Wedgwood's Stalled Shopping Center Is Still Rearranging 35th Avenue NE

The small bank building at 8702 35th Ave NE wasn't built in Wedgwood. It went up in 1961 at 1011 NE 63rd Street as a Peoples Bank branch, and in 1971 it was moved to its current lot near NE 87th Street. A 1987 merger made it a US Bank, and that branch closed in 2021. On Monday, November 16, it is scheduled to reopen as the Wedgwood branch of Mechanics Bank.

The bank bought that building as a fallback in case Wedgwood Center was redeveloped and its branch there had to move. The Wedgwood Center redevelopment has lost two developers in 2026 and hasn't broken ground. Even so, it has shaped almost every change around 35th Ave NE and NE 85th Street over the past four years.

A backup building bought in 2022

HomeStreet Bank had a branch at 8200 35th Ave NE, inside Wedgwood Center. In 2022 it bought the empty former US Bank building up the street. According to Wedgwood in Seattle History, the purchase was a "just in case" plan. If the center were redeveloped, the bank would have to leave its spot there.

Mechanics Bank acquired HomeStreet in 2025, and the Wedgwood branch got new signs that year. The move is going ahead anyway. The branch is leaving the center for a much smaller office at 8702 and staying in the neighborhood. The same history post notes that the branch does a good business in home loans.

So a bank is relocating to protect itself from a redevelopment that is currently on hold.

Two developers, two exits, one active permit

The project that started all this called for apartments on the upper floors over a new grocery store, on the NE 85th Street shopping center site. A developer began filing plans with the City of Seattle in 2022. A Seattle Times Now & Then column by Clay Eals describes the property as a two-acre, three-block-long 1960s shopping center that faced a proposal for a six-floor retail-residential building.

Here is how 2026 has gone for it so far:

1. January. The Wedgwood Community Council reported that Security Properties was no longer moving forward. The site plan had already cleared the design review board and was partway through the city's Master Use Permit review.
2. June. Records in the city's permit portal showed a new developer, Madison Development Group, which submitted an updated design package.
3. September. The council confirmed with the property owner that Madison Development Group had decided not to proceed, and that the owner was looking for a new owner and developer.

The white land-use signs are still on the property because the Master Use Permit is still active. That active permit leaves the businesses in the center waiting on a decision that keeps getting postponed.

What's still operating inside the center

In its September update, the council listed the Wedgwood Broiler, Van Gogh Coffeehouse, Kawaii Nail Salon and Wedgwood Hair Studio as open for business.

The Broiler at 8230 35th Ave NE has the longest history on the site. A small eatery opened there in 1965. After a 1969 remodel it became the Sir Wedgwood Broiler, and the "Sir" was dropped in 1973. The initials "SW" are still carved into the north entry doors. Owner Derek Cockbain started there as a dishwasher in 1981, worked his way up over 15 years, and bought the business in 1996. He told the Now & Then column, "People who came in 20 years ago to have a teriyaki steak will come in today and have it, so it should be exactly the same." The same column reported that he has rented month-to-month since COVID. A short-term lease suits a property whose future keeps changing.

The center's two biggest storefronts were empty as of February. Rite Aid closed in July 2025, and the QFC grocery closed in 2021. The grocery promised in the redevelopment plan would have replaced that QFC.

Just south of the Broiler, Blosm Studio at 8050 35th Ave NE offers Kundalini and Viniyoga classes, gong sound sessions and breathwork. Northeast Seattle Wire called it "easy to drive right past on 35th."

Across 35th, the same pattern with a different cause

Wells Fargo set November 4 as the last day for its Wedgwood branch at 8517 35th Ave NE. Customers started getting closure letters on August 3. The community council wrote that branch staff called it a business decision, that Wells Fargo owns the property, and that the company had no plans for it as of that August post. The council compared it to the earlier US Bank closure across the street, which is the building Mechanics is now moving into. It also said it would track the Wells Fargo property along with the Wedgwood Center redevelopment, calling the closure part of "a pattern of land use change near the 35th Ave NE and NE 85th Street intersection."

Bank of America at 8405 35th Ave NE is still the nearby in-person branch. Northeast Seattle Wire pointed readers there when it reported the Wells Fargo closure.

The building at 8515, next to Wells Fargo's 8517 address, also has a new tenant. It was the Wedgwood Ale House, then Wedgwood Public House, which closed August 15. Northeast Seattle Wire reported that 85th Socials by NOLA was taking over the space, from the team behind NOLA's Bengali and North Indian takeout kitchen down the block.

The 85th Socials website describes a speakeasy-inspired Bengali restaurant from Chef Sujay Dutta, with more than 50 dishes in seven categories, from Kolkata street-food dishes such as phuchka to biryani and tandoor breads. It lists the address as 8515 35th Ave NE, Suite A, with hours of 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday through Monday, closed Tuesday. It takes walk-ins only, with reservations for parties of 10 or more. The bar menu section still reads "Bar Coming Soon."

The corner in November, address by address

Read from south to north, the stretch shows where changes are still waiting on the center and where they have gone ahead on their own.

The one project on this stretch with a start date

The lot at 8605 35th Ave NE, between the closing Wells Fargo and the reopening bank building, is the only project here moving on a published schedule. Seattle Parks and Recreation's project page, updated October 22, says the department is working with SDCI and SDOT on the building and street improvement permits and expects construction to start in Winter 2027.

The design includes a central lawn, walking paths, a curved seat wall, seating and gathering areas, and a concrete pedestal for a possible future art installation. The Seattle Park District is putting $1,273,388 toward planning, design and construction. The city bought the site in 2014 with King County Conservation Futures money. That funding limits the site to low-impact, passive recreation and caps impervious surfaces at 15 percent of the site. Planning ran from 2018 to 2022 with a pause during the pandemic, and permitting and design have taken 2023 through 2026.

The land between the two bank buildings is restricted to passive recreation with little paving. The two-acre center down the street still has an active Master Use Permit and no developer. The next scheduled change on the corner is November 16, when Mechanics Bank is scheduled to open in the 1961 building that was moved to 35th Ave NE in 1971.

If you own property near 35th Ave NE and NE 85th and want to know how this mix of active permits, vacant buildings and a future park affects what your home is worth, Chris Haynes can walk you through it. Get your free home valuation and talk it over with someone who follows Wedgwood one address at a time.