Friday Neighborhood Business Holding Holiday Donation Drive

Summit Capital Partners, a Real Estate investment and Development company, owned by Laurelhurst resident, Jim Thorpe, is having a Holiday Donation Drive on Friday at their office, formerly Pro Robics (3803 NE 45th Street), from 8am-6pm.

Donations for new toys and outerwear will be accepted to benefit the patients and families of Seattle Children’s Hospital. Those that donate will be entered into a raffle to twin 2 VIP Glass Seats to a Seattle Kraken game in 2022. The winner will be announced on Monday.

The community can also donate online.  Go here for more information. 

Thorpe purchased the Pro Robics building in November of 2019 for $7.6 million, according to King County records for his headquarters. The seller was Aerobics Building LLC, which acquired the corner property in 2004 for $3.1 million.

ProRobics closed last year after 30 years in that location.

Jim Thorpe told the Laurelhurst Blog that his company purchased the building to renovate and have their corporate headquarters and it will be fully occupied for commercial use. The space underwent some remodeling. Approximately 30 staff are working in the offices of the real estate investment company.

Uncle Lee's Chinese Restaurant Now Located Next To Kattermans

Uncle Lee's Restaurant, formerly China Village, has relocated next to Katterman's at 5408 Sand Point Way NE.  

The restaurant had to move, along with other businesses in that area, due to the upcoming construction of Aegis Living, (3200 NE 45th Street), an assisted living and memory care provider.  

The development, which will start in the next year or so, will be located at the "Five Corners: intersection where the former Baskin Robbins site, which closed September 2015 was located.  First residents should be able to  move-in around the fall of 2021, according to Bryon Ziegler, Director of Development and Entitlements for Áegis Senior Communities.

Aegis Living is planning on a building a 135 unit, six story building (55-70 feet) with 53 parking stalls on a lot currently zoned for 40 feet. Permit # 3025056 will require City approval of a "contract re-zone" to build as requested. 

The assemblage of parcels includes 3200 and 3232 NE 45^th Street and 3215 NE 45^th Place. There are two buildings, but three parcels.  The existing large billboard will be eliminated and the historic clock, below the billboard, will be removed during construction then re-located back. 

Businesses  that are affected, of which some have already moved are: Diane’s Alterations, Lakeview Vision Clinic, Edward Jones, Farmers Insurance, Uncle Lee’s, University Tutoring, Felipa’s Consignment and Rules Salon. 

Uncle Lee's, which has been in the area for over 30 years, is owned by Amy and her brother Lee.

The Wongs have owned the restaurant since 1987. In 2016 the Wongs bought out another family member and changed the name from "China Village" to "Uncle Lee's" and remodeled the restaurant at its former space at 3216 NE 45th Place. 

At that time the old menu was revamped "keeping some of the classics that our customers loved (Mongolian Beef, Dry Sautéed String Beans, Generals Taos Chicken) but adding some exciting Asian inspired dishes," Amy told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff.

Lunch and dinner are served Monday through Sunday, and take-out is also offered.

Amy recently told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff:

We couldn't stay in our former location but we wanted to stay in the neighborhood that we have been serving. This community has been so supportive of us for the last 32 years and we would love to keep serving your favorite Chinese / Thai cuisines.  Hope to see you all soon! Lee and Amy.

For more information go to their website or call 206-523-0772.

Neighborhood Businesses Burglarized

The Laurelhurst Center complex (3700 block of NE 45th Street), which includes Ravenna Homeopathic, the Wax Bar, the Frame Shop and Jaks, were reportedly burglarized in the early morning of August 6th.

The property manager reported that the burglaries happened between 2am and 3:30am. All businesses were reportedly re-keyed after the burglary. 

Ravenna Homeopathic told the Laurelhurst Blog:

The burglary took place in the middle of the night. Security cameras showed a man breaking into one of the businesses.  He had a baseball cap pulled low on his face, gloves and pulled up a mask as he went by the camera. We have no information to identify them.

The Frame Shop told the Laurelhurst Blog that they had minimal loss and no damage. And added "It was more of an annoyance."

And another of the business owners told the Laurelhurst Blog staff, "I hope these guys are caught soon. We are so tired of this madness."

