The Edmonds Waterfront Has a Plan for Arnies' Building. It Doesn't Have a Date.
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
"After 45 years of service, Arnies Restaurant will close effective September 21, 2026." The sign on the door at the Landing building went on to say that "the current business climate does not allow us to continue," and it thanked guests for "first dates, holidays, birthdays, proposals, and Anniversaries." When My Edmonds News reported the closure on Sept. 22, columnist Deborah Binder wrote that she had tried to reach management and that no one was available or willing to comment.
The closure came early. In November 2025 the Edmonds Beacon ran a story headlined "Arnies confirms: We're open, serving Edmonds through at least 2029." That date was never really the restaurant's own. It came from the lease on the land under the building. Arnies closed roughly three years before that date. So for the first time in more than four decades, the restaurant space at 300 Admiral Way is empty, and nobody has said when the next one will open.
The Port of Edmonds owns the ground under the Landing. For decades the building itself belonged to Catspaw LLC, which held a ground lease scheduled to end at the end of 2029. In early 2024, managing member Peter Challman told the Port that Catspaw would not extend it. A few months later, Catspaw brought the Port a possible successor: 1010 Development, the company run by father and son Mike and Ryan Appleby.
The Port reviewed the proposal closely. Staff gave the Port Commission a condition study, a market analysis, a redevelopment feasibility report and a cash flow analysis. Acting Executive Director Brandon Baker said the proposal was discussed at 11 public commission meetings in 2024 and 2025, and that public comment "overwhelmingly supported the project." The Commission approved a new 50-year ground lease unanimously, and it took effect June 6, 2025.
When My Edmonds News covered the deal in June 2025, it reported that construction was expected to start sometime in 2029. Until then, the Port said, the building would stay retail and office space, with Arnies as its flagship tenant. So everyone was working from the same date. The old lease ran to the end of 2029, construction was estimated to start in 2029, and the restaurant said it would stay through at least 2029.
| Date | What happened at the Landing |
|---|---|
| Early 2024 | Catspaw LLC tells the Port it won't extend its lease, which runs to the end of 2029 |
| 2024–2025 | The Port Commission discusses 1010 Development's proposal at 11 public meetings |
| June 6, 2025 | The 50-year ground lease with 1010 Development takes effect |
| June 2025 | Construction reported as estimated for sometime in 2029 |
| Nov. 24, 2025 | The Beacon reports Arnies will stay open through at least 2029 |
| Sept. 21, 2026 | Arnies closes permanently |
The table shows what changed. The building's ownership and its long-term plan were settled more than a year ago. What changed in September was the restaurant. The 2029 construction date has not been publicly updated.
1010 Development's plan is a boutique hotel. According to the Port, the design is still preliminary, but it keeps the existing building's footprint. The public spaces would include a full-service restaurant, a first-floor café with coffee, smoothies and grab-and-go items, a sauna and spa, a social club and event space. My Edmonds News reported that the project would be a complete teardown and rebuild on the same footprint, and that a rendering would come later.
"We have roots dating back five generations in Edmonds," Ryan Appleby, president of 1010 Development, said when the lease was announced. He described the waterfront as a place where people "come to enjoy the natural beauty, great dining, and beautiful public spaces," and said the partners intended to carry that on.
Several things are still unknown as of early October 2026. No room count or building height has been announced. The Port says the project still has to go through "an extensive permitting and approval process, including a design review with opportunities for public input." That review is a separate step from the Port Commission meetings in 2024 and 2025. Our research did not find a City of Edmonds permit filing for the hotel or the teardown. The City's permit records are searchable online. Since the Sept. 21 closure, no one has announced a new tenant for the space, a demolition date or an earlier construction start.
The design review will be the first public look at what a hotel restaurant on the Port's waterfront would actually include. The Port's own announcement says there will be a chance for public input at that stage.
On Sept. 29, eight days after the closure, Binder's column printed a letter from the company's lawyers giving notice of "the pending dissolution of Arnie's Restaurants Northwest, Inc." The letter said the corporation expects creditor claims and asked claimants to submit them to [email protected]. Arnies controller Erin Faust told her the company's attorneys would be in touch about unpaid gift card balances.
Here is what has been reported about gift cards:
The Hook & Cleaver offer is the only one with a firm deadline. It has about eight weeks left.
While the waterfront space sits empty, downtown has added food businesses, but they mostly open early and close by mid-afternoon.
Rooster Bagel Café Kitchen Bar opened at 8 a.m. today, Oct. 3, at 515 Main St., in the renovated space the Loft used to occupy. Owner Niles Peacock and director of operations Hilary Ness set opening hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. Ness has also described a bigger long-term goal: "Our longer-term vision for Rooster is to become a day-to-night neighborhood café, kitchen and bar, with breakfast, lunch, dinner and evening service." She said hours will grow as the team settles in and the menu expands.
A few blocks south, Visible Coffee Roasters officially opened June 1 at 622 5th Ave. S., after a soft launch over Memorial Day weekend, according to The Daily Herald. General manager Vinny Diaz's summer menu included a Lemon Bar Bliss Latte.
Two other summer changes affected Edmonds residents outside downtown. Mel & Mia's Dessert Cafe, known for its cakes, desserts and high tea in Perrinville since 2016, closed its shop at 7530 Olympic View Dr. on July 26. Owners Bill and Rebecca Pennington moved the business to 320 S. First St. in Mount Vernon. PCC Cooks also ended its cooking classes and camps, including the ones at the Edmonds PCC, after a final program day on Aug. 28, while PCC's events program continues.
So far, every new opening in town has been a daytime business, and the one long-running dinner spot on the water has closed. Rooster's plan for dinner and evening service is the only announced plan to add nighttime dining downtown. The Landing's next restaurant depends on a design review that has not been scheduled.
Arnies was a dinner destination with a view of the port. Binder wrote that her family went there for seafood and for the view, especially at sunset. The plan for the site includes a full-service restaurant again, inside a hotel with a sauna, a spa and a social club that the waterfront has never had. As Baker put it during the review, "There is only so much commercial waterfront property in Edmonds."
The next public milestone will be the City of Edmonds design review for 300 Admiral Way. That review should show the hotel's size, its restaurant and a timeline that replaces the 2029 estimate.
If you own a home near the Edmonds waterfront and want to know how the Landing's redevelopment could affect your property, Adam Cobb & Team can walk you through it based on what has actually been filed and approved. Request your complimentary home valuation.
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