West Seattle, Washington
28 Monday
A year and a half after we first reported that Panda Express was pursuing a Westwood Village space again, the sign is finally up. (Thanks to the texter who tipped us!) If you’re not a frequent WWV visitor, this is the space north of the QFC, occupied by Pet Pros before their move to Jefferson Square (where they closed two years later). More than a decade ago, Panda Express had an early-stage application to take over the WWV space that’s now ATI, but that plan never got to the construction stage. As for when this will open, they haven’t replied to inquiries, but they do have multiple jobs posted, suggesting it won’t be too much longer.
P.S.
Story by Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Westwood neighbors and senior residents of Village Green West Seattle (2615 SW Barton; WSB sponsor) gathered on Wednesday night for a well-attended community-safety conversation with Seattle Police, to share thoughts and concerns as it relates to challenges with crime and recurring problematic activity in the area.
Residents of the Village Green community, who live across the street from Westwood Village and near Roxhill Park and a Metro transit center, shared their own observations and reports of individuals and groups repeatedly engaging in suspicious and criminal activity nearby. This has included having people coming onto the property, openly using drugs and other criminal activity, being loud and threatening, and gathering/camping in the park and starting fires, among other reports. Neighbors and residents also expressed concerns with shootings in the area, and ongoing crime at Westwood’s stores.
The evening’s featured guest was SPD crime-prevention coordinator Jennifer Satterwhite from the Southwest Precinct, along with a panel that included community liaison officer German Barreto, crime prevention specialist Matt Brown, and community service officers Jamie Heslin and Helene Masyr. The officers acknowledge the recurring issues and challenges with criminal and nuisance activity in the area, and encouraged neighbors to continue to stay involved and to report any troubling activity they see, to help SPD respond accordingly.
After brief opening remarks by Eva Thomas, executive director of Village Green, Satterwhite told residents and neighbors that for her and her colleagues, their goal is “to help you feel safe, and to help you know what to do if you don’t feel safe.” She added that she appreciated the invitation, having been to Village Green “5 or 6 times previously” and reiterating that she wants to be a direct-line resource for neighbors, saying “if you take nothing else away from tonight, at least take my business card!” and to contact her with any questions or ongoing concerns. Her contact information is Je******************@*****le.gov and 206-471-2849.
While the evening featured serious stories and frustrations, attendees also noted the strong spirit of community and gratitude for law enforcement, and even a moment of levity during Satterwhite’s remarks about SPD stepping up their recruitment efforts for new officers, saying that “if you know anyone who would like to apply, and can pass the exams, please do — there’s no age limit!” which brought big laughs in the room full of Village Green’s senior residents.
Here’s a summary of discussions and remarks from the meeting:
Read More
Until noon today, the annual shredding event and food/money donation drive for White Center Food Bank is on in the northwest section of the Westwood Village parking lot (south of the post office).
The shredding service is provided for free by John L. Scott Westwood Real Estate-The Madrona Group (WSB sponsor).
Two quick reminders about free services the next two Saturdays that can help with your spring cleaning:
(WSB photo, 2023 event)
FREE SHREDDING TOMORROW: Saturday (April 19) brings the annual shredding event in the northwest Westwood Village parking lot, offered by John L. Scott Westwood Real Estate-The Madrona Group (WSB sponsor), 9 am-noon. Shredding is free, but if you can, bring food/money to donate to the White Center Food Bank.
RECYCLE ROUNDUP ON APRIL 26: Then one week from tomorrow, 9 am-3 pm Saturday, April 26, it’s the spring edition of Fauntleroy Church‘s Recycle Roundup – free dropoff recycling for electronics and much more. Here’s the newest list of what will and won’t be accepted. Drive/ride/walk up to the church lot at 9140 California SW (but don’t wait until the last hour unless you absolutely can’t make it any sooner – they want to avoid a big crowd at closing time).
(WSB photo, April 2024)
Last year, John L. Scott Westwood Real Estate/The Madrona Group (WSB sponsor) shredded almost two tons of paper during their free shredding event at Westwood Village. We just got word they’re offering free shredding again this year, and again it’ll be part of a donation drive for White Center Food Bank. Just bring your shredding – and a donation of nonperishable food and/or money – to the northwest area of the Westwood Village parking lot between 9 am and noon on Saturday, April 19. (And if you have friends in the north/east metro area, take note that – as also shown on this flyer – they’re presenting a 1-4 pm shredding event in Kenmore the same day.)