Seattle GYM, Formerly ProRobics Closing Soon

The Seattle GYM, formerly Pro Robics, (3811 NE 45th Street) is closing at the end of the month.

The owners sent out this letter:

It is with great sadness and disappointment that we write to inform you the SeattleGYM at Laurelhurst will be closing May 31st. 

When we first opened at this location 30 years ago our mission statement was: “TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE COMMUNITIES WE SERVE THROUGH OUR FITNESS PHILOSOPHY, FACILITIES, PROGRAMS AND PRODUCTS, AND TO INSTILL IN THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE EVERYWHERE THE VALUE OF HEALTH AND FITNESS." 

As property development and interest in the Laurelhurst neighborhood has expanded and changed, we have been unable to reach a new, long-term secure lease that would also provide options for much needed facility upgrades and improvements that we know you are all aware of. Without this security we cannot achieve our vision of the quality facility and customer service we want to allow us to provide into the future. 

While we understand not all businesses are meant to go on for a lifetime it is still a very difficult decision and we are having a difficult time accepting this development. 

We will continue to operate as usual at LH to the best of our ability through the month of May, including our GX classes as scheduled. We are also dedicated to helping our valued staff members, personal trainers and instructors during this change. 

We are committed to helping our membership community during this transition and have in place procedures for members to request cancellations and/or credit options toward the SeattleGYM at Queen Anne. 

As you continue in your pursuit of improved fitness and healthy lifestyle we hope you will consider continuing with us on Queen Anne Hill. The Queen Anne Club remains in operation with expanded facilities and new adjusted GX schedule to continue providing many of your favorite classes. We hope you will join us. 

We know you will have many questions and we hope they can be answered here.  

We want to sincerely thank you for 30 years of collective community support and inspiration. It has been so gratifying having so many long-term members and 2nd generation members at the GYM; we hope to continue seeing you, our Laurelhurst family, at Queen Anne. 

So from all our staff and instructors, it has been our privilege to serve each of you over the years and we sincerely regret any inconvenience we cause with this closure. We truly thank you for your loyalty and continued patronage over the years. 

Mark & Kari 

MarkLH@theSeattleGym.com

A neighbor commented to the Laurelhurst Blog:

The closing of the Seattle Gym is sad due to it’s long history in the neighborhood and provision of services to the community. The reason is inability to be able to attain a suitable new lease.   

That is probably, at least in part, to length not being long enough which would be due to plans for property development. 

This and some of the apartment buildings to the east on NE 45^th Street were formerly owned by same owner as the Talaris  property.  It may have since been acquired by Quadrant. 

Potential for impact on the Laurelhurst is obvious. 

Thanks very much for all the information you publish.

The building was built in 1948, and appears to be owned by Craig Mc Caw, who also owns Talaris. 

Property records show the owner as "AEROBICS BUILDING LLC" with a Bellevue Post Office Box, which shows as linked to McCaw's 13 other companies, including Pistol Creek, associated with Talaris. 

Bruce McCaw is referenced as Chairman Emeritus of Pistol Creek and Co-Chair of Talaris. Seattle Mansions Blog said that Bruce McCaw "is involved in large scale commercial real estate investments with his Pistol Creek Financial Company."  Several years ago, the Laurelhurst Blog received a curious email from a Pistol Creek Employee sending it under an alias.

The Talaris Research Institute also shows the same Post Office Box on its website.

The 17.8 acre Talaris campus (4000 NE 41st Street) was sold to Quadrant Homes in 2018, who proposes to build 68 single-family homes on large lots that could sell for about $2 million each, according to an article in the Seattle Times and Daily Journal of Commerce.

The Application for a Master Use Permit (MUP) filed by Bellevue-based Quadrant Homes is for a subdivision of the site into 68 parcels of single-family home sites of 5,000-square-foot each and six larger tracts. Only five of the seven existing landmark buildings would remain. The two buildings that would be demolished would be Building G, the cascading building nearest to NE 41st Street, and the Lodge Building E, at the end of the eastern driveway.

The underlying zoning is for either an institute for advanced study, or single family homes with a 5,000 square foot lot.

The site, built in 1967, was originally owned by Battelle Memorial Institute. In 1997 Era Care Communities purchased the property for $6,125,000 and it was developed into Talaris Institute which focused on infant and early learning research of the brain. 

