KidsQuest has agreed to purchase the former Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art, located at 1116 108^th Ave. NE, according their recent press release. The building is more than twice the size of KidsQuest’s current location. The annual attendance for the museum is 168,000.

Programs at KidsQuest focus on science, technology, engineering, art, and math for children up to age 8. The museum offers hands-on learning through exhibits and features more than 650 classes and workshops each year.

The KidsQuest Children’s Museum will show a rotating collection of Rosalie Whyel’s dolls as part of its permanent exhibitions.

Open for just under a year, Amazon Grill in Downtown Bellevue at 530 112th Ave NE has closed for business.  A piece of paper on the restaurant door states “Restaurant closed until further notice.” A peek inside the restaurant shows many of the lights still on, and all the furniture still in place.

The outside restaurant signage currently has a large “For Lease” banner hanging over it.

Amazon Grill specialized in traditional food from the Amazon River regions of Peru and Brazil.

A letter from the United States Postal Service to the City of Bellevue states that both the Midlakes and Bellevue Main Post Offices may relocate to one location just north of Bel-Red Road, at 120th Ave NE. The relocation is part of a cost cutting measure for the U.S.P.S. that would leave Downtown Bellevue without a US Post Office.

The new Bel-Red Road post office would be scheduled to open in mid 2013.

The post office is one of those entities people have a love/hate relationship with.  They love to hate it, but once it’s not around they will miss it.  If there is no longer a post office in Downtown Bellevue, I suspect people will miss it, I know I will. Will you?

Bellevue City Council gave the green light to fund a 56-unit low-income apartment complex in Downtown Bellevue.

The city’s contribution to the $15 million project will be $635,000.  The funding comes from its Housing Fund for the Low Income Housing Institute’s Downtown Bellevue Apartments.  The apartment building will be 6 stories and built on a lot at 204 111th Ave NE, by the developer LIHI, which bought the property in 2009.

The apartments would accommodate families with household incomes at 30, 50, and 60 % of the area’s median income. The developer, LIHI, is applying for $10 million in low-income housing tax credits.

In September of 2011 the penthouse at One Lincoln Square, as we reported, was first listed for $4.95M. On March 28th the sale was complete to an owner that paid $2.3M, 53% less than the original asking price.  The price paid was also lower than the last sale price in 2006 for $3M.

The 2-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom, 4,048 sq.-ft. property was banked owned, and over the 7 months it was for sale the price had quickly been lowered. Since it was bank owned, there was great urgency in wanting to unload the property.

Although there are no other condos in Downtown Bellevue actively listed over the $2M price range, this goes without saying that the buyer received the deal of a century (well, at least the deal of the decade).

The property has been fully permitted and now has a plan, which Colliers International has put together, for a potential buyer. The plan created for the property includes an apartment complex with 79 units called “Ventana on Main.” This would allow for a combined 77,731 sq. ft. of combined living and retail space. The plans for the property list over 80 parking stalls.

The property was previously Jasmine, a Thai restaurant and has been vacant for several years.

Property address:
10713 Main Street
Bellevue, WA 98004

Fisker

Fisker started delivering the Fisker Karma in the 2nd half of 2011. According to the salesperson at the dealership, the network of dealers is about 50 nationwide. The Fisker Karma is a plug-in hybrid, which means that it runs on both electricity and gas. The 4-door sports car gets 20 – 52 mpg according to the EPA.

Pricing starts at $102,000 for the basic model and tops out at $116,000. Customers can also qualify for a $7,500 tax credit on their income taxes when purchasing a Fisker Karma.

The dealership is located in an unexpected space, next door to several restaurants, a massage parlor, a gun store, and other stores within a strip mall. It is not where you typically expect a luxury car dealership to be. The property is a part of the long-term expansion plan for Washington Square. The location has primary visibility on NE 8th St. and a high level of traffic outside, which is likely the reason it was chosen.

Servicing for the vehicles will take place at Lexus of Bellevue.

The dealership is open Monday – Saturday at 10692 NE 8th St., Bellevue, WA, 98004.

Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. is not new to luxury properties. Some of their other investments include properties Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston, Union Station in Washington D.C., Barneys New York, 25 East Oak in Chicago’s “Miracle Mile,” Madison Avenue, and more.

According to the report, Schnitzer West’s Tom Woodworth said there were 91 potential buyers that had registered to receive information about the complex.

The Bravern is currently 87% leased, with about 13 retail spaces available. No changes for The Bravern have currently been reported.

If you’ve been looking for the Subway at Avalon Meydenbauer you will no longer find it. Subway closed their business in February and now has a leasing sign in their window advertising the availability of the space. In addition to Subway, CeFiore Frozen Yogurt has also appeared to close. Last week a “Closed for remodel” sign appeared on their door, and now this week that sign is gone, and so is the furniture inside the space. Subway and CeFiore opened in September 2008.

With the closure of CeFiore this brings the total of total frozen yogurt shops to just 3 in Downtown Bellevue (Red Mango, Blissberri, & Yogurtland), 2 of which are in Bellevue Square. Yogurtland has seemed to luck out in the frozen yogurt battle. All the frozen yogurt stores outside of Bellevue Square went out of business practically before Yogurtland even opened.

Lastly, Andre’s Cleaners is still in business at Avalon Meydenbauer, but there is now a leasing sign up in the window. Due to this sign, one may assume that Andre’s could be close to the end of their lease, or moving out shortly.

At the time of this article going live Monica Wallace, the leasing agent for the Avalon Meydenbauer did not respond to inquiries about the available spaces.

The buyer has not been revealed, but according to the report the transaction is expected to close by the end of March. Dan Ivanoff, the founder and managing investment partner, said this of the expected buyer, “This is a best-in-class, luxury-type retail buyer, and very entrepreneurial.”

Other interesting notes from the article:

• There are spaces for about 9 additional retail tenants
• According to Ivanoff, sales at the Bravern’s luxury shops were up 50% last year over 2010. Overall shop sales were up 15 % for 2011.
• One of the empty retail locations at The Bravern may be claimed this summer by a Europe-based luxury retailer within the jewelry category.