Old Bellevue's Main Street Is Changing From Both Ends This Fall

Old Bellevue's Main Street is changing from both ends at the same time. At the east end, the block around 103rd Avenue NE is emptying ahead of an eight-story apartment building. At the west end, the corner of Bellevue Way SE has already gone dark ahead of a seven-story one. In February the City Council adopted rules to keep Main Street looking like Old Bellevue. Those rules cover doors, cornices and façade lines. They do not cover who rents the storefronts. So far, the shops pushed out by redevelopment have reopened somewhere other than Main Street, or haven't yet said where they will go.

The rest of this post goes block by block.

The 10200 block, door by door

The North of Main project from Vander Hoek Corporation covers about 0.71 acres at Main Street and 103rd Avenue NE. Plans call for 176 market-rate apartments, 10,363 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and 154 parking stalls, and every existing building on the site comes down. These are the storefronts that have closed or announced closings on that block since September 2025:

1. La Ree Boutique was an upscale women's clothing store. It closed Sept. 25, 2025, after 20 years.
2. Glassybaby, 10230 Main St., sold hand-blown votives there from October 2009 until this year, when it moved.
3. Veritables, 10220 Main St., is a home furnishings and gift shop. It announced it would close Oct. 15 after 18 years and ran a closing sale of 50 percent off or more starting Sept. 14.
4. Matcha Magic, 10246 Main St., closes Nov. 1. The matcha bar opened in May 2022 in the former Jujubeet space. It started on Main Street before adding cafes in Redmond, Capitol Hill, South Lake Union, New Orleans and Tempe.

Veritables had been a regular stop on the Old Bellevue wine walk, most recently in May. Gin & The Banker is the fine jewelry store from La Ree founder Rachael Nov, and it is staying on Main Street.

North of Main's timing is less settled than the closings. February coverage pointed to a possible early-2026 start. Vander Hoek's own project page still describes it as currently permitting. No demolition date has been made public. Even so, the tenants are leaving on their own schedule.

Meanwhile, at Bellevue Way SE

At the other end of the street, things are further along. According to Downtown Bellevue Network, the southeast corner of Bellevue Way SE and Main Street is moving toward demolition for 12 Bellevue Way SE, a 376-unit apartment building. Shri Krishna Bhavan, the South Indian restaurant at 13 Bellevue Way SE, had shut by late August. So had the 7-Eleven next door at 100 Bellevue Way SE.

The restaurant was open for only part of a year. Downtown Bellevue Network reported it open, serving dosa, idly and vada, in late January 2026. SRM Development told the outlet it aims to start construction late in the fourth quarter of this year. That puts the start within weeks of the date this post goes up.

The size of the building matters for the street. Plans the City approved in July 2025 call for three levels of below-grade parking with 438 stalls, 338 of them for residents. Runberg Architecture Group's figures put the building's commercial space at 15,685 square feet. Combined with North of Main's 10,363 square feet, that is more than 26,000 square feet of new ground-floor retail space at the two ends of the same street, and none of it falls under the façade standards described below.

What the City's rules cover, and what they leave out

On Feb. 10, 2026, the Bellevue City Council adopted an interim control for Main Street between 100th Avenue NE and Bellevue Way on a 4–3 vote. In its findings, the City said Old Bellevue had not had a formal historic and cultural survey in almost 30 years. It also said four of the eight properties identified as having historic value had since been redeveloped or substantially altered. In July, the council renewed the rules unanimously through February 2027.

Under the amended version in the City's extension ordinance, a new Main Street ground floor needs:

• a publicly accessible door onto Main Street
• doors no more than 30 feet apart
• solid vertical elements no more than 30 feet apart
• a façade that lines up with its neighbors
• a cornice

An owner who wants to demolish a building more than 50 years old, or significantly alter its façade, has to file a report first. The report documents the building's address, construction year, past uses, style and materials, with photographs taken before any work begins. A bonus-point incentive encourages owners to preserve buildings voluntarily.

The 30-foot door rule is how the City intends to keep Main Street's small-shop rhythm in new buildings. The rules do not require property owners to keep existing tenants. North of Main vested under the earlier zoning, so it is exempt from the interim rules altogether. The 12 Bellevue Way SE corner also falls outside the rules: Bellevue Way SE runs south of Main, and the controlled stretch ends at Bellevue Way. As a result, the two biggest buildings coming to Main Street will be the ones built without the new standards.

The longer-term version of these rules is being drafted now. The City's Downtown Livability 2.0 code amendment page lists promoting historic development patterns on Main Street among its goals, and it lists a Planning Commission study session on Oct. 28, 2026.

Where the departing shops have landed

The rules cover the buildings but not the businesses inside them, so where the departing shops go is up to each business. So far, none has reopened on Main Street.

Glassybaby opened a larger store on Oct. 1 at Design Market, 1048 116th Ave. NE, the shopping center across from Overlake Hospital.

Matcha Magic is run by Conscious Hospitality Group, the Bellevue company behind Just Poke, SUGO Handroll Bar and HAPS Burgers. The company told Downtown Bellevue Network that Matcha Magic is looking for a new Bellevue location. No address or reopening timeline has been announced.

Veritables owner Marie Harris announced the closing on the shop's Instagram and said the redevelopment decision was out of her hands. She plans to take some time off, go on buying trips for pop-ups and look for a new space. Downtown Bellevue Network quoted her:

"This is not the last chapter."

She has not announced a location or dates for the pop-ups.

What's planned for the middle of the street

The middle of Main Street has the most activity, but much of it is still announced rather than open.

Adrian's had closed by the end of February 2026, and a window sign named Bar Da Vila as the next tenant. Indigo Cow would be a return to Bellevue. Machi Machi would be opening its first Bellevue location.

All three of these are in existing buildings in the middle of the street, away from both redevelopment sites. That is where the new businesses are arriving, while the shops at the two ends close.

Oct. 31, the day before Nov. 1

The fall calendar puts two Main Street dates back to back. Little Monsters on Main Street is the Old Bellevue Merchants Association's free trick-or-treat event, set for Saturday, Oct. 31, from 1 to 3 p.m. The Bellevue Downtown Association describes it as a family event, with participating businesses handing out treats. Matcha Magic's last day at 10246 Main is the next day.

Later in the season, the merchants' events page lists Shop Small and Thanksgiving deals in November, and Jingle Bellevue and a winter holiday party in December. It has not posted 2026 dates for them yet. Small Business Saturday falls on Nov. 28 this year. Just north of Main, the Bellevue Downtown Ice Rink opens Nov. 13 in Downtown Park and runs through Jan. 18. Snowflake Lane starts its nightly 7 p.m. run between Bellevue Square and Lincoln Square on Nov. 27.

If you own on or near Main Street and want to know what two new buildings, and the Planning Commission's work on Downtown Livability 2.0, could mean for your property, I'm happy to go through it block by block with you. Work with Anastasia at Anastasia Miles.