Thanks to Brian for the photo! Almost exactly one year after we first told you Total Wine & More was on the way to Westwood Village, signage finally went up today at the ex-Staples spot in the shopping center’s northeast corner at 25th/Trenton. They have yet to answer our inquiries about their timeline for opening but we’re renewing those inquiries.
Today’s city-circulated Land Use Information Bulletin brings word of a repaving project planned for SW Barton between 26th and 29th, to fix road damage blamed on buses. The bulletin specifically notes that a two-week comment period is now open regarding the determination that the project doesn’t need a full environmental-impact study; it has a “checklist,” from which we extracted this:
King County Metro buses on the RapidRide C route have a layover location on SW Barton Street between 26th Ave SW and 29th Ave SW in Seattle, WA. The layover location is within peat settlement prone and liquefaction prone environmentally critical areas (ECAs). Due to the heavy loads imposed by routine bus use over an inadequate roadbase, the roadway has experienced settling, resulting in dislocated concrete panels. To address this issue, SDOT proposes to repair the roadbed by removing existing peat deposits and filling the subgrade with lightweight cellular concrete, then installing new concrete panels on the roadway surface. An existing wastewater main is located below the roadway, within the area to be filled with stabilizing material. The wastewater main will be relocated to a position approximately one foot below and slightly north of its current location. This will move the pipe out of the area to be filled with concrete and align it with the post-construction road grade.
To support the project goals described above and meet City of Seattle construction standards, the project will also repair or improve the surrounding drainage infrastructure, curb lines, curb ramps, and sidewalks.
We contacted SDOT to find out more; they pointed us to this project page which says the work is expected to happen this fall. They also told us that official notification of nearby residents and businesses is expected to start with a mailer going out next week. Meantime, if you want to comment on the aforementioned environmental aspect, this notice explains how. There’s been a longrunning project aimed at saving the peat bog in adjacent Roxhill Park, so we’ll be looking into how/whether this might affect that, too.
(Added: Photo sent by Jessie McClurg)
9:33 PM: SPD and SFD are responding to a report of a flipped-car crash in the Westwood Village parking lot near QFC and Rite Aid. The car is described as a “blue Hyundai sedan.” One person is reportedly trapped, one ejected, per dispatch. Updates to come.
9:39 PM: The flipped car is described as “in the bushes” and firefighters told dispatch that one person is indeed in the vehicle – they’re working to cut that one out – one outside. Neither is believed to have life-threatening injuries, in early assessment.
9:47 PM: Added a reader photo just sent. Firefighter have told dispatch they’ve gotten the trapped person out of the car (further described as a Hyundai Sonata). SFD describes both injured people as in stable condition.
(Added: Photo sent by Tim Durkan)
9:50 PM: Added another photo we just received. Meantime, an officer at the scene has just told dispatch, “This will be a medically related collision.”
ADDED SUNDAY MORNING: SFD tells us the 56-year-old woman rescued from the vehicle was taken to a hospital; the other injured person, a 43-year-old woman, did not need that level of treatment.
11:37 AM: The doors are open at a first-of-its-kind event inside the biggest vacant spot at Westwood Village (former Bed Bath Beyond/Spirit Halloween) – a Resource Fair organized by Seattle Police, primarily their Community Service Officer team. They have gathered more than 40 organizations, agencies, and other participants here, until 3 pm; we obtained and published this full list last night. We’ll add more info when back at HQ.
ADDED 12:15 PM: If you approach from the southwest WWV parking lot, you’ll see the Care-A-Van, but most of the medical services – blood pressure/blood sugar check, sign up for vaccinations, etc. – are provided inside. And just inside the main entrance, you can meet some of the SPD CSOs making this happen:
CSOs are non-enforcement, non-sworn officers, and connecting people with resources is what they’re all about. In our photo are CSOs Heslin, Phelps, and Masyr. We walked the aisles of tables and it’s truly a wide array of possibilities (even info on how to get free vaccinations for pets). We also learned about some agencies/organizations we’d never heard of before. Here’s one example – they’re at the table where you can get free Narcan, no questions asked, so you can have it on hand in case you encounter someone overdosing:
This table answers the question a commenter asked after one of our previews – “what service is the Medical Examiner’s Office going to offer?” In short, this is one way to try to reduce the need for the ME’s main job (investigating deaths). At left is Emily Dalgo, coordinator of the ME’s Overdose Fatality Review (based on a national model) team. People are dying of overdoses every day, and OFR talks about strategies to fight that. One is community outreach, and that’s why she’s at the Resource Fair, along with volunteers from the Public Health Reserve Corps (we hadn’t heard of that either).
