicle drivers when crossing to make sure they see you. When driving, remember that all intersections are crosswalks by default whether there is paint on the ground or not, and pedestrians do have the right of way.

As part of their recent pedestrian safety campaign, SDOT gives the following advice for people walking and driving:

When you’re driving: 

• Never pass a vehicle that is stopped at a crosswalk
• Don’t use cell phones
• Yield to pedestrians
• Make eye contact with a pedestrian before proceeding through a crosswalk

When you’re walking:

• Use the sidewalk
• Wear bright clothing at night
• Use marked crosswalks
• Make eye contact with drivers who are approaching
• Turn off headphones

There are other tools the city has used to increase safety on streets like 23rd Ave (I will now put on my safe roads advocacy hat). Currently, 23rd is a four-lane road with few safe pedestrian crossings other than at stoplights (what I would call a highway design). Four-lane configurations make left tuns onto and off of these roads difficult for drivers. They also prevent the city from being able to install safe crosswalks in sections where there are no stoplights for several blocks.

With only 15,100 vehicles per day south of Madison (according to 2006 data, the most recent readily available for this road) 23rd Ave has similar traffic volumes to roads across the city that have recently been reconfigured to increase safety for all users. These so-called “road diets” often add a center right left turn lane and sometimes bike lanes while removing one travel lane in each direction. Though they have proven to decrease all road collisions dramatically without reducing vehicle capacity, some have been controversial (Full Disclosure: I have written at length in support of changes to Nickerson, NE 125th and Greenwood Ave over at Seattle Bike Blog).

In more neighborhood holiday news, Bottlehouse has revamped their menu, added more gifts to their shoppe and scheduled seasonal events in the week leading up to the Christmas holidays.

The new menu includes “wintry cocktail-concoctions,” and spiced mulled wine for those cold winter days. They’re also now serving Beecher’s Mac n’ Cheese to go along with the cheese curds already on the menu.

On the gift front are books, Cocktail Kits,Wine Packages and a selection of wine accessories, as well as a 10% discount on any 6+ bottle purchase And this Saturday December 18, co-owner Henri will hand-pick a batch of wines for the second weekend of free Holiday Tasting, from 4-6pm. 

Bottlehouse will be closed Dec. 25, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, with Dec. 24 hours TBD.

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.

Christmas bandits – Garfield neighborhood pre-Christmas burglery. Our neighbors have reported: 

Three laptops, a 24″ MAC, WIii and Ipod. Entry was from a basement window. One neighbor reported: possibly North from Yesler and 25th 5:23pm coming into the neighborhood and then seperately exiting with oversized belongings under coats at 5:44pm headed toward Yesler street.

Watch closely and report any and all information to Officer Britt and the East Precinct.

Parents at Leschi Elementary have organized an Adopt-a-Family program this year, helping to provide gifts to eighteen disadvantaged families at the school this holiday season.

They’ve put out a call to the community for gift donations to help make sure the program is a success, asking for things ranging from books and toys to clothing and other basic items.

The goal is to get all gifts and gift-cards together by the end of the day this Friday, 12/17, in time for the Giving Garland event on Monday. Donations can be dropped off at the school’s main office, located at 31st & Yesler.

Driving south on Union tonight, I saw “coming soon” signs…HOPE! 

Please do tell, what is going in at Phillies?