The San Marco, a mixed-use apartment building in the Uptown Neighborhood of Queen Anne Hill and home to Laredo’s Restaurant has sold for $2,375,000 to Gerry Pigotti and John Slonecker of Gibraltar LLC.
The San Marco, located at the intersection of Taylor Avenue North and Aloha Street, was built in 1925 and has 14 units in addition to its ground-level retail. The building also houses Laredo’s restaurant.

Arc School of Ballet is coming to Queen Anne. The ballet company, which until this year has been hosting performances in Ballard, will perform “Nutcracker Sweets” at the Leo Kreielsheimer Theatre in the Seattle Center on Dec. 17.
The troop, which is made up of neighborhood girls, has performed the variation of Tchaikovsky’s famed ballet for seven years. Tickets and more information can be found at www.arcdance.org

From mid January through mid March, 2012, Seattle Pacific University will host Tent City 3.

The school’s citizen advisory committee reports that the temporary neighborhood of tents will most likely locate on Wallace Field, between West Nickerson Street and the Fremont Cut. It is currently located at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Shoreline at 14514 20^th Avenue N.E.

There will be future open houses/information sessions hosted by Share/Wheel, the Seattle Agency that oversees Tent City. The advisory committee will be invited and can get additional questions answered.

Tent City must move every 90 days, is comprised of about 100 people and runs itself.  There is a strict code of conduct to be accepted as a resident, including sobriety, non-violence and participation. Daily litter patrol, regular trash removal and portable toilets are all part of the system. The committee said SPU is doing this because of the school’s Christian mission and the opportunity it provides for student service.

Paige Hoffman and Lindsey Wodrich of Seattle Pacific University’s volleyball team, have been named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-academic team for the third straight year, and three teammates — Angie Pricco, Shelby Swanson and Nikki Lowell — joined them on the squad.

Senior outside hitter Wodrich, with a 3.51 grade-point average as a family/consumer sciences major, also was named to the CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-District team for the third straight year.

Angie Pricco.

Senior outside hitter Hoffman has a 3.66 GPA in business administration, and senior middle blocker Pricco has a 3.36 GPA in that same field.

Shelby Swanson

Nikki Lowell

Junior setter Swanson sports a 3.89 GPA in physiology, and sophomore middle blocker Lowell carries a 3.69 in business administration. Pricco and Swanson each made the GNAC team for the second time.

Childhood obesity has become a growing issue in America, so much so that First Lady Michelle Obama launched the Lets Move program to combat it.
On Thursday, a documentary about obesity (and bulimia) in adults and kids alike will make its debut at the SIFF Uptown Theater. “America the Beautiful2: The Thin Commandments,” by Darryl Roberts, will pose questions such as why obesity rates climb alongside the number of people dieting? How is the weight-loss industry involved in restructuring obesity standards?
The screening is sponsored by The Emily Program and the Center for Discovery/Oceanaire, local organizations that help people with eating disorders. Directly after the show will be a Q & A session with Roberts and a panel of experts on eating disorders. The screening is at 7 p.m., this Thursday at SIFF Uptown at 511 Queen Anne Ave. N.

When the holidays come around, do you decorate your home so much that even the homeowners association in Candyland would grant it unanimous approval? If so, The View would love to share the view with readers. Please send a note to The View at tips@queenanneview.com and include a photo and we’ll post it. We’ll have readers rate their favorite.

Via Tribunali on West Galer Street will give you a pizza if you give a coat.
The pizza place at 317 W. Galer St., as well as its sister locations in Georgetown, Capitol Hill and Fremont is holding a winter coat drive to benefit families served by the Atlantic Street Center, an organization in the south end of Seattle that helps kids with academic, social and emotional skills.
The drive begins Monday, Dec. 12.
If you have a new or slightly used coat that fits kids from birth to 18 years of age, bring it in and you will get a free margherita pizza in exchange. The company wants to collect at least 200 coats and expects even more.