Other people we talked to included a rep from State Labor and Industries, offering lots of info about workers’ rights. Even if you don’t think you need “resources,” this is an interesting educational event, again, continuing until 3 pm.
One more reminder that a Resource Fair is planned at Westwood Village‘s ex-Bed Bath Beyond/Spirit Halloween space on Saturday, 11 am-3 pm. We asked the Seattle Police Community Resource Officers, who organized it, for a list of the 40+ participating agencies/organizations – here it is:
Community Service Officers/SPD
Villa Communitaria
Seattle Animal Shelter/Control
Promoteres Network
Hopelink Community transportation program
King County Public Health Community Navigators
Building Beyond Communities
King County Health Public Outreach
Resource Navigation Neighborhood House
Neighborhood House MHP
Community Access & Engagement King County L&I
Washingron Relay Outreach
Project Help
Impact Public Schools Outreach
King County Environmental Health Services
Cell Phone Provider
Disability Empowerment Center
Union Gospel Mission
King County e-911
DEA Outreach
Seattle Public Schools
Victim Support Team
We Heart Seattle
Sea Mar Community Health Centers
Valley Cities Behavioral Health
Southwest PCT Crime Prevention Coordinator
Arms Around You
Communities of Belonging
Community for Youth
Delridge Community Center
Overdose Coordinator/KCME
Cultivate South Park
The More We Love
Care-a-Van WSDOH Vaccine Van
VA – suicide prevention coordinator
Transform Burien
Target
Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association
Haircut Team
West Seattle Food Bank
Park Rangers
Humana
Atlantic Street Center
Community Health Plan of WA
Alcoholics Anonymous
Seattle Public Library – High Point
Molina Healthcare
TJX/Marshalls
If you’re in need of vaccination – either child or adult – here’s what the Care-A-Van will be there to offer.
11:02 PM: The Guardian One helicopter is joining SPD‘s search for two carjacking suspects. According to emergency radio traffic it happened in the Westwood Village area, but the carjackers already have abandoned the Acura SUV they stole. They’re looking for two suspects, one described as wearing all black, with a black face mask, and a gun; they were reported to be running on 25th SW. … Officers report having stopped a possible suspect in the area.
11:11 PM: The ground search includes a K-9, so if you’re in the area, you may hear police’s obligatory announcements of that.
11:30 PM: They’re still searching, including to the north and east of WWV.
11:39 PM: They’ve exhausted the possibilities for now, so the helicopter’s leaving. No further info on the incident, but we’ll of course follow up and add any additional information when it’s available.
ADDED 12:10 PM SATURDAY: Here’s the preliminary summary from SPD:
At 2300 hours, responded to a report of a carjacking that had just occurred at the Westwood Village Shopping Center. The suspects (one armed with a handgun) approached the victims as they were standing outside the vehicle and attempted to pistol whip the driver while suspect #2 simultaneously assaulted the female passenger. The victims complied and the suspects got into the victim vehicle. The vehicle was a newer Acura, and the suspects could not figure out how to shift it into drive. The suspects panicked and fled immediately once they could not manipulate the shifter dial, and the victims managed to maintain possession of their vehicle. Containment was established and KCSO K9 and Guardian One responded to assist.
If you have any information, the incident to refer to is 25-69379.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The missing 12-year-old South Park girl has been found safe.
Earlier:
For one day later this month, the vacant ex-Bed Bath and Beyond/Spirit Halloween space at Westwood Village will have a new use: Two weeks from today, on Saturday, March 22, that space will be home to a big resource fair meant to connect people with services to improve their lives. Here’s the official flyer, sent to us by Seattle Police Southwest Precinct crime-prevention coordinator Jennifer Satterwhite:
No pre-registration requested – just show up between 11 am and 3 pm March 22.
If you’ve heard the booms from Gatewood, Upper Fauntleroy, Westwood, etc., those are fireworks, not gunshots. We’ve heard them all, and police in the area have seen them. We’re just mentioning it because we’ve gotten a few texts and dispatchers/calltakers say they’re getting deluged.
