"The next time you take a sip of coffee or tea at Santo Coffee, or grab a smoothie at Berry Much, take a glance across NE 65th Street. Right now, what you'll see isn't much: a barren, city-owned lot on the right and a stretch of overgrown vegetation, vines, and boarded-up houses on the left. But that will change."
The Roosevelt Neighborhood Association published that in June 2026. By late summer, the view from Santo Coffee at 1325 NE 65th St and Berry Much at 1319 NE 65th St had changed. The buildings stayed the same. The fence got yarn on it.
That chain-link now carries more of Roosevelt's public life than most of the buildings near the light rail station. Neither the apartments nor the park planned for the block has a start date. So the neighborhood association has been putting art on the edges of the site and holding its biggest party at the corner.
The yarn, the flowers, and the mural
The project is called Roosevelt Reimagined, and the RNA describes it as a way to "beautify our neighborhood's vacant lots with temporary artwork." It has three parts:
- A repeating yarn pattern by artist Christian Rincon, designed to cover hundreds of feet of fencing.
- A large paint-by-numbers piece designed by artist Anna Tono and painted by neighbors at community paint days.
- Wooden flowers that anyone could paint and add to the fence.
The association's August newsletter scheduled yarn installation for the evening of Monday, August 17, plus Saturday, August 22 and Sunday, August 23. The wooden flowers and mural panels were set for August 23, along with a cleanup of plants along the fence. The invitation also said "just show up on the day–you will be welcome!"
Money for the project came from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods' Neighborhood Matching Fund. The RNA thanks "the developers of the lots for granting permission to use the fences for this project." The art is temporary because of what the fences surround. The land behind them is already spoken for. It just hasn't been built on.
What the fence is actually holding back
Behind the yarn are three separate pieces of land. Each is stuck for a different reason.
| Piece of the block | What's planned | Status in the RNA's latest profile |
|---|---|---|
| 1300–1318 NE 65th St, wrapping to 1315 and 1317 NE 66th St | Roosevelt 1A: L-shaped, eight-story apartment building with 198 units, now being developed by HB Management after Roosevelt Development Group started it | Six of eight structures demolished as of May 2026; no construction permit, start date, or completion date |
| 1309 and 1311 NE 66th St, northwest corner | Brooklyn 1B: seven-story affordable housing building with 77 units | As of March 2026, no construction permit; two emptied houses awaiting demolition |
| City-owned lot on the eastern edge of the block | Proposed future park | Vacant |
The two structures still standing on the Roosevelt 1A site are the boarded-up houses at 1315 and 1317 NE 66th St. As of the RNA's June profile, both had been gutted and cleared out and were "awaiting demolition before construction can begin in earnest." Their demolition permits were first issued in February 2022. The same profile said those permits would expire on August 16, 2026 unless renewed. The newest newsletter listed in the RNA's archive is from August, and nothing published since then reports what happened at that deadline.
The project's land-use permit isn't the holdup. Seattle's permit portal lists Master Use Permit 3024696-LU for the eight-story, 198-unit building as issued, with an expiration date of December 21, 2027. The step still missing is construction. The RNA says the project has been in construction application review since July 16, 2020, and no construction permit has been issued.
The association blames the delay on financing. "When rates are high, borrowing costs rise, construction financing becomes more expensive, and projected returns can shrink to the point where deals that once penciled out no longer do," the RNA wrote, adding that "there is little the neighborhood can do to directly accelerate development of this property."
That explains the art. The neighborhood can't speed up an apartment building, but the developers did agree to let it decorate the fence.
The park lot the city already owns
The third piece doesn't fit the financing explanation, because no private developer has to borrow money to build it.
King County's assessor record lists the 0.20-acre vacant parcel at 6501 14th Ave NE under Seattle's parks department and shows it conveyed to the city in July 2019. The decision to buy it is older than that. In October 2015, The Urbanist reported that the City Council was set to vote on acquiring the land, after a debate over whether the site should hold development or a park.
The RNA puts the situation plainly on its Roosevelt Reimagined page:
"Despite having a light rail station and being one of the denser neighborhoods in northeast Seattle, Roosevelt has struggled with vacancies and a lack of public open spaces. In 2015, the City of Seattle authorized purchasing land for a future park. But in 2026, the park is still not developed and remains a vacant lot."
So the art project and the park campaign share a page. The same form that signs people up for paint days also asks anyone "Interested in Roosevelt's missing park?" to leave their contact information for updates.
The corner gets used anyway
With no plaza or park built yet, the association holds its main event right next to the empty land. Rooted in Roosevelt took place Saturday, September 19, from noon to 8 PM at NE 66th St and 14th Ave NE. That's on 14th Avenue, the same street the city's park lot faces. The RNA's lineup announcement promised seven main-stage bands, a clothing swap, games, and group activities. Seattle's Child listed it as free and all-ages. The food trucks on the festival page were Birrieria Pepe El Toro, Kathmandu Momocha, and Dippys Ice Cream, alongside booths from local businesses.
Storefronts are still opening along the street. The RNA's August newsletter announced Nomad Manti, "a brand new Central Asian restaurant," at 800 NE 65th St, in the space where Zaina and Bus Stop Espresso used to be. The Infatuation has since reviewed it.
The fenced lots aren't the only empty land near the station. Roosevelt 3A, at the corner of NE 65th St and 15th Ave NE, is the former RR Hardware site. It's planned as a six-story building with 149 apartments and retail. The RNA reports that it has its land-use permit and is waiting on a construction permit, the same step that's holding up Roosevelt 1A. When the August newsletter mentioned "many empty lots with chain link fences" on 65th, it meant more than one block.
On the RNA calendar through November
The RNA posts its schedule on its calendar page. The next few dates are:
- Monday, October 12, 7–9 PM: Second-Monday trivia at Project 9 Brewing, 1409 NE 80th St. Project 9 is an all-ages venue, and the RNA says no trivia expertise is required.
- Wednesday, November 4, 7:30–9 PM: Open RNA meeting in the Cedar Crossing Apartments community room, 6620 Roosevelt Way NE. This is a likely place for new information about the block to come up.
- Saturday, November 7, 9:45 AM–noon: Adopt-A-Street litter pickup, followed by coffee from noon to 1:30 PM at Human People Beer Cafe, 6105a Roosevelt Way NE.
- Monday, November 9, 7–9 PM: Trivia returns to Project 9 Brewing.
According to the RNA's June profile, the next things to change at NE 65th and 14th would be demolition of the two houses on NE 66th and a construction permit for Roosevelt 1A. Until those happen, the yarn stays up.
If you live near the station and want to talk through how projects like Roosevelt 1A, Brooklyn 1B and Roosevelt 3A might change the blocks around them, Mel Parsons Homes is glad to go through the permits and timelines with you, calmly and with no pressure. Let's Connect.
