On October 16, The Independent Pizzeria at 4235 E Madison St served its last pizza after nearly 17 years. The next day, the Madison Park farmers market finished its 2026 season. In August, The Attic got new owners for the second time in three years. The neighborhood meeting about the bathhouse's future was also pushed back by four weeks. Taken one at a time, that list looks like a business district winding down for winter.
Every item on it is a handoff. The pizzeria's owners picked who comes next. The Attic's buyers are keeping the staff. The bathhouse plan is moving from early feasibility work into design. The market returns in May. The places that hold Madison Park together tend to pass to new owners, and this fall a lot of that is happening at once.
A Pizzeria That Chose What Comes Next
The Independent Pizzeria opened at 4235 E Madison St in 2010 and built its following on wood-fired pies with charred crusts. Owners Tom Siegel and Tora B. Hennessey are retiring. They first planned to close on October 18, then moved the last day up to Friday, October 16, so they would have a few extra days to pack up.
The space isn't just going back on the market, though. As What Now Seattle reported, the owners said they're "working on handing the space to a new owner we're very excited about," and they promised more details once it's final. No name had been announced as of the October 16 closing, so for now the storefront is a space between owners rather than a vacancy. Business directories may still list the pizzeria as open, so the restaurant's own channels are the place to watch for the announcement.
The Attic Has Done This Before
Across East Madison, 4226 has been through this a few times. The building has been a neighborhood gathering place in one form or another since 1907 and has operated as The Attic since 1967. It closed abruptly in 2020 and reopened under new owners in 2023. This August it changed hands again. Amber Davis and Kenji Jensen-Otsu, who own Triangle Spirits in Fremont, bought the pub.
The new owners plan to keep the current staff, get to know the regulars, and ask Madison Park residents what they want from the pub. One change is already set: Triangle Spirits' fried chicken is coming to a menu that already covers scratch-made burgers, fish and chips, happy hour and weekend brunch. Jensen-Otsu described their approach to What Now Seattle:
"You don't go in and try to change it. You go in and try to make it better and make it last for a long time."
Davis and Jensen-Otsu took the same path at Triangle Spirits. They bought the Fremont bar in 2017 after years as regulars and only later updated its interior, food menu and cocktail program.
The three changes follow the same pattern.
| Place | Around since | What changed in 2026 | What carries over |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Attic, 4226 E Madison St | Gathering place since 1907, The Attic since 1967 | Bought by the Triangle Spirits owners in August | Current staff and pub menu, plus fried chicken |
| The Independent Pizzeria, 4235 E Madison St | 2010 | Closed October 16 as the owners retire | Space going to a new owner the owners chose |
| Madison Park Bathhouse | 1919 | Project moving into its next design phase | Preschool use, part of the plan from the start |
Plenty on the block hasn't changed. Cactus at 4220 E Madison still runs daily hours and weekend brunch with a waitlist. Madison Books at 4118 E Madison is open daily, and its 2026 book club theme is works in translation. Those steady neighbors are a big reason the turnover elsewhere reads as a handoff and not a hole.
The Bathhouse Is Starting Its Fourth Chapter
The oldest handoff in the neighborhood is at the foot of the street. According to Seattle's historic sites inventory, the first Madison Park bathhouse went up in 1919, and the building took shape in three phases between 1919 and 1938. In 1937 and 1938, the WPA greatly enlarged it, added locker and bag-storage space, and built the shoreline steps. The inventory calls it the only surviving example of Seattle's early wood-frame bathhouses. A mid-1980s remodel turned it into a more flexible community-center building.
The next chapter is the Bathhouse Renovation and Shoreline Restoration project. Friends of Madison Park is leading it in partnership with Seattle Parks and Recreation and Seattle Parks Foundation. The goal is a year-round community hub that keeps the preschool and adds flexible space for meetings, gatherings and exercise classes. Signal Architecture + Research is designing the building, and Anchor QEA is handling landscape architecture and the shoreline.
The proposed list is specific:
- Better restrooms
- Space for lake access, swimming, lifeguard equipment and small-craft storage, plus a look at watercraft rentals
- Barrier-free access and safer street crossings
- Shoreline work on erosion, invasive plant removal, water quality and habitat that supports migrating salmon
Friends of Madison Park says it has gathered feedback from more than 500 park users, finished an initial code review, and brought in Anchor QEA to assess site conditions. In an earlier spring update, the group described the project as being in its earliest feasibility stage. By late September 2026, it said it was working with Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Madison Park Co-op Preschool and the architects on the design, and it called the October meeting a move into the next design phase. No construction start date or beach closure schedule has been announced. The beach stayed open all summer.
Who Pays for the Next Chapter
The design work is paid for partly by events on the neighborhood calendar. Friends of Madison Park reported that last year's Party for the Park raised $140,000. That money supports the group's free community events and its next steps on designing the bathhouse and shoreline. This year's party was set for October 24 at 5:30 p.m. at Broadmoor Golf Club, with a raffle for $1,000 at Canlis and silent and live auctions.
The group's 2026 budget, approved in December 2025, forecasts $102,000 net from the party and $50,000 in donations. It sets aside $30,000 for the bathhouse project in 2026, down from a projected $45,013 in 2025. Those are a neighborhood nonprofit's operating numbers, not a construction budget. They show the scale the project runs at right now: design and outreach, paid for one gala at a time.
The same money goes to the free events. Halloween in the business district is one of them, and it falls this Saturday.
The Next Three Weeks on East Madison
- Saturday, October 31, starting at 4 p.m. Trick-or-treating takes over the business district, with shops and businesses handing out candy. The Costumed Pup Parade meets by the tennis courts at 4 p.m., the Madison Park Preschool Co-op has a photo booth in Triangle Park, and a live DJ plays.
- Thursday, November 5, starting at 1 p.m. Martha E. Harris Flowers & Gifts at 4218 E Madison St holds its holiday open house. The shop is normally open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.
- Saturday, November 7. The Little Beats concert is at a new venue, the McGilvra Elementary cafeteria at 1617 East 38th Street. Enter through the north gates on East Blaine.
- Tuesday, November 10, 7 p.m. The rescheduled neighborhood meeting at the Bathhouse, where the architectural team will share progress and upcoming events for 2026 and 2027.
- Saturday, November 14. A volunteer cleanup of the business district, park and streets, with check-in by the Bank of America parking lot.
The farmers market comes back in May 2027. Before then, the November 10 meeting at the Bathhouse is where the architects will present the building's next design phase. The new name for 4235 E Madison should be announced whenever the pizzeria's owners finalize the deal.
Homes in Madison Park change hands too, and the handoffs that go best start early. If your own move is on the horizon, Milaina West Group can help you plan the timing, get the house ready and hand it to its next owner on your terms. Book a free consultation to start your Seattle move.
