What's Changing in Queen Anne, and What Isn't

Walk the ten blocks of Queen Anne Avenue between West Galer and West McGraw and the storefronts look almost exactly as they did two years ago. El Diablo Coffee is still pulling cortaditos at 1811 Queen Anne Ave N. Betty is still cooking upper-hill comfort food a few blocks off Kerry Park. Via Tribunali is still turning out Neapolitan pizza at the top of the hill. If your read on Queen Anne comes from the Ave, the neighborhood feels frozen.

Go down the counterbalance, though, and the picture flips. The Mercer corridor and the Dravus block east of Seattle Pacific are where the neighborhood is actually being rewritten this year, and the pattern is consistent enough to name.

The action in Queen Anne right now is almost entirely at the base of the hill. Upper Queen Anne is the constant. Lower Queen Anne is the variable.

The Mercer Corridor Is Doing the Heavy Lifting

Three of the year's most talked-about openings land within a short walk of each other on or near Mercer. Blue Willow opened in late March in the former Stateside space, run by Benjamin Chew, who also operates Tyger Tyger on Lower Queen Anne. The menu leans Sichuan rather than Vietnamese, with things like sweet-and-spicy baby back ribs, crispy eggplant with a Honeycrisp and cumin glaze, and honey walnut prawn buns. Around the same time, Maddy's Bakeshop stepped up from pop-up work to a brick-and-mortar on Lower Queen Anne with weekend hours starting Valentine's Day.

Then there is Tsuki Shokudo, a fast-casual Japanese concept from restaurateur Byungmoon Chun that leased a 1,575-square-foot portion of 23 Mercer St earlier this year. That address matters more than the cuisine. The Mercer block between First and Second Avenues is quietly becoming the densest food block on the hill, sharing the corridor with Toulouse Petit, Queen Anne Beerhall on Thomas and Second, Ozzie's at 105 W Mercer, and the SIFF Cinema Uptown just up the block at 511 Queen Anne Ave N. For a resident, that means a real Thursday-night option that does not require driving to Capitol Hill or downtown.

What 118 W. Mercer Says About the Next Few Years

Two blocks west of that food cluster, ground broke in March on Altaire at Queen Anne, a seven-story, 114-unit building at 118 W. Mercer Street. The site had sat vacant for roughly five years. The unit mix is worth looking at, because it tells you something about who the building is aimed at: 44 studios, 52 one-bedrooms, 6 two-bedrooms, and 12 three-bedrooms, with income eligibility running roughly $66,000 to $100,000 depending on household size.

Financing came from a stack that includes a $9.2 million loan from Amazon's Housing Equity Fund, $20.2 million from the Seattle Office of Housing, and $22 million from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, per reporting from the Puget Sound Business Journal and MyNorthwest. The design team is Runberg Architecture Group.

For someone who already owns on the hill, the useful read is this: the block between First Avenue W and Second Avenue W on Mercer will be a construction site for a stretch, and when it finishes, the pedestrian count on that side of the street changes materially. A parking garage of 20 spaces for 114 units also tells you the building expects Climate Pledge Arena, the Seattle Center monorail, and the light-rail buildout to carry the load.

The Dravus Question

Farther north, on the other side of the ridge, a different kind of proposal is moving. Two Seattleites filed plans in April to open East West Club, described as an "urban country club," at 6 and 10 Dravus St, east of Seattle Pacific University. If approved, the amenities include four custom-built golf simulator bays, a rooftop lounge, a self-serve beverage wall, small office space, and wellness facilities, with founding members reportedly paying $25,000 upfront covering four years of dues, according to FOX 13.

Whether it lands or not, the location choice is the tell. Dravus has historically been a light-industrial and self-storage seam between Queen Anne and Interbay. Filing a members-only club there in 2026 assumes the seam has already shifted, and the developers are willing to bet capital on it before the retail rents confirm the thesis.

Upper Queen Anne Ave, Still Itself

Here is the counterweight. Almost none of this year's headline changes are happening on the top of the hill.

The Ave between West McGraw and West Galer, an 800-meter commercial spine, is doing what it has done for years: El Diablo Coffee Co. at 1811 Queen Anne Ave N roasting its own beans with Cuban-inspired drinks, Molly Moon's a short walk off, Betty a few blocks toward Kerry Park, Via Tribunali holding the pizza slot at the crest. Cornelly Queen Anne has earned a following for its pizza crust, and Toulouse Petit continues to anchor the Lower Queen Anne side with Cajun-Creole. What you are seeing is a two-speed neighborhood: a stable retail crown and a churning base.

For a homeowner, that pattern has practical value. The predictable half of the neighborhood keeps daily errands boring in the good way. The changing half keeps optionality high for dinner and for guests visiting from out of town.

The Thursday Rhythm and the Pool You Cannot Use

Two facts shape the summer week here more than any restaurant opening.

The first is the Queen Anne Farmers Market, which runs Thursdays 3 to 7 p.m. from June through October in the parking lot at Queen Anne Avenue N and West Crockett Street, with roughly 40 vendors ranging from produce and cut flowers to prepared food and live music. If you live on the hill and you have not built a Thursday habit around it, you are underusing the neighborhood.

The second is less pleasant. Queen Anne Pool has been closed since November 2025 after it began losing about 400,000 gallons of water per month, with leaks traced to inflow pipes beneath the pool that are inaccessible for standard repair. Seattle Parks and Recreation confirmed in March 2026 that the fix will be handled as part of the Citywide Pool Renovation Project, with no reopening date yet. In the meantime, Mounger Pool is absorbing added summer programming, and Ballard, Evans, and Medgar Evers pools are picking up expanded lesson slots and weekend hours in fall 2026. If you moved onto the hill partly for the pool, plan on Magnolia this year.

Adjoining that pool site, the Queen Anne Community Center still runs Queen Anne Days each summer, with food, a wine and beer garden, bounce houses, and vendors on the West Queen Anne Playfield known locally as Big Howe. Summer session runs June 21 to September 7.

A Practical Read for Residents

If you want to actually use what is new this year, this is the short version:

• Thursday afternoon. Farmers market at Queen Anne Ave N and W Crockett, 3 to 7 p.m., then walk down to Blue Willow or Tyger Tyger for dinner on Lower Queen Anne.
• New date-night rotation. Blue Willow for Sichuan, Betty for seasonal comfort food up the hill, Toulouse Petit for late happy hour from 9:30 to 11 p.m.
• A film night that does not require crossing town. SIFF Cinema Uptown at 511 Queen Anne Ave N for independent and foreign programming.
• Weekend guests from out of town. Kerry Park 30 to 45 minutes before sunset for the postcard, then dinner on Mercer instead of driving downtown.
• Swim lessons this summer. Register at Mounger while Queen Anne Pool remains offline.
• Watch this address. 118 W. Mercer as Altaire rises, and 6 and 10 Dravus for whether East West Club actually lands.

The through-line for anyone who lives here: the top of the hill is doing what you already trust it to do, and the base of the hill is where the next two years of the neighborhood's identity get decided. Both halves are worth walking with fresh eyes.

If you own on Queen Anne and are thinking about how these shifts affect your home's story when you eventually list it, or you are watching the hill from outside the city and want a read that is not filtered through a portal, Chris Bierrum is available to talk it through. Schedule a consultation when you are ready.