In 2000, Bruce Mc Caw under the name 4000 Property LLC of Bellevue, purchased the property for $15,630,000. The county has assessed the property at $14 million and it qA sold in 2000 for $15.6 million. 

The property, when sold several decades ago, included an underlying Settlement Agreement in which Battelle Neighbors and the Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC) are partnered together with the land owners of the parcel. The Settlement Agreement specifically states that major institutions can't operate within this property (no hospitals, colleges, etc). And the Settlement Agreement has specific restrictions attached which specifies the use of the property to protect the quality of life in the adjacent neighborhood.

The property was designated with landmark status in November 2013, which dictates that specific controls define certain features of the landmark to be preserved and a Certificate of Approval process is needed for changes to those features. Some incentives and controls included in the City's ruling are zoning variances, building code exceptions, and financial incentives, which are protected, as stated on the City's Landmark and Designation website.

For decades, neighbors were free to stroll the grounds, until 2013, when Talaris suddenly put up "No Trespassing" signs and installed a four feet chain link fencing in 2013, as well putting up a main driveway barricade, fence on northwest side and a surveillance camera. Neighbors were no longer allowed to use the large grassy meadow area where generations of kids practiced soccer and the past few years the grounds facing NE 41st Street are often neglected and grass not consistently mowed.

The Laurelhurst Community Club, has been involved with the site for over 30 years, working to ensure the property is well integrated with the neighborhood by closely monitoring proposed development. LCC has also worked with current owners in lobbying for better property maintenance.

LCC's other priorities in partnering with the owners are maintaining open space, the eagle's habitat and valuable mature trees, supporting and enhancing property values and character of the entire Laurelhurst neighborhood and minimizing traffic impacts on all neighborhood streets and access points.

About The El Camion Food Truck Parked At Old Bicycle Center Location And History Of The Property

The Laurelhurst Blog has received many inquiries about the El Camion food truck that appeared about two months ago, in the parking lot of where the former Bicycle Center (4529 Sand Point Way NE) was located until it closed in late 2015.  Before that it was the location of Zopf Pharmacy, whose family still owns the land. 

It was reported that El Camion was serving food about 3 weeks ago at the location, without a permit in place.

The Laurelhurst Blog checked with Seattle Department of Zoning and Inspections, regarding the permit status and one of the Inspectors, Scott, replied after checking on the permit status with the food truck owner : 

We have communicated with the property owner and representative of the food truck owner and they have been given notice to remove or get a permit.  

The representative for the food truck owner immediately came in the day after notification from us and started the process to get a temporary permit.  

We will monitor this insuring progress toward them getting a permit. As long as they are progressing toward getting into compliance they are allowed to be open from SDCI’s standpoint. 

The Laurelhurst Blog also contacted the representative for the property who said: 

El Camion has permission to use the property. They are responsible for their own permits and compliance.

Randy, the grandson of the original owner, George Zopf, said that his grandfather built the building that housed Zopf Pharmacy that also included a popular soda fountain, until the 1970's.  It was also where George, a pharmacist, met his wife. Their daughter, Phyllis, also was a pharmacist there for many years.  
 

One neighbor told the Blog staff of Zopf Pharmacy:

Really old Laurelhurstians remember that place as Zopf's Pharmacy in the mid-60's complete with a great soda fountain! And Green River Sodas for 35 cents.  They had a great comic book selection too(which my mom wouldn’t let me buy). I’d sit at Zopf’s and read the latest Flash until chased away by Mrs. Zopf.

The building was demolished in November 2016 after it became more and more dilapidated and covered with graffiti. 

In 2005 the upstairs portion of the building sustained about $75,000 in damage in an arson fire allegedly started by an employee who wasn't paid. No repairs were ever done following the fire to the deck, siding or the two-bedroom, two-bathroom upstairs apartment, leaving it completely fire damaged. It was reported that there was no running water or heat in the fire damaged building, when the Bicycle Center was in operation.

A neighbor said that when the building was being demolished and the inside was visible, especially the upstairs, one could see graffiti, needles, and the severe decay.

The property manager told the Laurelhurst Blog staff in 2016:

We do not have a building design and use of the new building for the property  at this point.  We just want to remove the neighborhood nuisance. 