Three biznotes tonight:
ANOTHER PROSPECTIVE WESTWOOD VILLAGE TENANT: Even as other future Westwood Village tenants like Total Wine & More (seemingly on the brink of signage) and Panda Express work on remodels, another prospective tenant has turned up in city permit records: F45 Training, a fitness chain, is penciled in for the former Massage Envy spot on the north side of WWV. Its current Seattle locations include the Central District, Queen Anne, Ballard, Eastlake, and Northgate.
BECU OPENS IN WHITE CENTER: As noted here last month, BECU (WSB sponsor) has been building a Neighborhood Financial Center in the new mixed-use development at 16th/107th in White Center, and the credit union says it’s now open. They’re planning a grand-opening community celebration at 3 pm Wednesday, March 19. Readers have asked if the Roxbury Safeway BECU mini-branch will close; a BECU spokesperson told us today, “At this time, we have not announced plans for our Roxbury location.”
WAXING CLINIC:: Skiing and boarding season continues! So Mountain to Sound Outfitters (3602 SW Alaska; WSB sponsor) is presenting an “Intro to Waxing” this Wednesday (February 26), 6 pm:
The workshop will provide attendees with the skills and knowledge needed to keep their ski and snowboarding gear in top condition. There is a $10 ticket but that ticket cost can be used as credit toward the purchase of personal waxing supplies at Mountain to Sound.
Get your ticket, and find out more about the clinic, here.
The announcement and photo are from Village Green-West Seattle (WSB sponsor):
On Monday, Henry Howard celebrated 100 years of amazing life with his friends and family at Village Green Senior Living in West Seattle. Henry has been a longtime resident in West Seattle. He has an infectious smile and amazing stories to tell. His support system found out about our community from West Seattle Blog. Help us celebrate this amazing man!! Happy Birthday, Henry!!
6:35 PM: Last weekend we reported on an early-stage permit application for clothing outlet J.Crew Factory to take over and combine the two Westwood Village spaces recently vacated by GameStop and Desert Sun Tanning. Today while we were nearby, a banner caught our eye – it’s over the ex-Desert Sun entrance on the west side of the building, announcing Bronz’d Tanning and Light Spa. The phone number is the same as Desert Sun. The new business has only a bare-bones website; we have an inquiry out to try to find out more.
ADDED 8:23 PM: Commenter Ltmmgm posted this GoFundMe link with backstory on this new business.
We heard a dispatch to the Westwood Village Post Office this morning for a report of gas theft and fence vandalism. We’ve since obtained the Seattle Police report narrative. It says officers were called for a report on two separate incidents: Last night around 10 pm, they discovered that gas had been siphoned from two vans, and their tanks had been damaged in the proces. Then around 8:30 this morning, they found a hole had been cut in the fence, and “a plastic bag containing an unknown white powder” was found in the area. Police took it for evidence; the report does not indicate whether the substance was subsequently identified.
Just weeks after two neighboring businesses closed on the south side of Westwood Village – GameStop and Desert Sun Tanning – a replacement is penciled in for what would be their combined spaces: J.Crew Factory, the brand’s “outlet” arm. We noticed a few weeks ago that a placeholder with no supporting documentation had appeared in permit files; then at the end of this week, a full early-stage filing with confirmatory labeling:
The combined space would be 4,600+ square feet, tiny compared to WWV’s Ross (26,000+) and Marshalls (30,000+) stores. J.Crew’s website shows three Factory stores in the metro area – Auburn, Lynnwood, and Marysville – and two “regular” stores in the area – University Village and Bellevue Square. We’ll contact the chain and WWV management tomorrow to see if they’ll comment; to date, the center’s managers have yet to say anything about the two not-yet-open chain businesses that have continued moving through the permit system for months, Total Wine & More (ex-Staples) and Panda Express (ex-Pet Pros).
2:17 PM: Thanks to Juanita for the tip. Three months after the city cleared the RV encampment along SW Trenton by Westwood Village, new parking-restriction signs are in place, declaring it a four-hour-maximum zone between 7 am and 6 pm, Mondays through Saturdays. The signs are on both sides of Trenton between 26th and 28th.
We have an inquiry out to SDOT for more info.
