Good morning, and welcome to the first Queen Anne & Magnolia Dispatch. Five minutes on what moved on Queen Anne and in Magnolia this week, one item for your own neighborhood, the market in three numbers, and one practical thing for the house.
Queen Anne & Magnolia this week
Light rail reaches Seattle Center in 2042; Smith Cove and Interbay could wait until about 2060. Sound Transit's updated plan funds the line to Seattle Center. The Smith Cove, Interbay and Ballard stations make 2042 only if the agency finds about $1 billion in savings or financial capacity by 2030 and the rest of the money by 2033. Board members and the mayor take questions Monday, October 19, 6 to 8 PM, at the National Nordic Museum, 2655 Market Street. Sound Transit · Forum · City Council
Discovery Park's free beach shuttle has three weekends left. It runs Thursday to Sunday, 11 AM to 5 PM, through Sunday, November 1, looping the East, North and South lots to the beach about every 45 minutes; the last ride leaves the beach at 4:45 PM. Beach parking is ADA only, and the Visitor Center stays closed until summer 2027 after a broken water main flooded it. Seattle Parks
The Magnolia Bridge gets inspected this fall; final design comes in spring 2028. SDOT crews are surveying the 1930 bridge, which carries 17,000 vehicles a day, ahead of concrete, steel, deck and joint repairs west of the railroad tracks. Alternatives come in spring 2027 and 30% design that summer. The 2024 transportation levy pays for it. SDOT
Climate Pledge Arena has an event five of the next eight nights. Tonight, then Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and next Saturday, October 24; three are Kraken games. Plan Mercer Street trips around them. Arena calendar
The $9.1 billion city budget: two more chances to speak. Oral comment opens the Select Budget Committee on Tuesday, October 27, at 9:30 AM, and the second public hearing is Thursday, November 5 (remote from 1 PM, in person from 5 PM). The final vote is set for November 20. City Council
Your neighborhood
Lower Queen Anne / Uptown. The new Memorial Stadium topped out this year and is due in fall 2027. Watch it rise from the viewing windows on Harrison Street next to Artists at Play and on 3rd Avenue across from the International Fountain. Around it this week: the Northwest Record Show at the Armory on Sunday, October 18, Seattle Opera's Salome from October 17 to 31, and the Light the Night Walk on Saturday, October 24. Memorial Stadium · Seattle Center
Sold near you: 15 homes closed within 0.6 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $565K (range $215K to $6.55M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 10 days.
East Queen Anne. (evergreen) Bhy Kracke Park, 1215 5th Avenue North, is tucked into a steep slope on the east side of the hill. From the top: downtown, Lake Union and Capitol Hill. Walk down the hill past azaleas and rhododendrons to a lawn, a play area and a pergola. Seattle Parks
Sold near you: 19 homes closed within 0.6 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $750K (range $260K to $5.17M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 10 days.
West Queen Anne. The Queen Anne Community Center, 1901 1st Avenue West, has reached 60% design for its renovation, with permits submitted. Bidding is planned for the first quarter of 2027; the city has not set a construction start. The work replaces lighting, plumbing, heating and cooling, electrifies the building and reclaims old hallways and locker rooms, on $4.4 million plus $18.9 million from the Seattle Park District. Seattle Parks
Sold near you: 9 homes closed within 0.6 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.55M (range $429K to $6.55M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 24 days.
North Queen Anne. At the foot of West Ewing Street by the South Ship Canal Trail, a 74-foot drop shaft and an 8-foot tunnel under the canal to Fremont now wait on the rest of the Ship Canal Water Quality Project. The site is quiet apart from occasional inspection and restoration crews. When the storage tunnel starts working in 2027, it keeps an average of more than 75 million gallons of stormwater and sewage a year out of the Ship Canal, Salmon Bay and Lake Union. Seattle Public Utilities · September update
Sold near you: 21 homes closed within 0.6 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.43M (range $283K to $2.26M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 21 days.
Interbay. The Port is designing more shore-power connections at Pier 91, due online in 2027, so more cruise ships at the Smith Cove terminal can plug in at berth. (evergreen) Next door, Smith Cove Park runs a 0.7-mile path past the warehouses to a promenade with picnic tables and a view down Elliott Bay to Alki. Port of Seattle · Smith Cove Park
Sold near you: 10 homes closed within 0.6 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.01M (range $230K to $3.27M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 21 days.
Lawton Park. The Discovery Park shuttle's North Lot stop is at Illinois Avenue and Texas Way, through November 1. (evergreen) Down the hill, Commodore Park, 3330 West Commodore Way, has paths to the Ship Canal facing the Ballard Locks spillway and fish ladder, and a heron colony that moved in from Kiwanis Ravine in 2013. Discovery Park · Commodore Park
Sold near you: 12 homes closed within 0.6 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $839K (range $296K to $1.74M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 35 days.
Briarcliff. (evergreen) The Magnolia Branch library, 2801 34th Avenue West, opened July 17, 1964, designed by Paul Hayden Kirk with landscape by Richard Haag, and is a city landmark; the furniture is by George Nakashima. Hours: Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10 AM to 6 PM, Wednesday and Thursday noon to 8 PM, closed Monday. Seattle Public Library
Sold near you: 11 homes closed within 0.6 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.32M (range $750K to $3.20M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 8 days.
Southeast Magnolia. The bridge repairs SDOT is scoping are on the western spans, from the railroad tracks toward Magnolia; survey crews work on and near the bridge this fall. (evergreen) Two lookouts close by: Magnolia Park, 1461 Magnolia Boulevard West, on the bluff over Puget Sound, and Ella Bailey Park, 2601 West Smith Street, with Mount Rainier and downtown in view. SDOT · Magnolia Park · Ella Bailey Park
Sold near you: 11 homes closed within 0.6 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.25M (range $640K to $3.27M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 2 days.
The market in 60 seconds
Across Queen Anne and Magnolia ZIPs 98109, 98119 and 98199 (City of Seattle), the median home sold for $1.25M over the last 30 days (61 closings; houses alone $1.45M). The median home took 61 days from listing to closing, and there are 6.5 months of inventory on the market.
Above six months favors buyers and under three favors sellers, so the edition as a whole sits on the buyer's side. Houses alone run 4.1 months, in the middle: only 168 of the 397 homes for sale are houses. 13% of homes closed above asking. 98109 also takes in Westlake and South Lake Union.
One useful thing: November 2, not October 31
The second half of 2026 King County property tax is due Monday, November 2. The usual date is October 31; when it falls on a weekend, the deadline moves to the next business day. Mail a check postmarked by the due date to King County Treasury, 201 S. Jackson St., Suite 710, Seattle, WA 98104, or pay online (a service fee applies). Questions: 206-263-2890. King County Treasury · FAQ
That's the week. Reply with anything you want tracked on Queen Anne or in Magnolia, and if a neighbor would read it, forward it. They can subscribe at queenannemagnoliadispatch.com. From here the Dispatch arrives Thursdays at 6 AM; next up, October 22: what came out of Monday's light rail forum.
The Queen Anne & Magnolia Dispatch is a RexMont Real Estate publication. Adriano Tori, Designated Broker. Reply to this email and a person reads it.