Salt & Straw, the popular ice cream shop with a large following, has pulled out of Avenue Bellevue, the two-tower luxury development located at Northeast 8th Street. According to a report from Puget Sound Business Journal, although they will no longer be leasing space at Avenue, they continue to search for other locations in the Bellevue area.
Salt & Straw had planned to open at Avenue Bellevue in early 2024. The shop was going to be 1,300 square feet. They were slated to hire about 20 – 25 people from the area.
The other locations that are open in Washington include Kirkland, Ballard, Capitol Hill, and Vancouver. This would have been the first location Salt & Straw to open in Bellevue.
Salt & Straw originally opened in Portland in 2011. Owner, Kim Malek and her cousins, had dreamt of a community gathering place with the intention of treating oneself with friends and family. In each city that there is a scoop shop, the company works with local makers, farmers, and chefs who inspire the ever-changing menu of new flavors.
This is not the first retailer to pull out of the Avenue Bellevue development. In March 2024, Two restaurants pulled out of the two-tower destination. Michelin-starred Chef Masaharu Morimoto and James Beard nominee Robbie Felice, have both dropped out of the project, as confirmed by Montclair Hospitality Group.
Avenue Bellevue is a two-tower mixed-use development that includes a hotel, retail spaces, and residences. It offers 141 Estate Homes in the South Tower and 224 residences in the West Tower. InterContinental Bellevue at The Avenue opened in July 2024. The hotel offers 208 rooms with prices ranging from the $500s to $7,200 per night.
Originally slated for an October 2023 debut, the opening of InterContinental Hotel was pushed back to January 2024. Subsequently, it was delayed further to April 15, 2024, then rescheduled to June 15th, with the final opening date set for July 18, 2024.
The retail options currently open at Avenue Bellevue and InterContinental Bellevue include Jo Malone, Fleur Studio, the furniture store Brume, Cé La Vie, a lobby bar and lounge, and Fresco, a breakfast eatery highlighting Pacific Northwest cuisine.
This development is turning into a disappointment.
Not a clue what Bellevue has to offer to justify paying $500 for a place to stay the night, much less $7,200.
I don’t mean to be unkind, but really, this isn’t a major destination.
I wonder if Kemper Freeman will be buying this one out of financial distress for a discount, as he did with Lincoln Square.
I hope these two buildings have not already been built. They look top heavy and way out of scale to the rest of the buildings. I feel sorry for the Bellevue citizens. The city is destroying the soul of the community. I don’t know why they are not building buildings which fit in with the character of the other buildings.
Get ready for more dark buildings (8) planning to be built where current QFC and bartel is located. The developer should look into what is happening with the Avenue.
While I appreciate increased density, I feel developments like Pinnacle, which focus more on mass-market rentals have more of a future in Bellevue, especially the underdeveloped and lacking NW quadrant of downtown. I look forward to this area in 10-15 years, as it transitions from derelict surface parking to a lively, modern hub, adjacent to Bellevue Square. This is why the Intercontinental is here; it may look out of place now, but in a decade it won’t be surrounded by a moat of car parks anymore.