6502 15th Ave NE
Overview
The next time you’re headed to Ravenna Refills, Ravenna Rocks, the Counter at Old Ballard Catering Co, or Rising Sun Produce, you’ll see a large infill lot with overgrown vegetation between NE 65th St and 15th Ave NE. Years ago, this was a severely blighted property majorly owned by the infamous slumlord Hugh Sisley. It once held buildings like the RR Hardware store, which burned down in 2015, along with a collection of dilapidated homes throughout the 2010s.
The site is being developed by HB Management (formerly the Roosevelt Development Group) and will become home to a 6-story, 149-unit apartment building with retail space and 77 parking spots.
While the lot itself is now vacant and awaiting redevelopment, two visible remnants of its troubled past still stand just to the north. Their status remains unclear: both are currently on Vacant Building Monitoring and lack demolition permits. Because they’re still owned by Hugh Sisley through Hugmar Inc with a direct proximity to the site, these two derelict properties, located at 6548 15th Ave NE and 1509 NE 68th St, are being tracked as well, known as the 6548 Site and 1509 site respectively.
Land Use Context
According to the map, the 1509 site, 6548 site, and the northern part of Roosevelt 3A are zoned LR2 RC (M1). This zoning allows for moderately dense development, like townhomes and small apartment buildings, along with a limited amount of commercial space, think a corner café with housing above it, or live-work units.
The southern part of Roosevelt 3A, along NE 65th St and 15th Ave NE, is zoned NC2-55 (M). This allows moderately sized commercial buildings, such as medical offices or local restaurants, up to a height of 55 feet.
The eastern part of Roosevelt 3A, along 16th Ave NE, is zoned LR1 (M), which permits less density than the LR2 RC (M1) zone to the northwest. This section is residential only, though duplexes are allowed, and buildings are capped at 30 feet, shorter than the 40-foot limit in the northwestern area.
The current zoning for the 1509 site, the 6548 site, and the area along 15th Ave NE and NE 65th St took effect on April 19, 2019, under Ordinance 125791. The zoning for the 16th Ave NE area took effect more recently, on January 21, 2026, under Ordinance 127376.
The (M) and (M1) suffixes mean the entire site falls under the city’s Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) program. In practice, that means HB Management will either need to pay a fee to opt out of the requirement, or set aside a certain share of units as affordable housing. For the (M1) area, that share is 9% of units. For the (M) areas, it’s 6%.
According to Shaping Seattle, the Roosevelt 3A project obtained a land use permit and is seeking a construction permit. As for the 6548 site and 1509 site, both are currently under Vacant Building Monitoring with a cancelled construction permit for the former and no construction permit for the latter. Neither the 6548 site nor the 1509 site currently have a demolition permit. Therefore, the timeline only covers the Roosevelt 3A and not the 6548 and 1509 sites.
- July 2016: Neighborhood Outreach and Early Design Guidance
- November 2022: Land Use Permit Issued
- TBA: Construction Permit and Start
- TBA: Construction Complete
- TBA: Grand Opening
Issues and Solutions
Roosevelt 3A Issues
The abandoned houses and shops on the Roosevelt 3A site sat boarded up and fenced for years before finally being torn down in the early 2020s. What followed was a vacant lot covering more than ten parcels, and it quickly became a source of ongoing worry for the community.
By late 2022 and into 2023, tall vegetation on the lot was hiding unauthorized encampments in what remained of old basements, and neighbors reported fire hazards along with gaps in the security fencing. Things didn’t improve in 2024, when overgrown thorny bushes started blocking public sidewalks. It’s not clear from available records what kind of bushes these were or whether they were officially classified as noxious, but the city did confirm minor violations for the sidewalk obstruction and ordered them cut back.
The most recent complaint, filed in 2026, pointed to exposed rebar, missing fencing, and vegetation that had grown out of control again. This time, though, the city found no violations. Still, the site’s history suggests these problems could easily resurface if it isn’t kept in check.
6548 Site Issues
The abandoned property at 6548 15th Ave NE has a long paper trail of neglect. It started in late 2023: on December 13, a city inspection confirmed the building was unsecured and suffering from structural decay, hazardous materials, and overgrown vegetation that had become a public nuisance. Two weeks later, on December 27, 2023, the city issued a formal Notice of Violation, ordering the owner to either repair or tear down an “unsound garage” and clear the site of junk, debris, and salvageable materials.
Over the next two years, 2024 and 2025, the property was placed on a monthly monitoring program. Inspectors repeatedly found it “Secured with Violations.” The owner kept paying the required monitoring fees, but the underlying problems never went away, blackberry bushes blocking sidewalks, vehicle parts stored illegally outside, and so on. Despite all this oversight, no demolition ever happened, and to this day the property has neither a demolition permit nor an active construction permit that would move things toward a real fix.
A fence has since gone up, but as of 2026 the building is still sitting in the same state of documented neglect. The violations on record include:
- Junk accumulation: Inspectors continue to find waste, litter, garbage, and salvageable materials on site.
- Illegal outdoor storage: Items are still being stored in yard areas and accessory structures where that’s not allowed.