Zopf Pharmacy on left in 1949

(photo courtesy of neighbor)

Burke-Gilman Brewing Company Opening In March

Burke-Gilman Brewing Company
under construction

Burke-Gilman Brewing Company is scheduled to open on March 1st, in the previous Ciao Bella restaurant space, vacated several years ago, part of the Laurelhurst Professional Center (3626 NE 45th Street).  

The building owner, Ron Sher, also owns the buildings where St. Helens and Great State Burger restaurants are located, as well as the building where Rudy's Barbershop is located.

Ron,  owner of Third Place Books in Bryant and Lake Forest Park, is also the founder and majority owner of Third Place Company, the parent company of Third Place Books and the Honey Bear Bakery, with several locations.

Ron is also the founder and CEO of Sher Partners, a family real estate development, management and investment firm. He was involved in revitalizing the Lake Forest Park Shopping Center and Bellevue's Crossroads Mall in the late 1980's. 

Ron told the Laurelhurst Blog about the upcoming opening of the brewery: "We're very excited about their being a tenant."

Kenneth, one of the owners of the brewery, told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff:

Two of the four owners are experienced homebrewers who got into it as a fun hobby. I initially assumed it was a cheaper way to get beer.  I soon found out that wasn't true, but it sure was a more fun way to get beer.    

I had always toyed with the idea of scaling up, but it was the opening of Ravenna Brewing down the street that taught us that this really is possible. We've since become good friends with the owners at Ravenna, and they've mentored us through a lot of this stuff.

Myself and another of the owners, look forward to brewing on a full sized system and will definitely be brewing some portion of our output. But, we're also hiring a full time brewer .  We're hoping to post that position on various brewing job listings very soon.

We, owners, are all big fans of the renaissance in locally brewed beer that Seattle is a center of. We thought it would be very interesting to open a small neighborhood brewery. Since we live in the neighborhood, we wanted a place we could go ourselves, and figured the rest of the neighborhood likely would also be interested.  

While we of course want to make beer so good that the whole city makes a pilgrimage for it, our real target is people who can walk or bike in, since it's so close to their house. We're family and dog friendly, so we really want the whole family to think about a night out.  

All beer will be brewed on site, with a few guest taps.  We will have as many beers as  we can brew. We have ordered a 7 bbl gas-fired brewhouse, and quite a few fermenters, to allow a nice variety. We are trying to fit a modest barrel aging program in the space as well. We'll have an emphasis on local ingredients, sourcing malt and hops from Washington growers to the extent we can. We hope to develop a nice line of sessionable (lower alcohol) beers, with several stronger beers to balance them. We're big fans of historical styles and Belgian styles as well. So, we hope to have something new on tap every time someone comes in. We will have some guest taps for some favorites of ours and our customers, and we also plan on a variety of ciders. 

None of the four owners are restauranteurs.  We will not have a kitchen. We will have some light snacks, but the beauty of this location is that there are six restaurants on the block or right across the street. Pick your favorite restaurant from the neighborhood, sit down at one of our tables and pick out the perfect beer to accompany it. We'll have games for the kids, as well as some healthy snacks and drinks (milk, juice, etc.) for them. And as we mentioned above, we'll have cider for the non-beer drinkers. The license we'll be opening under unfortunately only allows for beer and cider, so no wine. 

We're happy for people to bring whatever they want in - our neighbor businesses, delivery from somewhere else, even a picnic to eat on the patio with a fresh beer to accompany it. We have thought about hosting a food truck, but if this happens, it would likely come in a later phase. We do think there's a great variety of cuisines in the neighborhood already, so we'll see how well this works before organizing a truck.  

The brewery will be accessible to bikers. And several of us are dedicated bike commuters, and we're making sure we have tons of bike parking, including for family bikes. Since the brewery space is on the bottom floor of the building, it's not directly accessible from the trail, but it's a pretty easy route around the corner of the building and down the sidewalk to the bike racks. Being on the trail also helps so much with bike-ability, which is important to us.

We're targeting spring of 2018. We've got March 1st pencilled in, but we're still early in the planning and permitting phase, so we're sure this will change. We'll definitely update people when we know more. 

