Thanks to a CHS reader for the picture
Kaiser Permanente has responded to calls from the neighborhood to do more to fill the empty retail spaces of its Capitol Hill campus along 15th Ave. There is a new property management effort in place, a new coffee shop lined up to join the campus, and a survey process underway to shape what kind of businesses are courted to help fill in other spaces along this stretch of Capitol Hill.
CHS reported earlier this year on calls for Kaiser to do meet its requirements for activating its streetfront spaces from the citizen Implementation Advisory Committee that oversees the city’s Major Institution Master Plan put in place in 2018 after the health care provider’s takeover of Group Health.
The retail spaces lost tenants coming out of the pandemic and have remained empty for years.
A Kaiser Permanente spokesperson says it has now finalized an agreement with a firm to manage its “available retail locations,” saying Health Hospitality Partners is a healthcare amenities company “that works exclusively with hospitals and health systems to bring modern retail onsite.”
Most often, that takes the form of gift shops, coffee shops, restaurants, and food halls, the spokesperson said.
In addition to opening a new coffee shop in the Kaiser Permanente South building, HHP is working “to explore future possibilities for the retail spaces near 15th Ave E and E Denny Way.”
Passersby have taken note of new posters informing the neighborhood about a survey process underway to let people weigh in on “what type of business they would like to see in these spaces.”
The survey will remain open through November 28th.
The improvements are hoped to be a good sign for the IAC process around Kaiser and bear watching as another committee is set to be shaped to help guide neighborhood issues around the planned King County Crisis Care Center at Broadway and Union.
The hopes for an improved Capitol Hill campus streetfront also come as Kaiser Permanente is facing strikes by nurses and hospital workers over wages and working conditions in a new contract with the healthcare giant.
Meanwhile, another issue for Kaiser in the neighborhood could also be finally moving toward progress. In 2021, CHS reported on the committee’s push for Kaiser Permanente to sell or redevelop some parking lots around the Capitol Hill campus — another condition of the original Group Health plan.
You can learn more about the Kaiser Permanente IAC at seattle.gov.
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