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Business & Community Update – November 2014

FullSizeRenderJust a quick post this month to make absolutely-certain you know what’s happening in the neighborhood.

  • Sprout is open in the Florence Building, right next to Smith Tower on 2nd Ave. Healthy eating never tasted so good. Owners, Mike and Jen Kelly, are also Pioneer Square residents.
  • Though they aren’t open quite yet, we can get our first peek at what’s coming at Good Bar at 2nd Ave S & S Main St now that the paper is off the windows. It’s jaw-dropping gorgeous. It won’t be long now.
  • Che Sara Sara opened this past weekend in the Grand Central Building at the corner of 1st Ave S and S Main Street. This is the third neighborhood business for Luigi DeNunzio, owner of Al Boccolino and Café Bengodi. Stop by to check out their menu and say “hi”.
  • Two new businesses are opening on Yesler Way, just west of 1st Ave S, and they’re going to be fabulous additions to the neighborhood.
    • Calisea, a home gift store, plans to be open in time for holiday shopping. Check out their website to get a sense of what owner, Alden Alvarado, has in mind for her Pioneer Square storefront.
    • Una Kim is bringing her seafood café, Ferry Queen, to the street level space in the Post Hotel at 90 Yesler Way, just upstairs from Little Uncle. (Think lobster rolls!) She’s working round-the-clock to get her doors open before the end of the year.
  • Construction continues around the neighborhood. We should be drinking coffee at Brendan Mullally’s Elm Coffee before the end of December. Casco Antiguo, Girin, and the Sounders Fan Experience Center will be highlights during the first part of 2015.
  • Congratulations to Tango Zulu for being named a national finalist in the Green America People & Planet award. Cast your vote and learn more here.

 

Holiday shopping in Pioneer Square will be the best it’s been in years. We’re making the most of all of our retail with fabulous holiday promotions three Saturdays this year: November 29, December 6, and December 13. This is the year to Shop the Square. Mark your calendar and stay tuned for details.

 

Follow us on Twitter @PioneerSquare to hear news as it breaks. I’m also going to try to do more with Twitter myself @k_true. (We’ll see how that goes.)

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Drop-in info sessions on Yesler Way Bridge rehab project

The Yesler Way Bridge, located over 4th Avenue South at the intersection of Yesler Way and Terrace Street.
The Yesler Way Bridge, located over 4th Avenue South at the intersection of Yesler Way and Terrace Street.

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) will be holding drop-in information sessions regarding the Yesler Way Bridge rehabilitation project for the Pioneer Square community in November. The Yesler Way Bridge was built in 1910 and must now be renovated to meet safety and historic preservation guidelines. The project is at the 60% design stage and SDOT is reaching out to property owners, businesses, and residents to share information and discuss potential impacts to the community.

Join us at the following community drop-in sessions:

November 12, 3-6 pm – Union Station (401 S Jackson St)

November 13, 11 am – 1 pm – Prefontaine Building (110 Prefontaine Pl S)

See a fact sheet about the project here (PDF). See also SDOT’s project webpage and contact YeslerBridge@seattle.gov to submit questions or comments.

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Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement Project Update – September 2014

BerthaMilepost 31 Speaker Series

Bertha and Progress on the SR 99 Tunnel Project

Seattle Tunnel Partners, the contractor hired by WSDOT to design and build the SR 99 tunnel, is working to repair the SR 99 tunneling machine. Join us to learn more about STP’s plan to resume tunneling by the end of March 2015, and learn about the other work happening to replace the viaduct.

6 – 6:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 5
Milepost 31, 211 First Ave. S., Seattle
Admission is free.

 

Seattle Tunnel Partners progress update: Construction of the access pit’s underground walls wraps up, preparation for dewatering begins

With fall just around the corner, we thought it was time for an update on Seattle Tunnel Partners’ progress to build the circular pit (pdf 2.5 Mb) that crews will use to access and repair the SR 99 tunneling machine.

The last time we updated you, STP announced that crews would continue to install the underground walls of the access pit through August. STP has notified WSDOT that they have completed all of the piles for the circular pit. Additional piles will be installed near the pit as part of the support system for the modular lift tower – the large crane that will hoist the machine’s 2,000-ton cutterhead and drive unit out of the ground.

Next up, dewatering wells. STP has notified us that crews will install several dewatering wells both inside the access pit and inside the enclosed area south of the access pit around the tunneling machine. Prep work is beginning now and crews should have them installed by mid-September. These wells will lower the groundwater inside the enclosed areas to make it easier to move the tunneling machine into the access pit, as well as to excavate the pit.

STP has notified us that tunneling machine operators will start Bertha in order to check internal systems in preparation for mining into the circular pit. Also, pieces of the three cranes that will be used to lift tunneling machine pieces out of the access pit are continuing to arrive from around the world. Soon you will see these pieces being assembled next to the access pit.

STP still expects to resume tunneling in March 2015. For a better view of construction, check out our time-lapse camera, or view photos of recent construction on Flickr.

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