Bellevue Towers Tops Out Top Floor

The city's new tallest peak in town has arrived! Bellevue Towers had their "Topping Off Ceremony" Wednesday afternoon, celebrating the freshly poured concrete on the 43rd story of the South Tower building.

The views from the top are absolutely breathtaking. From this vantage point, there are views of Lake Washington, downtown Seattle, and the Cascade & Olympic mountain ranges.

To help celebrate this milestone, the Mayor of Bellevue, Grant Degginger was on hand congratulating the Bellevue Towers team on such a fabulous feat and accomplishment.

This event signifies the last pouring of concrete, but residents won't start moving in until November of this year. The 540 unit condo building currently has over one third of the building sold.

View King 5 Video of the event

The Village Bellevue - Open House

Today, from 4-8pm, The Village Bellevue will be hosting an open house to show off their rentable office space concept that will occupy a portion of Su Development's Element's Too building, which is currently under construction.

We previously reported the announcement of this project back in March. They now have their presentation center up and running on 106th Ave.

They encourage you to come by for some hors d'oevres, served by Bis on Main, and some bubbly to toast to their beginning.

Event Details:
Thursday, May 15th 4 - 8pm
121 106th Ave NE

City of Bellevue "Expo" to Highlight City's Major Projects

The City of Bellevue will be hosting a Spring Forward Expo Thursday, May 15th, highlighting the major events in Bellevue. This will allow for an in-person forum to provide feedback to the city about it's current projects that are in the works.

Here are a few of the projects to be highlighted:

• Bel-Red Subarea
• Light Rail
• Pedestrian/Bicycle Plan
• Great Streets
• Meydenbauer Bay Park
• Downtown Circulator

Downtown Bellevue Network Turns 1 Year Old!

Last night The Downtown Bellevue Network celebrated it's 1 Year Anniversary at 520 Bar and Grill! Thanks to our readers, we had a fabulous turn out and got feedback that people had wonderful time. We are looking at having events, like yesterday's, on a quarterly basis...so stay tuned for the next announcement!

We want to give special thanks to 520 Bar and Grill for allowing us to host our celebration at their cozy restaurant. We also want thank our great sponsors that made last night possible, providing us with great gifts for our guests:

520 Bar & Grill
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse
0/8 Seafood Grill and Twisted Cork Wine Bar
The Spot Off Main
The Purple Cafe
Lucky Strike Lanes
Bellevue Arts Museum
425 Magazine
Starbucks at the Lodge
Joey's
Elite Fitness

Koots Green Tea, Nau, and More - Close Their Doors

Koots Green Tea
Not even two years since it's opening, Lincoln Square's Koots Green Tea has closed it's doors effective yesterday. The company, which has several locations in Japan, opened it's first store in the US here in Bellevue. After expanding to Seattle as well, both stores have now closed.

Nau
Over at Bellevue Square, Nau Inc. (clothing company), is nationally shutting down their operations and have already vacated their Bellevue Square store location. Nau had stores sprinkled around the country and was dedicated to sustainability and giving back to the community and environment. They gave back 10% of their purchase prices to particular non-profit associations. They have now closed, due to the lack of funding and financial support.

Porcella Urban Market
On May 18th the Porcella Urban Market on Main Street will cease operations and close. With the many projects planned for Main Street, in the next few years there will be an abundance of retail space open in this particular area.

Presidential Candidate, John McCain, Visits Bellevue Tuesday

John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, will be visiting Downtown Bellevue on Tuesday, May 13th at the Hyatt for a fund raising event. According to the event's Website, the pricing to attend are as follows:

Reception $1,000
VIP Reception $2,300
Photo Reception $10,000
Victory Dinner (per couple) $33,100

Trader Vic's Now Offering Free Valet Parking

In an attempt at driving more business, Lincoln Square's Trader Vic's is now offering free valet parking to it's customers while dining.

There has been a rumor floating around for the last year that Trader Vic's is actively looking to unload their lease, due to poor business in this location.