Zaw Pizza, the fancy take-and-bake pizza chain, is coming to Mercer Island. Have never tried it myself, though I’ve heard it’s good– and Sahara Pizza could use some competition.
Here’s their planned location at Tabit Square:
Thanks to hot tipper Bill, who always has the scoop on downtown.
Never thought I would say this about a mall, but we could learn a lot from Crossroads. It’s not really a mall: it’s an event space, a library, a grocery store, a community place, a food court (ok, maybe it is really a mall.)
This Thursday at the MI Chamber of Commerce membership lunch the developer of Crossroads, Ron Sher, will be the guest. The MICC says: “He is a different kind of developer – a number cruncher who loves books and believes in community which he incorporates in all his projects.”
Here are some of the cool things Crossroads does:
There’s a lot more, like putting a supermarket right in the middle of everything and having tons of kids and music events. Downtown Mercer Island could be that good, and even better, our common space is outside not inside a mall. We just have to connect up a few good walking strips and get rid of some of the massive parking lots that break up the vibe of a downtown walking area.
If you’ve got time, join for the Thursday lunch.
Cost: $15 for members, $18 for non members
RSVP: info@mercerislandchamberofcommerce.org
… to dinner. That’s right, the new deli on the Island is now open for dinner and has been for about a week. They announced this a few weeks back:
I stopped in (not at dinnertime) to see how it was going. The hostess said they’ve had pretty good traffic, and they also have their liquor license now so they have a wine list. The dinner menu looks good, if fully priced:
Stopsky’s also joins Bennett’s, Cellar 46, and the Roanoke as a good place to be found between 4 and 6 pm. At Stopsky’s, that Nosh Hour:
If you’ve been by for dinner, leave a comment and let us know how it is. I’m sure we’ll make it there sooner or later.
The old Safeway site near Aljoya and Freshy’s is finally seeing activity. After a few years of sad destitution, including acting as a temporary parking lot for the Park & Ride while it was under construction, it’s under development:
Destruction of the Safeway seems complete, now to build something in its place.
The MI Reporter reports that BRE Properties is the developer. Plans are:
A six-level mixed use building with one floor of below-grade parking, a ground level accommodating different commercial uses and four floors of apartments.
The new building will have an estimated 166 residential units, and 312 parking spaces with 85 set aside for business customers. A total of 12,000 square feet will be for retail spaces, a restaurant or professional offices.
In keeping with the modern tradition of pretentious and meaningless condo names, the project will be called “Aviara.” Sounds like a step forward for that area of downtown, though, and I hope they get some great retail in there. BRE is based in San Francisco and has built developments from San Diego on up, including several in the Seattle area. Here’s a list.
You know that little coffee hut in the lot just north of Mercerdale Park? The only non-corporate coffee house on the Island? (The others are 3 Starbucks and a Tully’s, for the record.)
Well, it closed. At first I thought the owner was just taking a summer hiatus. Believe me, I can understand that. But the place is for rent:
Yup, that looks pretty closed.
There have been a number of retail changes in downtown coming out of the downturn, most for the better. This one is a loss, though. Thanks for all the coffee and best wishes!
It was 3rd Thursday downtown again tonight. The last tow for the summer are coming up on July 21st and August 18 in different regions of downtown (did you know MI had a downtown big enough to have regions? It does, apparently!)
Next, a tip from Bill: “A computer repair shop will open in the old MI Printing location across from the Starbucks drive-through. It’s the building in the little triangular plot, and it also houses a nail salon.”
Interesting ad on Craigslist showing that The Mercer has only one 1-bedroom left, or they’re artificially creating scarcity.
And Island Books is on a summer story time schedule: Thursdays weekly at 6:30 p.m. We were a little late tonight; will try to have photos next week.
UPDATE: According to their Facebook page, Stopsky’s is now closed until Monday.
Stopsky’s opening has been quite an event. The new deli ran out of food on its opening weekend, then recovered only to face an electrical fire last weekend which has it closed until Friday at 7 am.
Stopsky’s: Now open for business, but not always accepting customers.
The reviews on Yelp suggest some opening glitches like slow food and shortages of rye bread… I suspect the pro crew at Stopsky’s will get these worked out. The couple of Yelpers who focused on the food had great things to say.
They’ve also gotten some good reviews. We’ve been in for bagels so far, which were excellent but also delivered a more slowly than we would have expected. But hey, Noah’s has been in business for years and they’re even slower. Stopsky’s at least has a shot at a decent learning curve.
Hot tipper Bill:
The Great Clips haircutting shop is moving from its current location next to Roberto’s to the space next to Noah’s (the former ice cream parlor). That leaves the building of its current location on 27th with three vacancies (Great Clips, Finders and Continental Travel). That’s too bad, because the building also houses one of the Island’s only stylish retail establishments in Tatters (but that’s another subject!).
The location, from Google maps:
Lots of movement in downtown these days. I expect the downturn will end up transforming downtown.
The website said the deli will open in the spring, so we’ve got less than two months to wait for (hopefully) tasty bagels while we browse Island Books.
Another hot tip on downtown businesses from Bill: Freshy’s finished their fish & chips take out counter.
I stopped in to Freshy’s to get more info and they confirmed that they intend to sell fried, delicious goodness for carry-out. They’re hoping to open at the beginning of May.
