Pike/Pine--evolution of an Urban Village

BY RICHARD HESIK
Yates, Wood & McDonald

"You never know what's going to be behind the door when you walk into a business. That's what makes the Pine/Pike neighborhood so exciting." -- Jim Diers, director of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, following a recent walking tour with Mayor Norm Rice in the Pine/Pike neighborhood.

You not only don't know what is behind the door today, you also don't know what will be behind the door in a year. Development activity in the Pine/Pike neighborhood is underway in at least five major buildings. Over $40 million of commercial real estate has changed hands since 1985. The area between I-5 and 15th Avenue and East Pike and East Pine Streets has become the most interesting, vibrant, diverse and active neighborhood in Seattle.

The biggest and most influential of all the developments underway is the Harvard Market project at Broadway and East Pike. The developer is Milliken Development Corporation from West Vancouver B.C., the same developer who did the Larry's Market block on lower Queen Anne.

Harvard Market occupies almost an entire city block between Broadway and Harvard, East Pike and East Union Streets. It is nearly 90,000 square feet of retail, with a minimal amount of office and residential. QFC will open a 45,000-square-foot store in the project. Bartell's has taken a 15,000-square-foot pad. Other tenants include bagels, haircutting, dry-cleaning and, of course, coffee.

The activity hardly stops with the Harvard Market. Weiss Development is well underway on a remodel and renovation of the former R&S Sales Building at 1225 East Pike (at 13th Avenue). Elysian Brewing Company will open a brew pub in the 7,000-square-foot ground floor in May. XSI MeDIA has leased the entire top floor of 7,000 square feet for April occupancy, and a graphics design company has leased just over 4,000 square feet leaving only 2,800 square feet available in the building months before first occupancy.

The most innovative project is the hotel/club redevelopment of the former Bell Store Equipment Building at 11th and East Pike. This 35,000-square-foot building has been derelict for the past several decades. It occupies a key corner in the heart of the neighborhood and has been purchased by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, founders of Sub Pop, a prominent Seattle record label.

They plan to convert the building into a hotel, restaurant, and nightclub. If completed, the building will be the first and only hotel in the area.

REI will vacate over 75,000 square feet this spring and will be replaced by Value Village. The Jen-Cel-Lite buildings with 78,000 square feet at East Union and 10th are under contract and will no doubt be redeveloped.

These high visibility projects are part of a trend that started about 10 years ago. As recently as 1985, the Capitol Hill neighborhood known as Pine/Pike was characterized by rundown buildings, low rents, mean streets and a general aura of malaise.

West of Broadway on the slope toward downtown Seattle, East Pike Street was a hodgepodge of auto dealers; Saab, Jaguar, Land Rover, BMW and Mercedes. East Pine Street was a barren, inhospitable stretch from Broadway to I-5. East of Broadway the neighborhood was an array of auto repair and auto parts facilities with a lot of empty store fronts, anchored by REI and the Comet Tavern.

In 1986 the city of Seattle, with help from the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce commissioned a study of the land uses and zoning in the neighborhood. A report was issued in 1987. The debate that ensued emphasized the concern of residents and businesses in the neighborhood for maintaining the mixed use nature of the area both in the variety of businesses and diversity of residents.

When the city zoning code was rewritten in the late 80s, the bulk of the neighborhood was zoned to allow mixed use buildings -- upper floor residential and ground floor commercial. Zoning ranged from heavy commercial (C-1 and C-2) to the most intense category of Neighborhood Commercial (NC3). The goal was to maintain the urban, diverse nature of the area.

The Mayor's Comprehensive Plan identified the area as an Urban Village, further promoting dense mixed-use development.

The changes in the administrative structure outlined above were but one of the factors in promoting the changes in the Pine/Pike neighborhood. Other factors were the availability of architecturally interesting industrial buildings, proximity to downtown and transportation corridors, the expansion of Seattle Central Community College and the resurgence of the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce as a positive factor in combating crime, graffiti and the negative impacts of homeless populations.

The neighborhood has undergone a steady improvement in the past 10 years. Price/Regan bought a former automobile facility on East Pike in 1991 and converted it to wholesale plant sales. Karen Guzak redeveloped a former car sales building at 1100 East Union into artist lofts and residential coops.

Jerry Everard and his partners bought the former Salvation Army building at 10th and East Pike and turned it into Moe's -- the leading music club in the northwest. The Jacobsen family converted the former Ruth Ashbrook Bakery at 11th and East Union into the headquarters of Madison Park Greeting Cards. Alexander and Ventura converted a warehouse building at East Pine and Summit into the Portofino condominiums.

Phil Smart and BMW Seattle have spent many thousand of dollars upgrading their facilities. Cafe Paradiso, Toys in Babeland, Out of the Closet Books, Bauhaus Coffee, Puss-Puss Cafe, Rosebud, The Wild Rose, The Easy, and Bimbo's Bitchin' Burritos all contributed to the culture, ambiance and coolness of the neighborhood.

During the next 10 years, the trend started by the pioneers of Pine/Pike will continue. Jen-Cel-Lite will be redeveloped. It will become a mixed use project with offices, retail and entertainment uses. Davis-Hoffman Body Shop will leave the area and that corner will be redeveloped. Spray-King Auto Paint will be converted as will the former MacReady TBA buildings on 11th Avenue between East Pine and East Pike.

Momentum exists for continued change and development in the neighborhood. The city has helped organize a planning committee for the redevelopment of the Bobbie Morris Playfield at East Pine and 11th. "Groundswell Broadway" is actively participating in the design process for the new park.

The merchants in the Pine/Pike area have organized to secure neighborhood matching funds to put curb bulbs on East Pine street to slow traffic and make the street more pedestrian friendly. The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce is establishing a Pine/Pike Committee to look after development, safety and traffic issues.

Who knows what else will happen. We can only hope that it is as interesting, diverse, and unknown as the changes in the past 10 years.

Richard Hesik is an associate broker with Yates, Wood & McDonald Inc., a Seattle property management and brokerage company.

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