Ten years after the first plans were announced, a grocery store opens Wednesday on the corner where City People's Garden Store used to be. Half a mile of Arboretum away, the Seattle Japanese Garden has finished rebuilding its north stone wall and is counting down to its winter closing on November 29. Both projects took years to arrive, and both land at the south end of Washington Park in the same few weeks. From now through November 29, you can see each one as it was meant to be, and after that the garden gates close until spring.
The Corner That Took a Decade
In April 2016, Capitol Hill Seattle Blog reported that PCC would anchor a mixed-use building planned for the City People's site on E Madison Street. At the time, the plan called for 75 apartments. What actually got built is The Arbory, a six-story building from developer Velmeir with 82 apartments over the retail floor and a 140-car underground garage. In between, according to CHS's April 2026 update, came "a protracted land use battle." City People's announced it would close at the end of 2022, stayed on through lease extensions, and finally closed in 2023, as the Daily Journal of Commerce later reported.
PCC's announcement says the store at 2925 E. Madison St. opens October 14 as the co-op's 17th neighborhood location. PCC also has a store at 23rd and Union, which opened in 2020 while the Madison Valley plans were still tied up. For anyone who lives between the Arboretum and Madison Park, E Madison is about to have a full-size grocery that wasn't there before.
What Changes About a Weekday on Madison
The store is big. PCC's own preview puts it at 24,000 square feet, and CHS described it as 25,000 in April. The details that matter day to day are in the co-op's Sound Consumer preview:
- Parking: The covered garage is free. It has 61 spaces and a one-way traffic pattern, shared with a much smaller retail space that was still empty as of September 30.
- Food you can eat there: There's an indoor dining area and a large production kitchen. Sushi is made in-house, and PCC's updated pizza uses local organic Cairnspring Mills flour, produced with Grand Central Bakery.
- Bulk aisle: Store director Nick Novak, who most recently ran the Green Lake Village PCC, told the co-op's writer, "we've got a huge bulk selection, which I think we continue to set the standard for in the city."
- Opening day: PCC plans music, food samples and activities on October 14.
Some of what's happening around the store affects people who never shop there. PCC writes that it has joined neighbors and local businesses in pushing for a crosswalk signal on Madison Street near the store. So far that's advocacy only. The announcement doesn't name an intersection or give a timeline. The co-op is also working with the city's P-Patch Program on composting workshops this fall at the nearby garden, taught through Tilth Alliance's Master Composter Program. Six nonprofits will receive grocery donations from the store, including Bailey-Boushay House, which is starting its first grocery donation program.
PCC has a history nearby, too. Its first storefront opened in 1967 at 3423 E. Denny Way in Madrona and didn't last long.
A New Cafe a Few Doors West
A smaller newcomer on the same strip made a citywide list this month. Eater Seattle's October update added Girdie's Cafe at 2811 E. Madison St. to its list of new restaurants, calling it "a green Spanish-influenced cafe in Madison Valley." Eater recommends the tortilla de patatas with frisée salad and the menu of low-alcohol cocktails and vermouths. We couldn't confirm hours from any published source, so check with the cafe directly before you go.
Between the grocery and the cafe, E Madison is now a place to get dinner and the morning's groceries on one walk. It also runs straight toward the Arboretum's south end, where the other big project of the year is wrapping up.
The Wall That Was Finished in September
The Seattle Japanese Garden spent most of its 2026 season as a working construction site. It closed for five weeks this summer, June 22 through July 27, and has been open with limited capacity since July 28. The project cost $2.8 million and replaced the garden's crumbling north stone wall. It also adds an accessible looped path so visitors using wheelchairs, strollers or walkers can reach the restored shoreline.
According to the garden, the ishigaki wall was finished on September 10. Four days later, staff said goodbye to Suminori Awata, a 15th-generation master stonemason, and most of the Green Man Builders crew who built it with him. Kyle Schlagenhauf of Green Man Builders is now leading a smaller crew on the new accessible path along the north end of the central pond. The garden calls the effort part of its "art of maintenance," the pruning, stonework and sweeping it has done for more than six decades.