We're so excited to be joining our neighborhood's little business district and we look forward to helping draw business to the district.  We think there's a lot of potential for synergy here. And we look forward to learning what the neighborhood wants to drink, building up a great beer list, and having the room to have some fun experimenting. 

The Facebook page says: 

Our license only allows us to manufacture beer, but we are allowed to have as many ciders as we want on tap, so long as they are WA State ciders. We'll have a nice variety for non-beer-drinkers.

For the beer nerds, we'll have a 7bbl brewhouse, and enough fermenters to have a wide variety on tap. We're hoping to sell nearly all of our production in the taproom, with very little sold in kegs. We're also happy to sell growlers and crowlers for takeaway.  

We're beer geeks, of course, so we want the basics (a good IPA, a good stout, a good saison, etc.), but on top of that we want to make as wide a variety as we can. Historical styles, rare styles - we're even figuring out... some room for some barrel sours.  

None of us wants to quit our day jobs yet, so we'll be hiring a brewer, who we hope won't mind if we brew occasionally ourselves. We'll be staffing the taproom ourselves as much as possible, but also hiring staff.  

We're hoping to be open by March 1st. We can't wait to pour you a pint.

For more information go to Facebook, Twitter or the website. 

Long-Time Laurelhurst Resident And Mrs. Cooks Owner (In UVillage) Celebrating 41 Years With Celebration Next Three Days

Mrs. Cooks, an all-things cooking store in the University Village (2685 NE Village Lane) an is owned by a long-time Laurelhurst resident, Carol Bromel.

Carol started the store 41 years ago and is having an anniversary celebration today through Sunday with a total store sale, as well as cake, drawings and gifts with purchases. 
 
Carol started Mrs. Cook’s in 1976 on Sandpoint Way in the space that is now the jewelry store and was in that location for 5 years before moving into University Village around 1981. 

She moved to Laurelhurst in  1974 and added "for you neighborhood history folks that’s about the time the power station by Laurelhurst Park was blown up on a New Year’s Eve."
 
Carol told the Laurelhurst Blog staff:

I started the business essentially because I was an elementary school teacher at a time when there were very few teaching jobs. I had worked in retail off and on and enjoyed most, the experience I had working in a kitchen shop in Denver. When my husband and I decided to settle in Seattle, opening the store seemed like a logical thing.  

We named the store after my husband’s grandmother, Hylie Cook. She loved to cook and gave me a box of family recipes when I joined the family. We thought it would be a nice tribute to her and a bit of a play on words.  It was very much a do it yourself store, we built the shelves, papered the walls, we even had a giant rubber stamp that we used to stamp our name on the brown paper bags.  

When the opportunity  arose to move into University Village I took it, we doubled our space and added a larger selection of items. This was the time when Woolworths was still there, Ernst and Lamonts. There was a huge sunken rock garden down the center of the stores and we were in the location that is now Brighton.  

Sometime later the Village was sold and began the transformation that you see today. At that same time we moved into our current location again doubling our size and adding yet more merchandise.  Every time we find some new wonderful thing at the gift show I think, where on earth will we put it! So far we have managed to find a home for all the things we find and love.  

When I think back to the first store opening and remember spreading out the Le Creuset on as many shelves as I could so that the store would look like it had more merchandise than it actually did I am amazed to see it now. 

So there you have it, we are an independent retail store, locally owned by me.  We have a terrific staff,  people that love to cook and love to make sure we have all the new hot gadgets. They are knowledgeable and approachable, they like nothing better than to talk about their favorite things.  

We have great prices, and a wide assortment.  We like to offer a wide range of choices, something for everyone from the novice  to the pro. We pride ourselves on using what we sell. We like to say that—“ all our cookware is used. By us!”  We constantly have new customers tell us that as an independent store, they were expecting us to be high priced and unapproachable and that they were surprised and delighted by our selection, pricing and friendly staff.  

We have a “lending library” so that if you are thinking about  getting new cookware you can try it and compare before you buy.  

We do book signings and cooking and product demonstration on Saturdays, we have a Bridal /Gift registry on our web site.  We also gift wrap, ship and offer gift cards. 

We have supported the Laurelhurst Neighborhood Appreciation Day, our local schools,  the Make-a-wish Foundation and numerous other worthy causes.

