"Our building inspection team evaluated the brick façade on E. Harrison Ave (sic). and found the condition appears stable and does not indicate an ongoing safety hazard to the public," a spokesperson for the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections told CHS Capitol Hill Seattle on September 29. "A Hazard Correction Order will not be issued."
So the city did not close the corner of 15th Ave E and E Harrison. It closed anyway. The old QFC block has had an approved six-story redevelopment plan since 2025 and is waiting on eventual demolition, and right now it has more on its calendar than almost any permanent storefront on the street. That pattern explains most of what's open, closed and pending on 15th this fall.
The corner closed even though the city didn't order it
The building at the corner dates to the 1922 era and was once a Piggly Wiggly grocery. The city's historical report calls it an "unusually ornate and intact small commercial building." In late September, all three of its tenants went dark within a few days of each other. Rione XIII and Rubinstein Bagels closed right away. Bar Vacilando, which had just turned ten, served its last night on Saturday, September 26.
One House Hospitality, which ran Rione XIII and the bagel shop, said "ongoing issues with the building have made it so we can no longer continue operating in this space." Rione XIII's closing ends a 14-year run. Its 2012 buildout started the building's shift from retail to food and drink.
Since the city found no hazard, CHS laid out two possibilities. Either the businesses decided conditions were no longer workable, or the owners chose not to renew the leases rather than pay for major repairs. The longtime owners had not responded to CHS. There are no records of construction plans for the building.
The neighboring buildings under the same ownership are still open. Grandad's Barber Shop and Rainbow Natural Remedies both told CHS they're open for business. The Grandad's building also anchors the corner's most-photographed feature. Bar Vacilando's patio sits under a roughly 20-foot empress tree, Paulownia tomentosa, which grows out of the brick foundation next door and blooms purple in late spring. Tree expert Taha Ebrahimi told The Stranger she estimates the city has only about 30 empress trees. The species doesn't take well to having its roots disturbed, so moving it would be hard. As of The Stranger's September 28 piece, nobody knew what would happen to the tree.
The old grocery has events booked through December
A block south, the building waiting on eventual demolition is the one with events scheduled. In May 2025, SDCI approved a six-story mixed-use project from Hunters Capital and Runberg Architecture Group for the old QFC block. The plans include a new 15th Ave E plaza and a pedestrian breezeway next to the old firehouse, which stays. CHS reported in September that the project is stalled. High interest rates, inflation and a weak rental market have slowed major development across most of the Hill.
While it waits, the empty grocery runs as the Quality Flea Center. It's home base for the Punk Rock Flea Market, and the organizers have filled the gaps between markets with other events. One example is the Quality Film Club, which PRFM's Josh Okrent started with co-organizer Todd Hewitt and filmmaker Robert Zverina. "The truth is, it's really just a community movie house," Okrent told CHS.
This month the old QFC has more scheduled than any other building on 15th:
| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, Oct. 4 | Radical Veganfest | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., $1 admission |
| Thursday, Oct. 8 | Quality Film Club: Donnie Darko | 7 p.m., $5 to $15 |
| Saturday, Oct. 17 | CHASM, the Capitol Hill Swap Meet | Noon to 6 p.m., runs every third Saturday |
| Thursday, Oct. 22 | Quality Film Club: House | 7 p.m. |
| Dec. 11 to 13 | Punk Rock Flea Market | Next full market listed |
The CHASM listing says vintage goods, handmade crafts, records, books, food and live DJs, with a different mix of vendors each month. This summer, Sweet Mary's Cherries, run by the Davila family, set up a seasonal fruit stand in the same blocks waiting for redevelopment. It was billed as a summer-harvest pop-up, not a year-round shop.
The permanent projects are waiting on permits and buildouts
The newcomers planning to stay on 15th are mostly still in buildout or waiting for approvals, and some of those delays come from the same century-old buildings that closed the Harrison corner.
| Address | Business | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 427 15th Ave E | Fire Tacos & Cantina | Renovations done; some permits pending for over a year; no opening date |
| 534 15th Ave E | MOOV | Studio planned in the Fredonia's former Canterbury space; permit paperwork filed; no opening date reported |
| Old QFC block | Six-story mixed-use | Approved May 2025; stalled |
| 328 15th Ave E | Club Comedy Seattle | Final show scheduled July 15 if no buyer emerged; current use not confirmed |
Fire Tacos shows how a building's age can stall an opening. The family-owned West Seattle restaurant signed for the former Coastal Kitchen space in 2024. Erika Torres, who owns it with her husband, Jorge, told CHS in August that the space had been ready for months. The only thing left was city approval of permits, some of which had been pending for more than a year. CHS noted that the building is more than 100 years old and that the restaurant is running into the same kinds of problems as other century-old spaces on the Hill. CHS's September 23 recap still called the project "delayed but still in motion."
At 15th and E Mercer, boutique studio MOOV is converting the ground floor of the historic Fredonia building, where the Canterbury served for decades. Permit paperwork filed with the city shows the plan, and CHS's September 21 report gave no opening date.
The openings that happened were small conversions or new construction
The businesses that have opened on 15th recently got there by keeping the project small or by moving into a new building.
Ha Ha Coffee and Tea opened at 324 15th Ave E, in the former Nook and Cranny bookshop space next to Red Chair Salon. Building co-owner Diem Le used the city's streamlined change-of-use process to turn the bookshop into a café serving milk tea, fruit smoothies and coffee. CHS pointed out that Asian-style tea shops have spread along Broadway and Pike/Pine, while the quieter edges of the Hill have mostly gone without.
RUAM Thai Bowls and Noodles also opened on the street recently, according to CHS's September reporting. A Best Smoke & Vape Shop opened in a former office space.
Bar Cantinetta is the exception that proves the pattern. It opened in September 2025 in the corner restaurant space of the new Capitol Hilltop building, on the former site of the Hilltop Service Station. It went into a new building, so it didn't have to fix an old one first.
The rest of October, north toward Volunteer Park
The calendar near the top of 15th includes a mansion that's starting its own conversion.
- Sunday, Oct. 4, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Baillie team is holding a one-day estate sale at 907 14th Ave E. Jake Santelli and Julian Hagood, the couple behind Harry's Fine Foods, bought the Shafer Baillie Mansion for $4.9 million and plan a boutique hotel and restaurant there. The project has been in SDCI review since last fall.
- Sunday, Oct. 4, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteer Park Trust's Halloween Pet Parade takes place in Volunteer Park.
- Saturday, Oct. 10, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteer Park Trust holds a Fall Restoration Day at the park, 1247 15th Ave E.
- Saturday, Oct. 31. Hilloween returns, with trick-or-treating across Broadway and Pike/Pine and a central carnival organized by Egan Orion and PrideFest.
On the same weekend the Harrison corner sat empty, the old grocery a block south had a vegan festival, the empty mansion near the park had an estate sale, and Volunteer Park had a pet parade.
On 15th Ave E, a building's age and repair needs are deciding which doors stay open, and the same is true for homeowners with older houses. If you own an older home on the Hill and want to know what an inspection would find before a buyer's inspector does, Mary Lee & Associates can scope the repairs, run the work through our Concierge program, and let you pay at closing. Schedule a free consultation.
