Depending on who you ask — and if they are willing to speak on the record — there are lots of failures to blame at 23rd and Jackson. But the bottom line is this: Despite years of work from the city’s Office of Economic Development and one of its leading developers in Vulcan Real Estate, Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office, District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth, and the goodwill of rebuilding Black ownership in this key core of the Central District, it seems unlikely Black Coffee Northwest will ever open at the corner.
“We have a staff trained and ready to go. My grand opening was planned,” owner DarNesha Bowman told CHS earlier this month.
Bowman went public this year with what she says has been a lack of support from Vulcan and the city falling short on promises to help the small business entrepreneur usher in what many hoped would be the start of a new era at 23rd and Jackson with her Black Coffee Northwest taking over a space being left behind by global coffee giant Starbucks over public safety concerns in the area.
The summer 2023 announcement from Black Coffee Northwest and property owner Vulcan brought hope for new life on the corner that was at one time one of the proudest Starbucks achievements in its first ever stand alone cafe as it teamed with investors like NBA great Magic Johnson on a string of “inner-city stores.”
The Black Coffee Northwest initiative followed an October 2023 street shooting that sent a man to the hospital and bullets flying into 23rd and Jackson’s A 4 Apple Learning Center. No kids were injured but the incident has become a rallying point as community groups call for more support from the city, Seattle Police, and developers to make the neighborhood around 23rd and Jackson safer.
Adding Black Coffee Northwest to the corner was hoped to continue a ripple of new opportunities for Black business owners around Vulcan’s acquisition of the Promenade 23 shopping center and the redevelopment of the Red Apple grocery property into the Jackson Apartments and its main commercial tenant, an Amazon Fresh grocery store.
Bowman admits it has been a challenging two years for her and her business including major life changes even as Black Coffee Northwest continues to operate its North Seattle College cafe. She says her dedication to Black Seattle and the Central District has not been matched by Vulcan or by the city.
“This was about creating opportunities—hiring local youth, building up small businesses, and making space for our community to grow together,” Bowman wrote in a recent update on social media. “I’ve hosted numerous community events in that space because my first priority has always been people over profits—and that has been proven time and time again.”
CHS reported here in January 2024 on efforts to open Black Coffee Northwest at the corner. Black Coffee Northwest, already a presence in the neighborhood, making plans for opening at 23rd and Jackson, the hopeful headline read.
“The city has been really helpful. The Office of Economic Development, they have funded the majority of our project, which is really great,” Bowman said at the time.
But, behind the scenes, the project was ready to go off the rails.
“The business was originally scheduled to open in February 2024, followed by the summer of 2024, then the fall of 2024,” the city said in a statement to CHS. “For a year, OED provided numerous resources and pathways to support a successful opening, including funding, technical assistance, construction management consultation, and other operating support.”
Already far behind the original schedule, Bowman tells CHS a contractor recommended by Vulcan and to be paid by a $150,000 grant from the city’s Tenant Improvement Program never completed key work in the former Starbucks cafe.
“It’s completely ready I just don’t have electricity and plumbing,” Bowman tells CHS.
The city disputes the claim and says it took the extra step to “verify the completion and quality of work completed on site in the summer of 2024.”
“Following this assessment, payment was provided to the contractor for work verified to be complete,” the OED said in its statement.
A CHS check of records shows the contractor has a solid record of work in the city and Vulcan officials have vouched for their projects with numerous tenants.
Along the way, various city officials got involved with the small business and the high profile mission around revitalizing 23rd and Jackson.
“OED and mayor’s office and my office — We feel like we have done everything we can to help this business be successful,” Seattle City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth tells CHS.
“We have extended ourselves,” Hollingsworth said.
The city says the dispute “on completed work, quality of work, and payment between the business and the contractor” has forced it to end its support of Black Coffee Northwest.
“Unfortunately, Black Coffee NW did not fulfill multiple elements of their contract with OED, despite our best efforts to communicate with the business about the requirements and offer assistance to help the business become compliant with the terms of their funding agreement,” a spokesperson for the city’s Tenant Improvement Program tells CHS. “The TI Program contract with this business expired June 30, 2024.”
The Office of Economic Development says it “remained in contact” with Black Coffee Northwest “and continued to offer support even after the contract ended.”
“This outcome is not what we hoped for when we first partnered with the business, and we wish Black Coffee NW the best in its future business endeavors,” the OED’s statement concludes.
Vulcan, too, has turned away from Bowman and the coffee shop.
“When we signed a lease with Black Coffee Northwest in May 2023, we were hopeful that we had found a community-oriented coffee purveyor to take over the vacant space at 23rd and Jackson,” a spokesperson for Vulcan Real Estate said in a statement to CHS.
“Since that time, we have tried very hard to ensure the success of BCNW. We are disappointed that BCNW has failed to comply with the terms of their grant contract with the City and has not been able to open its business.”
“It remains our priority to find a community-oriented business that can open the space and serve the Central Area community,” the Vulcan spokesperson said.
Hollingsworth said the effort should not end with Black Coffee Northwest. “The initial goal was that corridor to be a vibrant core for Black businesses,” she said. “That is still the goal.”
After two years of planning and preparations, Black Coffee Northwest remains shuttered and quiet at 23rd and Jackson. Across the street, another Black-owned business also recently went quiet as Jackson’s Catfish Corner owner Terrell Jackson said the restaurant was stretched too thin to continue.
“They tried to convince me this was my fault,” Bowman said about the darkened corner where Black Coffee Northwest was planned and the public safety issues that can come around shuttered businesses. “I would love just to open the space.”
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