The website says:

My husband and I built Mrs. Cook’s around the idea learned by Hylie Cook that great cooks cook to have fun. They cook for the thrill of a new recipe, the excitement of new smells and flavors, the surprises that come with experimentation. They love to see oil streaming into a silvery pan, to smell sautéed garlic in the air, to feel dough squeezing through their fingers. The best thing to come out of cooking is the act of cooking itself – whether you’re making a masterful soufflé or your first batch of chocolate chip cookies.  

 

Jeannie Hale, Laurelhurst Community Club President, said of Carol:

She has a long standing commitment to the neighborhood.  Mrs. Cooks has consistently donated beautiful items for the drawings at our neighbor appreciation celebrations.   LCC is grateful to have still have one last Laurelhurst business owner represented in the UVillage since Miller Pollard closed its doors in January of 2011.

 Mrs. Cooks carries "A History of Laurelhurst" written by former long-time Laurelhurst resident Christine Barrett, who lived for many years at Laurelon Terrace, which was torn down in January of 2011 and replaced with a new wing of Seattle Children's Hospital.

Follow Mrs. Cooks on Facebook or go to the website.


(photo courtesy of Mrs. Cooks website)

Check Out Laurelhurst Historical Murals At Wells Fargo Bank And Sounders Goalie Appearance Friday

Wells Fargo Bank has moved from its long-time location near Children's Hospital to its new location in the old Tully's space (3042 NE 45th Street), which underwent a complete remodel.

The new branch features several community murals honoring the local history and culture of Laurelhurst and Seattle, along with a mural key with captions for each image and photograph.

The Wells Fargo North Seattle District Manager told the Laurelhurst Blog that the mural was done by an in-house marketing and Historical Services team that researches, designs and produces the Bank's community murals. The team collaborates with local libraries, museums and historical societies to gather and select photos and images. 

And today from 3:30-5pm, the Sounders goalie, Stefan Frei, is making a special appearance at the bank for a free autograph-signing event open to the community as part of the bank's  sponsorship of Major League Soccer, the Branch Manager told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff.

Sandals Nail and Waxing Salon In Laurelhurst Re-Opens

Sandals Nail and Waxing Salon, located in Laurelhurst at 3715 NE 45th Street, recently re-opened after an electrical fire last year, that required a remodel.

Amy Huynh, owner, told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff:

My family left Vietnam in 1986 and we stayed in an Indonesian Refugee Camp until 1992.  We were sponsored by a church in Kentucky to come to America. We moved to Seattle six months after to be closer to our family in Canada.  

My mom always tell me I have to work hard and have a better future and be independent. So by having my own business at 24 years old I feel like I made my mom proud. 

The salon had an electrical fire on November 4, 2016 that took us over eight months to remodel and there were tons of issue with the property management and insurance company.   

We have been working tirelessly to get our newly remodeled salon picture-perfect and it's finally done.  I'm so happy to be back at work.  The shop has a brand new light, clean fresh look and new services.  

We offer all nails services, kids spa package deal, waxing, keratin lash treatment, brows microblading, brows and lashes tinting. We also have complimentary champagne, wine and kid's drinks. 

For more information call 206-525-5861.

(photo courtesy of Sandals Nail and Waxing Salon)

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Dog Wash Fundraiser Saturday For Special Books To Be Donated To Children's Hospital

Hawthorne Hills Veterinary Hospital (4020 NE 55th Street) is hosting its 7th annual dog wash fundraiser on Saturday from 1-3pm in the Hawthorne Hills Veterinary Hospital parking lot, to raise money to purchase books for Seattle Children's Hospital.

Nicole, with Hawthorne Hills Veterinary Hospital, told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff:

The dog wash is free. There is a suggested donation of $15 that goes towards purchasing Josh and Friends "I'll Be O.K" books that will be donated to Seattle Children's Hospital. Developed by a veterinarian, Josh and Friends is a well-established program that provides an easy to read children’s book to children facing surgery for the first time.  

The purchase of this book helps to support children and is part of the Children's Miracle Network, however we are not donating to that entity. 

It is a fun filled afternoon with dog washes, free refreshments and prizes. Bring by your furry family member to get cleaned up by our hospital staff. It will be a good way for them to socialize and cool down from this summer heat.  

For more information go here.