Several neighbors went out of their way yesterday to give blood at the annual Boy Scouts of America Troop #70 blood drive at the Queen Anne United Methodist Church at 1606 Fifth Ave. W.
About 30 people made donations during the course of the all-day event, hosted by the Scouts and administered by the Puget Sound Blood Center. Each donor gave a pint of blood, and each pint, on average, goes to help three people. Eagle Scout Tennessee Abbott organized the first blood drive three years ago for his Eagle Scout project and since then Scouts and troop volunteers have continued the tradition. In three years, troop volunteer Jim Grane said about 300 pints of blood have been donated. The troop holds three drives a year. This drive saw about 30 donors. One pint can help as many as three people.
“It’s a lot of work,” Grane said, “but it’s a lot of fun. The demand is just incredible.”

Blood donors and volunteers, from left, Chris Ross, Dianne Ross, Cameron Grane, Bryan Walker, Jim Grane, Lisa Walker and Carolyn Grane.

Several of the donors were United Methodist parishioners, others were linked to the Scouts, and still others saw the A-frame signs set up all over the neighborhood advertising the drive. Veteran donor Dianne Ross got an email from the Puget Sound Blood Center and came in Friday afternoon.
“We like to support the Boy Scouts and the Puget Sound Blood Center,” she said in the midst of her donation. “It’s very easy.”

You know the holidays are officially here when workers string lights on the sidewalk trees.
That was precisely what Alex Mendoza of Artist Touch Landscaping was doing Friday, a day that in many ways kicks off the holiday season. Today Mendoza was stringing lights in front of La Luna restaurant at West Boston Street and Queen Anne Avenue North. La Luna also put a Santa sleigh scene on its roof. Just about every store along the Ave and beyond was decked out in the holiday spirit. The Christmas tree lot was out at Safeway, shoppers strolled along the Ave with lattes in hand and by 4:30 p.m., the lights Mendoza put up were glowing.

No valuation of the project has been placed on it yet, but the demolition needed to make room for it is inching closer.
Seattle Pacific University has been granted city approval to build the Irondale Residence Hall, a five-story congregate residence with 150 beds and 70 parking spaces under the structure. Irondale will be located at 3309 Sixth Avenue West, across the street from SPU administration offices, dining hall and where four homes currently sit.
“They’ve [SPU] owned the houses for some time and have been renting them out to students, mainly,” said Larry Allen of consulting company Allen Projects Support Allen said the homes at 604 W. Cremona St., 3305 Sixth Ave. W., 3309 Sixth Ave. W., and 3311 Sixth Ave. W., will be torn down as soon as possible. But even if the demolition were to take place tomorrow, it could be another year before the project “gets off the ground,” Allen said.
The new facility is being designed by Mithun Architects in Seattle.

On Thanksgiving at about 1:43 a.m., shots were fired in the parking lot of a restaurant and ancillary businesses located on the 1200 block of Westlake Avenue North.

Upon arrival, police found four vehicles with bullet holes in them. There were shell casings on the ground but the suspects had vanished. Witnesses said shots were fired from within a grey Dodge Charger that was last seen headed northbound on Westlake Avenue North. The other suspect was described as a black male wearing a white sweatshirt, who was last seen walking through the parking lot, according to police. Police later conducted a search of the area but found neither suspect. Police believe no one was struck by gunfire.

Organizers at The Queen Anne Farmers Market want to know how it went this year. Were you impressed? Disappointed? Were your expectations exceeded? Click the link below and tell ‘em.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=lcqEN4MmIH2phQMfNklOekhGpm3ooZQdb8GU09JJO3A_3d

Make sure you do so by Nov. 30.

It’s a big space at 3040 17^th Ave. W. where since April developers have had their sights set.