This isn’t the first area where the city has made changes after clearing an RV encampment – others include Harbor Avenue (overnight-parking restrictions) and SW Andover (bike lane added). This area also has had school-zone-related changes in recent months, with Chief Sealth International High School and Denny International Middle School a short distance north (on the other side of Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex) – speed cushions and a new four-way stop – but these are the first changes directly affecting parking, which is in abundant supply (more than a thousand spaces) at the adjacent shopping center.
6:04 PM: To be a little more precise, WWV has just under 1,300 parking spaces. Nonetheless, SDOT spokesperson Ethan Bergerson says supporting access to the “commercial areas” is a goal of the new restrictions:
The new parking restrictions were added based on community requests relayed to SDOT staff by the Unified Care Team. The changes are intended to support parking turnover and curb access near parks and commercial areas. The parking time limits will apply to a slightly larger area than you mentioned, on the north side of SW Trenton St between 26th Ave SW and 29th Ave SW, and on the south side of the street for most of the block between 26th Ave SW and 28th Ave SW. The paint and posts that you describe are intended to help clarify the areas where parking is not allowed near crosswalks in order improve visibility for people to safely cross the street.
The paint-and-posts are “curb bulbs” we also noticed in the area – here’s one at 26th/Trenton:
2:22 AM: SPD sent officers out to look for the source of possible gunfire after numerous 911 calls a short time ago from various areas, and they found it near Westwood Village. They’ve found shell casings – from a rifle – after a man told them someone in a car shot at him at the bus stop in the 2600 block of SW Barton. He apparently was not hurt. He told police the gunfire came from a dark-gray Acura with four people inside, described as Asian, male, late teens to early twenties, in blue clothing. The vehicle was last seen heading eastbound on Barton, which is temporarily closed at the scene while officers collect evidence.
2:49 AM: Officers are reopening the street, and also told dispatch they’ve collected 12 spent rounds and found gunshot damage on the ATI Physical Therapy building (along north side of Barton in WWV).
ADDED FRIDAY: Here’s the SPD summary – adding both that the shell casings were from three different types of guns, and that the reported target was on the shopping center premises when shot at:
At 0200 hours, numerous callers reported hearing shots spanning a large area of SW Pct. Officers conducted an extensive search and located a male at a bus stop in the 2600 block of SW Barton St who stated that he was the target of the shooting. This male made no attempt to call 911 or flag Officers down to report being shot at. This male stated that he had been standing at the bus shelter when a dark gray Acura drove past him. The vehicle was reportedly occupied by 4 A/M wearing blue. The vehicle made a U-turn, and the victim had a feeling he was about to be shot at, so he began to run north into the shopping complex. The suspect vehicle stopped in the roadway, shot at the victim as he ran, did not hit him and fled the area. Officers processed the scene and recovered the following fired cartridge casings: seven .223, three .357 and two 9mm. One building sustained damage from being struck multiple times by gunfire. No other victims were located at this time. No cameras were located that may have captured the incident.
(WSB file photo, Southwest Teen Life Center)
Seattle Parks and Recreation has announced expanded hours starting tomorrow at three Teen Life Centers, including Southwest (2801 SW Thistle, in the same complex as Southwest Pool and the Southwest Customer Service Center). Parks says in its announcement:
Expanded operating hours will mean more secure and supervised spaces for teens, young adults, and elders to engage in intergenerational activities. This pilot program will also utilize signature events to engage youth in meaningful projects and activities. Additionally, it seeks to build partnerships with local businesses and organizations, creating career pathway opportunities for young people and strengthening community connections.
The new hours at Southwest TLC will be 2:30 pm-8 pm Mondays-Thursdays, 3 pm-midnight Fridays, noon-7 pm Saturdays. We compared that to current hours; the major changes are the addition of Mondays and the change from nighttime operation to daytime operation on Saturdays.
Two weeks until Christmas and Hanukkah, and still lots of holiday happenings ahead! One of the events in our Holiday Guide still has room for participants.
Village Green West Seattle (2615 SW Barton; WSB sponsor) asked us to share this announcement:
Village Green West Seattle invites you to share your talents at our vendor fair! We still have 5 tables available free of charge for local vendors. Our Holiday Market will be from 11 AM-4 PM 12/17/1014!
That’s Tuesday of next week, and everyone is invited to shop, not just Village Green residents. If interested in being a vendor, please email Corinne at co*****@********************nt.com.
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