- Overgrown vegetation: Invasive plants and blackberry bushes keep blocking sidewalks and drivers’ sightlines at intersections.
Because these problems have gone unaddressed for more than two years, the city still classifies the property as a public nuisance and keeps it under Vacant Building Monitoring.
1509 Site Issues
The property at 1509 NE 68th Street has been falling apart for over a decade, with the city’s records showing violations going back as far as 2012. The early problems were serious: leaking plumbing, broken ceiling coverings, and a sewer line that had broken and was draining straight into the basement. In the years that followed, the site’s two buildings became a public nuisance, with deteriorating roofs, rotting rafter tails, and rodent infestations.
Security became a real concern in July 2024, when someone filed a complaint saying the abandoned building was open to the public and posed a serious fire risk. The owners did briefly get the property into compliance in early 2025, enough that it was actually removed from the city’s monitoring program, but that didn’t last.
By July 2025, new reports came in about people trespassing in the boarded-up house. Things got worse from there: by March 2026, the site was declared vacant and derelict all over again. At that point, the city issued fresh violations, requiring the owners to fix the boarding at the back of the building to keep people out, repair broken windows, and patch the roof so vermin could no longer get in.
Even with all these hazards, the building was never torn down. As of mid-2026, there’s no demolition or construction permit on file, so nothing is moving forward, whether that means fixing the place up or tearing it down. The property remains under active monitoring, with the city still finding the structures “Secured with Violations” and charging monthly inspection fees to push the owners toward addressing the neglect. Unlike at 6548 15th Ave NE, this house at 1509 NE 68th St has never even had a fence put up around it.
Solutions
As the Roosevelt 3A consists of at least 10 individual parcels, the feasibility of this project is sensitive to macroeconomic conditions, such as interest rates. When interest rates are high, borrowing costs go up, making construction financing more expensive. That can shrink the project’s expected returns to the point where it puts the whole project at risk. Unfortunately, there’s not much the neighborhood can do to directly influence those conditions for the Roosevelt 3A, and the same is true for the 6548 and 1509 sites.
That said, we can still express support at a non-macro angle. In particular, if hazards like overgrown vegetation (including noxious weeds), structural decay, encampments, or illegal dumping show up on the Roosevelt 3A site, the 6548 site, or the 1509 site, we can get the city’s attention by reporting it directly to the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections (SDCI). You can call 206-615-0808, or submit a report through the “Make a Complaint” tool on their online portal.
Site Valuation History
| Year | 3A Appraised Total Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $16,256,400 |
| 2024 | $16,088,400 |
| 2023 | $15,796,400 |
| 2022 | $15,889,200 |
| 2021 | $15,179,200 |
| 2020 | $14,244,200 |
| 2019 | $10,695,200 |
| 2018 | $9,408,600 |
| 2017 | $7,722,900 |
| 2016 | $7,486,800 |
| CAGR | 8.997% |
| Year | 6548 15th Ave NE |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $875,000 |
| 2024 | $840,000 |
| 2023 | $762,000 |
| 2022 | $901,000 |
| 2021 | $755,000 |
| 2020 | $659,000 |
| 2019 | $600,000 |
| 2018 | $563,000 |
| 2017 | $512,000 |
| CAGR | 6.928% |
| Year | 1509 NE 68th St |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $469,000 |
| 2024 | $451,000 |
| 2023 | $421,000 |
| 2022 | $468,000 |
| 2021 | $400,000 |
| 2020 | $331,000 |
| 2019 | $280,000 |
| 2018 | $263,000 |
| 2017 | $241,000 |
| 2016 | $226,000 |
| 2015 | 207,000 |
| 2014 | 188,000 |
| 2013 | 322,000 |
| 2012 | 297,000 |
| CAGR | 3.577% |
The time period for the Roosevelt 3A (excluding the 6548 and 1509 sites) begins in 2016, the year early design guidance took place. The time period lengths for the 6548 site and 1509 sites are different. The 6548 site valuation history period starts in 2017, when the now-cancelled first Construction Permit was issued. The 1509 site valuation history period starts in 2012, when the first Notice of Violation was issued.
Valuation history includes estimates from King County Department of Assessments starting from when the project was first proposed. They are only an approximation and are heavily influenced by a variety of factors, including the existence and condition of built structures.
Resources:
- Project Proposal 1: Early Design Guidance
- Project Proposal 2: Design Review Recommendation
- HB Management Projects Page
- Ordinance 125791
- Ordinance 127376
- 2014 Seattle Weekly Article about Hugh Sisley
- 2015 Urbanist Article about Hugh Sisley
- 2015 Roosevelt News Article about RR Hardware Store Fire
- 2022 Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce about Roosevelt 3A
- Chapter 23.58C.040 – Mandatory Housing Affordability for Residential Development, Payment Option
- Chapter 23.58C.050 – Mandatory Housing Affordability for Residential Development, Performance Option
- Roosevelt 3A Parcel Info
- NE 65th St
- 15th Ave NE
- 16th Ave NE
- Parcel Info for 6548 15th Ave NE
- Parcel Info for 1509 NE 68th St
More Roosevelt Horizon Projects
Learn more about Roosevelt land use on the Roosevelt Horizon page.