Unico Properties Development is poised to build a seven-floor, 52,155-square-foot, 236-unit apartment building, with ground-floor retail and will keep existing retail tenants Red Mill, Starbucks and Pandasia, along West Dravus Street. The new retail space will be located at the corner of 16^th and Dravus streets.

Unico expects to have the building ready by mid 2013. The View will stay abreast of any new developments with this property and whether it will lead to similar plans coming down the pipeline.

It starts and ends in Lower Queen Anne, so neighbors should prepare for a wintry day full of runners, cordoned off streets and a 60 percent chance of rain.

The 41st Annual Seattle Marathon will commence at 7 a.m., Sunday at Fifth Avenue North and Broad Street and finish inside Memorial Stadium. West Mercer Street will be cordoned off at fifth Avenue North and Fourth Avenue North where runners will flow into the stadium. Runners and walkers will be crossing the finish line for most of the day and travel by car in the general area will be limited. Neighbors interested in checking out the race may want to park northwest of the stadium and walk in to cheer on the finishers. Click here to see the map.

The state’s Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), that helps put food and milk on the table of families in need is urging women who may need a helping hand, to call.
Anyone enrolled in WIC qualifies for checks to buy up to $50 worth of food at any grocery store. To find out if you qualify, click here, or call Call 1-800-322-2588 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The forecast of high winds has postponed work on a bicycle overpass that is to span Elliott Avenue West and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) railroad tracks and allow bicyclists over to Myrtle Edwards Park.
The plan was to close both directions of Elliott Avenue West last night between Fourth Avenue West and Western Avenue West. Now the closure will take place starting at 6 p.m., Monday, Nov. 28 and continue through 5 a.m., Tuesday. Crews will be setting girders for the new West Thomas Street pedestrian and bicycle overpass.

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Not a lot compares to ice skating during Winterfest at the Seattle Center while Vince Guaraldi’s “Skating” from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” plays sweetly in the tinny speakers overhead. But there are plenty of other things to do at this year’s fest.

• Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra & Opening Ceremony, Friday, Nov. 25, 12:30 p.m. in Center House

• Black Nativity’s Total Experience Gospel Choir, Saturday, Nov. 26, 12:30 p.m. in Center House

• Garfield High School Jazz Band, Sunday, Nov. 27, 12:30 p.m. in Center House.

Winter Train & Village, Nov. 25 - Dec. 29, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. in Center House.

• Sharing Gift Box, Nov. 25 - Dec. 18, Varied in Center House.

• Winterfest Ice Rink, Nov. 25 - Jan. 1, 2012, Sun.-Thurs., 11 a.m.- 8 p.m., Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-10 p.m. ● Fisher Pavilion; Admission: $7 for adults, $5 for children ages 6-12, $2 children ages 5 and under. Includes skate rental. Cash only. Dec 24 closes 4 p.m., Dec 25 closed, Dec 31 closes at 11:30 p.m.

• Dicken’s Carolers, Nov. 25 – Dec. 23, varied times ● Center House and Seattle Center grounds

• Ice Sculpting, Saturdays, Nov. 26; Dec. 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. ● Outside of Fisher Pavilion

For more information on Seattle Center Winterfest, visit www.seattlecenter.com or call 206 684-7200.

The Seattle Times is reporting that the Sacred Heart food bank in lower Queen Anne is closing.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Parish at 205 Second Ave. N., is no longer serving meals because the $2,500 needed each month to operate the program ran out.

Other organizations that feed or clothe those in need such as the Queen Anne Helpline, University District Food Bank and Ballard Food Bank, are expecting a spike in clients. As it has for many years now, the Helpline will provide gift cards and bags of groceries to seiors and disabled residents of four low-cost housing apartments on Queen Anne. Those gift cards and vouchers will be ready to be picked up Tuesday, Nov. 22.

The Helpline doesn’t operate a food bank, but has a pantry of non-perishable food items that anyone is welcome to if they make an appointment (282-1540). The Helpline also feeds people by way of the Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle and King County www.emergencyfeeding.org.