Old Bellevue's Main Street Is Losing Its Longtime Shops. The City's New Rules Protect the Storefronts.

"This is not the last chapter," the owner of Veritables wrote when she announced that her home furnishings shop at 10220 Main Street would close after 18 years. Downtown Bellevue Network reported that she plans pop-ups and a search for a new location, but has not announced an address or a timeline. Veritables closed on October 15.

Matcha Magic, two doors down, has its last day on Sunday, November 1. Glassybaby moved out earlier this month. All three sat on the same block near Main Street and 103rd Avenue NE. This year Bellevue City Council did act to protect Old Bellevue's character, but its rules govern what new buildings look like from the sidewalk. They say nothing about who rents the ground floor, and the block emptying out right now is exempt from them anyway.

One block, four departures

The block in question is the site of North of Main, an eight-story residential and retail building from Vander Hoek Corporation. According to plans submitted to the city, it will hold 176 market-rate apartments, 10,363 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and 154 parking stalls on roughly 0.71 acres. Every existing structure on the site is set to come down.

Here is where the block's longtime tenants stand as of late October 2026.

Glassybaby came out of the move with more room. Downtown Bellevue Network reported that its new store at Design Market, across from Overlake Hospital, is larger than the corner it held on Main Street for more than 15 years. Matcha Magic is run by Conscious Hospitality Group, the Bellevue-based company behind Just Poke, SUGO Handroll Bar and HAPS Burgers. The company told Downtown Bellevue Network that the cafe is looking for a new Bellevue spot, but no address has been announced.

What the city's temporary rules actually protect

On February 10, 2026, City Council adopted an interim control for the Downtown–Old Bellevue district along Main Street between 100th Avenue and Bellevue Way. The ordinance gives its reasons plainly. Old Bellevue is not a designated local historic district, and the city has not done a formal historic survey there in almost 30 years. The last survey, completed in March 1993 and updated in July 1997, identified eight properties on this stretch of Main Street with historic or cultural value. Since then, four of those eight have been redeveloped or substantially altered.

The rules focus on the street-level shell of a building. Under the current ordinance text, new redevelopment facing Main Street must include:

1. At least one publicly accessible door on Main Street, with doors no more than 30 feet apart
2. Solid vertical elements between 1 and 10 feet wide, spaced no more than 30 feet apart
3. A façade that lines up with its neighbors and carries a cornice

Before demolishing or significantly altering the façade of a building more than 50 years old, a project must also file documentation covering its construction year, historic and recent uses, style, materials and photographs taken before the work begins.

In July, Council extended the rules for six months, through February 2027. It clarified the standards and added a voluntary incentive for preserving façades after hearing concerns about cost and clarity. The incentive awards 100 bonus points for every $1,000 of documented construction cost spent preserving or protecting historic façades or other historic design features.

Taken together, the rules aim to keep Main Street a row of narrow, door-lined storefronts at the scale of its older buildings. They do not require property owners to keep their existing tenants.

Why the rules don't reach the North of Main block

North of Main vested under the earlier zoning, so the interim rules don't apply to it. The block that has lost Glassybaby, Veritables and Matcha Magic this year is being redeveloped under the code that applied before February.

That leaves two separate effects on Main Street. Future projects along the stretch will have to build doors every 30 feet and line their façades up with the buildings next door. The one project already clearing out tenants will proceed under its earlier approvals. In July, Downtown Bellevue Network reported that North of Main's construction was expected to potentially begin in early 2026. That window has passed, and Matcha Magic is still serving on the block until November 1.

Until it starts, the block's storefronts will empty one by one as leases end.

The south end of downtown is on its own clock

A second project is moving at the southeast corner of Bellevue Way SE and Main Street, across Bellevue Way from the stretch the interim rules name. Downtown Bellevue Network reported in August that Shri Krishna Bhavan, the South Indian restaurant at 13 Bellevue Way SE, had closed, along with the 7-Eleven next door at 100 Bellevue Way SE. Shri Krishna Bhavan had only opened around the start of 2026.

The site will become 12 Bellevue Way SE, a seven-story building from SRM Development with 376 market-rate apartments and ground-floor retail. A developer representative said the company is aiming to start construction late in the fourth quarter of this year. Runberg Architecture Group lists the building in its construction documents phase, the last stage of design before permitting and construction.

Combined, the two projects will put 552 new apartments at either end of Old Bellevue's Main Street. The main difference for anyone walking the street is timing. The south end has a target start date and the North of Main block does not.

What's still open, and what's been announced

Plenty of Main Street is still operating. Gin & The Banker, the fine jewelry store owned by La Ree's founder, remains open. In March, Downtown Bellevue Network reported that construction had begun on its expansion into the former Lorelei Optical space next door. Bis on Main is on the list of Bellevue participants for Seattle Restaurant Week, which runs October 18 through 31.

A few new tenants have been announced but haven't opened:

• Bar Da Vila, a Brazilian restaurant, was announced by a sign in Adrian's former space at 10145 Main St. No opening date had been given as of the March report.
• Indigo Cow and Machi Machi, a Japanese soft serve shop and a bubble tea shop, were announced in January to share a space at Main Street Flats, also without an opening date.

The announced newcomers are food and drink concepts. The businesses that have left the North of Main block include a boutique, a glass studio and a home furnishings shop, plus a matcha bar.

The permanent rules are being written now

The interim control is temporary by design. The permanent rules are being drafted under Downtown Livability 2.0, a land use code amendment. One of its stated goals is to promote the historic development pattern of Old Bellevue's Main Street while continuing to add housing downtown.

Council started the amendment on May 5. The Planning Commission held a check-in on May 27, and public information sessions followed on June 15 and 17. The next dated step on the city's schedule was a Planning Commission study session on October 28. After that, the city still lists more outreach, a Planning Commission recommendation, and Council review and adoption. No final adoption date has been published, and the interim rules expire in February 2027.

The city's project page is where the next meeting dates will be posted, and it's the place to follow the amendment or comment on it. The council can adopt permanent rules that differ from the interim ones, so the door spacing and cornice requirements above describe Main Street's rules as of October 2026. They may not be the final version.

If you own property in Old Bellevue, this post is general information and not legal advice, and you should confirm how these rules apply to your parcel with the City of Bellevue or a land use attorney.

If you own near Old Bellevue and want to understand how the North of Main and 12 Bellevue Way SE timelines could affect a sale or purchase, Nick Loveless Real Estate follows these projects block by block. Work With Nick.