So the wall is done, and the area around it is still under construction. About 80% of the grounds are open. The garden expects construction noise and suggests the southern sections for a quieter visit. A few things are on hold for the rest of 2026:
- Koi feeding is unavailable this season.
- Tateuchi Community Room rentals are suspended for the season.
- The garden is open with limited capacity while the path work continues.
Seven Weeks, Then a Locked Gate
The garden lists November 29 as its last day of the 2026 season. It's closed for winter maintenance December through February. That makes the Sunday after Thanksgiving the last chance to see the new wall this year. October's maple color program, Hatsumomiji, ran October 1 through 12 and is essentially over. Here's what's left on the calendar:
| Date | What's happening | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 14 | PCC Madison Valley opening celebration | 2925 E. Madison St. |
| Oct. 17 | Tea ceremony, Chaboshu, reservations required | Seattle Japanese Garden |
| Oct. 18 | Tea ceremony, Tankokai | Seattle Japanese Garden |
| Oct. 24 and 25 | Tea ceremonies, Omotesenke-ryu | Seattle Japanese Garden |
| Through Oct. 31 | Garden open Tue. to Sun., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Seattle Japanese Garden |
| Nov. 3 | Garden opens at noon | Seattle Japanese Garden |
| November | Garden open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Mondays | Seattle Japanese Garden |
| Nov. 29 | Final day of the garden's 2026 season | Seattle Japanese Garden |
| Dec. 5 and 6 | Gifts and Greens Galore | Arboretum Foundation |
Booking details for each tea ceremony are on the garden's events calendar. Last entry is 45 minutes before closing. In November, the garden closes at 4 p.m., so the latest you can get in is 3:15. Graham Visitors Center keeps the same 4 p.m. close, Tuesday through Sunday. The Arboretum grounds themselves are free and open all year, according to UW Botanic Gardens. After November 29, the trails stay open and only the garden closes.
The Arboretum's north end has its own long-term closure. Seattle Parks announced that Phase 1 restoration of the Waterfront Trail on Foster Island would start in June, closing part of the floating trail. Reopening is expected in early 2027. For this fall, the south end of the park is the more open of the two.
Evenings Around the Ramps
If you'll be out after dark this month, WSDOT has several overnight SR 520 closures near Montlake scheduled, each from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.:
- Oct. 12 to 15: The eastbound off-ramp to Montlake Boulevard closes. Drivers coming from I-5 must cross the lake and pay the toll, or use another route.
- Oct. 13 and 14: The Montlake Boulevard on-ramp to westbound SR 520 closes.
- Oct. 19 to 22 and Oct. 26 to 29: The westbound off-ramp to northbound I-5 and East Roanoke closes, and westbound traffic detours to southbound I-5.
Construction schedules change, so check WSDOT's SR 520 construction site before you head out.
A Late-Fall Loop From the Garden to Madison
- Start at the Seattle Japanese Garden. On a November weekday, get there by early afternoon, start in the quieter southern sections, then walk north to the new ishigaki wall and the path construction along the pond.
- Walk the Arboretum. The grounds are free and open after the garden closes. If you want the gift shop, Graham Visitors Center is open until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
- Head to Girdie's Cafe at 2811 E. Madison St. Order the tortilla de patatas or a vermouth, after confirming the cafe is open.
- Finish at PCC, 2925 E. Madison St. Pick up sushi or a slice of pizza from the deli, or eat in the dining area. If you drove, the garage is free.
The Japanese Garden reopens in March. PCC opens Wednesday.
We've watched the old City People's corner since the first plans were filed in 2016, and we'll keep following how The Arbory and the new businesses on E Madison change daily life for Washington Park neighbors. If you're curious what this year's changes mean for your street, or you just want to talk Arboretum walks, Hinds Team is happy to hear from you.
