The red-brick building at 3400 Phinney Ave. N. has mostly had one main occupant at a time. First it held streetcars, then Redhook's brewery, then Theo's chocolate. This fall that changes. Here Today Brewery & Kitchen plans three separate businesses in the former Theo Chocolate building: Good Bones Coffee, a cocktail and snack bar called Glitter Paw Lounge, and Marigolds, a small cocktail-and-oyster bar. A pottery studio called Muddy Goose has leased its own unit, and the redevelopment plan allows for as many as six tenants.
Several businesses sharing one building is the new part. Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board approved specific changes to the exterior, and those changes are what make room for it.
Four Lives, Mostly One at a Time
The building's history explains why the change is a big one.
- 1905 to 1941: the Fremont Trolley Barn. It was built as a car barn and at one point housed about 60 of Seattle's streetcars. The city's landmark report notes that the barn kept operating until Seattle's last streetcar came back on April 13, 1941.
- 1989 onward: Redhook Brewery and the Trolleyman Pub. Redhook moved in that year and made the building a production brewery with a pub attached.
- Nearly two decades of Theo Chocolate. Theo stopped factory operations in 2023 and closed its retail store in 2025.
- Fall 2026 onward: a building with several tenants. Up to six businesses are planned, each with its own use.
Each earlier occupant used the building as one operation. Streetcars, beer and chocolate all needed a big open interior, and the building had one. The new plan splits that space into storefronts.
What the Landmark Status Protects, and What It Allowed
The building became a Seattle landmark in 1989, the same year Redhook arrived. The Landmarks Preservation Board approved the designation at a public hearing on September 20, 1989. The protected features are the entire exterior, including the roof, and the site. Existing plantings and the parking, driveway and loading dock on the east side are excluded.
Because the whole exterior is protected, any change to the outside needs the board's approval. In August 2025, Fremont Neighbor reported that the board unanimously approved the proposed changes. The approved work adds four roll-up doors on the east facade. Two of them replace existing windows, and an old window and door are filled in with salvaged brick.
The east side is also where the designation left the parking, driveway and loading dock outside its protections. The new doors go into a protected wall, but they face the part of the site that was always meant for working uses. Industrial buildings like this one tend to have their busy side and their formal side. The work approved in 2025 moves some of the public activity to the busy side.
Richard Leider, founder of Kirkland-based Trinity Real Estate, represents the building's owners on the project. He described the building's appeal for multiple tenants this way when he spoke to the Puget Sound Business Journal: "The building itself always lent itself to fitting in with the community and being flexible, meaning it had multiple entries, multiple storefronts." The building already had several entrances. The roll-up doors add more ways in on the east side.
Who Is Coming, and How Firm the Timing Is
The four named tenants are at different stages, and the reported dates don't always agree.
| Business | What it is | Operator | Reported timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good Bones Coffee | Coffee | Here Today | Fall 2026, no date announced |
| Glitter Paw Lounge | New Here Today taproom, cocktails and snacks | Here Today | Fall 2026, no date announced |
| Marigolds | Small cocktail and oyster bar | Here Today | Fall 2026, no date announced |
| Muddy Goose | Pottery studio with classes, memberships and kilns | Kristina Hodorowski | October per August reports; "Late Fall 2026" on its own site |
In September, Seattle Met still described Here Today's three concepts as planned for fall and called Glitter Paw Lounge a new Here Today taproom. As of the end of September, none of the four has announced a specific opening date.
Muddy Goose's timing has moved later. The August 19 MyNorthwest report said October. Two days later, Hodorowski told What Now Seattle the studio would open in late fall 2026. The studio's website now says "Opening Late Fall 2026," adds that it will open in stages, and says waitlist members will get dates before the public announcement.
Muddy Goose, in more detail
Muddy Goose has the most detail on record. Hodorowski told What Now Seattle the studio leased about 5,100 square feet. She plans monthly memberships that include pottery wheels, kiln firing, glazing and independent studio access, plus date-night sessions, six-week classes and eight-week beginner courses. She left a job as a financial controller to open the studio and has been doing pottery for about 10 years.
To put 5,100 square feet in context, MyNorthwest puts the whole building at about 32,000 square feet, and Fremont Neighbor reported 40,000. Either way, the pottery studio takes roughly an eighth to a sixth of the building. That share helps explain how up to six tenants can fit inside.
Here Today, coming from the waterfront
Chris Elford and Dave Riddle have run Here Today's taproom at 2815 Elliott Ave. near the waterfront since 2022. At Elliott, the brewery runs regular weekday events: trivia on Mondays, bingo on Tuesdays, and a Wednesday run club with a post-run hangout. Announcing the Fremont plans, the owners said their search for a new taproom space led to "a whole garden of friends and ideas ready to burst in bloom."
Here Today's own FAQ still lists Elliott Ave. as its taproom, with hours. The reports don't say whether that location will stay open once Fremont launches. They also don't say whether Here Today will brew beer at 3400 Phinney. The announcement describes three concepts and a taproom, not a brewery.
What Is Still Unknown
The new arrangement also explains what we don't know yet. A single occupant opened once, on one date. A building with several tenants fills in over time, and each business works on its own schedule. Here is what is still open as of September 30:
- Who the remaining one or two tenants will be, out of the six the plan allows
- Opening dates for Good Bones Coffee, Glitter Paw Lounge and Marigolds
- Hours, patio plans, and which entrance each business will use
- Whether Muddy Goose's staged opening starts with classes, memberships or both
The only comment on record about how the spaces will work together comes from the property's representative, not the tenants. The east-side roll-up doors are the clearest physical sign of the layout. Four doors went into the plans before any tenant's opening date was set.
The Rest of Fremont's Fall Schedule
The trolley barn is filling up while other Fremont spots change for the season. Purple Café and Wine Bar at 3400 Stone Way N. closed on August 1. Heavy Restaurant Group CEO Larry Kurofsky said a replacement concept was planned for fall. In mid-August its name and menu were still undecided. The Fremont Sunday Market's posted schedule moves it from 3401 Evanston Ave. N. to 701 N. Northlake Way for its November–March season. It runs weekly, rain or shine, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
So the building that once held about 60 streetcars is set to host a coffee counter, a taproom, an oyster bar and a pottery studio. The pottery studio's own timeline now reads late fall 2026.
We're following each opening at the trolley barn as it happens. If you own a home near the trolley barn and want to know how a new mix of neighbors could show up in your home's value, Mr Magnolia can put together a free home valuation that accounts for what's opening a few blocks away.