This Winter, Admiral Junction's Everyday Errands Move Off the Hill

The spinning sign outside the old Quality Cleaners building at California and Admiral still reads "Come Clean with Us," as it has for decades, according to West Seattle Blog. Nobody has dropped off a shirt there since 2020. Across the intersection, the bank became a pet supply store this year. This weekend the laundromat closes. The Carnegie library a block up 42nd Avenue SW has been dark since August and will stay that way through the holidays.

For anyone living north of SW Admiral Way, this corner used to cover the chores. You could wash, borrow, bank and press your clothes in one short walk. Through the end of the year, two of those trips leave the hill. The businesses filling the corner in their place are built for spending an afternoon: a guitar shop, an event venue, and maybe someday a wine bar.

The laundromat's last weekend

West Seattle Coin Laundry closes November 15, after its owner learned the lease would not be renewed, West Seattle Blog reported on November 5. The space has been listed for lease since June, and no new tenant has been named. Westside Seattle carried the same date.

The bigger issue is distance. Once the Admiral laundromat closes, the only laundromat left in West Seattle is Olympic Heights Laundry at 7437 35th Ave SW, well down the peninsula. The owner wrote to West Seattle Blog that customers came "from West Seattle, from Vashon and even South Park," and added that "laundromats are not trendy or glamorous." That same week, the blog also reported that Car Wash Palace, the self-serve car wash at 35th and Graham, had shut down.

The laundromat sits in the former Wells Fargo building. Mercer Island-based Henbart LLC bought it in 2024, and its property page describes a 15,277-square-foot retail center at 2358 California Ave SW. One tenant in that block is not leaving. Kumon of West Seattle–North at 2350 California Ave SW told West Seattle Blog it "will continue to be in that space until further notice."

The library closure that got longer

The second trip leaving the hill is a library visit. The West Seattle Branch at 2306 42nd Ave SW is the Admiral Carnegie, and Seattle Public Library calls it the oldest public library building in the city. It opened July 23, 1910, paid for in part by a $105,000 Carnegie gift from 1908 that covered three Seattle branches.

It closed August 9 so crews could install a modern electric HVAC system with air conditioning, and the original plan called for reopening in early November. On October 27, SPL pushed that estimate to "by early January 2027." Structural conditions found in the building walls late in the project meant the ductwork plans had to be redrawn and the walls reinforced.

Until the branch reopens, the book returns are locked and the parking lot is off-limits. Holds that were pending for this branch were moved to the High Point Branch on July 31, unless the patron picked somewhere else. SPL lists four branches nearby. Their weekend hours vary more than you might expect:

High Point is where your holds already go, and it is open both Saturday and Sunday. That makes it the easiest stand-in for the Admiral branch through the holidays. If you want to pick up somewhere else, you can call the library at 206-386-4636 or change your preferred location in your online account.

The dry cleaner that has been empty for six years

The third errand left the corner a while ago, and the long wait to fill that building shows why errand businesses are slow to come back here. The Quality Cleaners building has two addresses, 2601 California Ave SW and 4311 SW Admiral Way. It was built in 1916, and the Bloom family bought it in the 1950s. Soil tests in 2021 found dry cleaning chemicals under the building, the tenants moved out, and several sales fell through over how long a cleanup would take, West Seattle Blog reported.

The family now plans to do the cleanup itself. A vacuum system installed under the building will pull fumes out of the soil "until samples come back clean." Ilan Bloom, who is leading the project for his family, puts the full cost at more than $1 million. For comparison, the city spent $1.6 million on the first phase of the Morgan Junction park expansion, a former dry cleaner and gas station site, and that figure included soil removal, permits, inspections and taxes. Permits for the Quality Cleaners work are still pending. Bloom's hope is to occupy the building again "sometime around the last quarter of next year," meaning late 2027. In the meantime, expect maintenance work on the building, including a new roof.

Bloom is not looking for another dry cleaner. He told the blog he is open to "a restaurant, wine bar, or some other place for people to gather" in the tall-ceilinged corner space.

What has moved in

The rest of the corner is heading the same way. Mud Bay moved into the former Wells Fargo space at 2358 California Ave SW in late February and held its grand opening February 28, 2026. Thunder Road Guitars and The Bass Shop took over Mud Bay's old store at 2611 California Ave SW and announced a grand-opening weekend for June 6 and 7.

In the former Bebop Waffle Shop corner, owner Cori Luckenbach is turning the space into The Last Parlor, an event venue. As of West Seattle Blog's October check-in, new windows were going in and the interior was being brought up to the building code for assembly spaces. Bebop itself still runs a walk-up window next door at 2604 California Ave SW.

The Admiral Neighborhood Association has also hung ten new banners with QR codes along California Ave SW. Taken together, the corner is filling with destinations and gathering spaces, while laundry and library trips now mean a drive south.

Two dates on the corner before the library reopens

The first is a meeting. The Admiral Neighborhood Association holds its general meeting and board elections on Wednesday, November 18, at 7 p.m. in the Parish Hall at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church. If you have questions about the corner's future, this is the closest public meeting on the calendar.

The second is a holiday walk. Winter Wonderland runs Saturday, December 12, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with family activities and specials at businesses across the Admiral business district. Santa will be at Thunder Road Guitars, in the storefront that was Mud Bay a year ago. The ANA publishes an online map of participating businesses, and businesses that want to be on it have until November 20 to sign up.

Mara Haveson has also watched long-held buildings like Quality Cleaners change course, and she can talk through what that takes in practice. Whether you own one of the older homes or buildings near California and Admiral and are weighing the repairs, permits and timing before your next step, or you're simply curious how a change on this corner might affect your own plans, Mara Haveson is glad to walk through it with you. Schedule a Consultation.