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On June 19, the West Seattle Water Taxi carried 8,552 riders for the U.S. vs. Australia World Cup match. That beat a single-day record that had stood since 2018. This week the last boat leaves Seacrest at 7:05 p.m., and the Friday and Saturday late-night runs that carried summer crowds home are gone until spring.
Most years, that's the whole story of Harbor Avenue in November. The strip below the North Admiral bluff quiets down, the kayak racks empty, and the street belongs to dog walkers and commuters. This winter is different. Several things that will shape how Harbor Avenue SW feels for years are being settled now, in the months when the fewest people are there to see them: who runs the boats at Seacrest, how fast cars move past Salty's, and when Jack Block Park gets its pier back. Up the street, a new employer has already moved into the Denali building.
They run on different timelines, from a few weekends to a few years. Taken together, they mean the Harbor Avenue that opens in summer 2027 won't be the one that closed out summer 2026.
King County's Water Taxi blog lays out the fall and winter timetable. It runs from October 10, 2026 through April 9, 2027.
For anyone on the bluff who uses the boat for a downtown dinner, a 7 p.m. last run home from Pier 50 changes the night. On weekends the last boat back is the 6:30 p.m. And the dock the boat pulls into is at the center of the biggest unsettled question on the corridor.
Seacrest Boathouse at 1660 Harbor Ave SW is city property. In April, Seattle Parks put the boathouse out to bid for a 5- to 10-year lease. Marination has held the lease for 15 years, running Marination ma kai in the building. Alki Kayak Tours has run the city-required boating operations there as Marination's subcontractor, and has been at Seacrest for more than 20 years. That's longer than Marination.
Parks kept Marination as the concession holder. Then, as West Seattle Blog reported on October 30, Marination told Alki Kayak Tours it would end the sublease by spring. In an October 22 news release, Marination announced a proposed partnership with Duwamish Tribal Services. It's tentatively called the Duwamish Waterfront Education Center, and it would take over boat and paddle operations and keep offering kayak and stand-up paddleboard rentals. The release lists these programs as under discussion:
The release says programming would change with the seasons, "from winter school visits and safety trainings to summer rentals." For a boathouse that has mostly run as a summer rental counter, that would mean school groups and safety classes in the months when the racks now sit empty. Kristina Pearson, executive director of Duwamish Tribal Services, called it a chance to create "a vibrant, welcoming community hub with year-round programming that honors the waterfront's past, celebrates its present, and helps shape its future."
Alki Kayak Tours disagrees with the change. The owner told West Seattle Blog he wasn't given a chance to bid. In a letter to Parks, he asked the city to pause any sub-concession changes and to require an open, competitive process for the boathouse space. Westside Seattle covered the dispute on October 20 and included a statement from Marination owners Kamala Saxton and Roz Edison about following Parks' disclosure process. The city's RFP Q&A says the concession holder has "full discretion" to run the watercraft business itself or to pick a subcontractor.
None of this is final yet. Under the RFP, Parks and Marination still have to negotiate a contract, and the Seattle City Council must approve it by ordinance. The Duwamish partnership could start "as early as next spring, subject to final agreements and approvals." Meanwhile, Marination ma kai's own site lists its regular hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, with brunch from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekends.
The crosswalk outside the Water Taxi terminal is also due for a change. In a February levy Q&A with West Seattle Blog, SDOT said its Harbor Avenue plans include "a new flashing beacon at the existing crosswalk near the water taxi terminal." The same plan adds speed cushions and painted median islands, narrows travel lanes in some spots, and updates curve-warning signs.
The September notice SDOT mailed to nearby residents gives more detail. It covers seven more speed cushions between California Way SW and SW Spokane St, along with narrower vehicle lanes, a wider parking lane, painted medians, and trimmed vegetation so street lights and signs are easier to see. Five of the seven cushions go east and south of Jack Block Park. SDOT plans to finish "by end of 2026" over "a couple of weekends," weather permitting. Expect lane reductions, some driveways blocked for a while, and parking limits while crews work. The 2024 Seattle Transportation Levy pays for it.
This is the second round of cushions. In July 2024, crews put cushions on Harbor near Jack Block Park, near Salty's, and near West Bay Coffee, as part of a set of 10 for Harbor and Alki. At the time, SDOT said the goal was to cut down on street racing and aggressive driving. SDOT's speed hump page says cushions on arterials usually cut speeds by about 20% citywide. With the eastern stretch toward the bridge covered too, a drive down the hill from the bluff will soon have cushions along nearly the full length of Harbor.
The street is also getting new daytime regulars. Outdoor Research moved its corporate headquarters out of its longtime building at 2203 1st Avenue South in SoDo. It now has 7,916 square feet on the second floor of the Denali building at 1315 Harbor Ave SW, across the street from Don Armeni Boat Ramp. Westside Seattle reported in August that early operations were already underway there. There won't be a store. The company is looking for a flagship retail location in the city center and is sending shoppers to its outlets in Des Moines and Bellingham for now.
The building's name fits the company. Founder Ron Gregg started Outdoor Research in 1981 after a climbing partner's gaiters failed on Denali, and the brand's first product was the X-Gaiter. West Seattle Blog first spotted the move after a reader asked about the furniture and people visible through the second-floor windows.
Westside Seattle cited local observers who expect the office to bring more weekday foot traffic to nearby cafés, lunch spots, and fitness studios. On a corridor that has always gone quiet in fall, office workers who stay year-round are a new kind of regular.
A walk east along the water this month passes most of these changes. The hours below come from each business's own site:
Of everything on the route, Jack Block will take the longest to change.
According to the project memo, vessel strikes led to a temporary closure of Jack Block Park's public walking pier in 2019. A full assessment above and below the water then found structural deficiencies, and the pier was closed indefinitely in 2021. A Northwest Seaport Alliance spokesperson told West Seattle Blog the pier has "no remaining service life."
At their July 7 meeting, the NWSA Managing Members, the combined Seattle and Tacoma port commissions, voted 8–1 to approve $1.68 million for design and permitting. That brings the NWSA's total authorization to $1.955 million. The same meeting approved another $571,000 for design work sponsored by the Port of Seattle. As West Seattle Blog reported, the project cost has dropped from as much as $14 million to a projected $9.5 million. The new pier will sit east of the old one, and the run-down plaza next to it will be repaired, possibly with a picnic pavilion and interpretive signs. The money for construction comes later, once design and permitting are close to done.
The project memo sets final completion for April 18, 2029. That means about two more summers of looking at the fenced-off old pier from the shore.
Living in North Admiral means watching Harbor Avenue change from the bluff, and I've spent years tracking how changes like these alter the way a street works day to day. If you want to talk through what's coming to the waterfront below you, Mara Haveson is glad to compare notes over coffee at West Bay. Schedule a Consultation.
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4531 California Ave., SW
Seattle, WA 98116
Mara Haveson