City manager to speak at Chamber lunch
Mercer Island City Manager Julie Underwood will speak at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon at noon on March 2 at the Community and Event Center.
Underwood has nearly 20 years of local government experience, most recently as assistant city manager for Daly City, a San Francisco suburb with a population of over 100,000. Prior to Daly City, Underwood was the city manager in Shoreline.
“Mercer Island has been in the news quite a bit lately; in print and on radio and TV. It’s all about I-90: loss of mobility, pedestrian safety, how it will affect the business community and vitality of the Town Center and the impending litigation to protect Mercer Island’s interests,” according to a Chamber newsletter. “[Underwood] has had to be a quick study to understand all that is going on in addition to running the city. This will be an interesting and informative meeting – not to be missed.”
Call the chamber office at 206-232-3404 to make your lunch reservation.
Riviera Maya opens on south end
A new Mexican restaurant opened in Mercer Island’s south shopping center: Riviera Maya.
Riviera Maya opened on Feb. 6, replacing the recently closed El Sombrero at 8451 SE 68 St.
New businesses in Hadley building are now open
A few businesses in Mercer Island’s new Hadley building opened in February.
Freshy’s Local Market, an expansion of the Freshy’s Seafood Shack down the street, opened on Feb. 9. Owner Bryce Caldwell was born in Ilwaco, Washington, “with a fishing pole in his hands,” growing up in a family of commercial and sport fishermen.
Caldwell uses his many fishing connections to stock Freshy’s with fresh, sustainable seafood and other local products. Much of the seafood and shellfish sold at Freshy’s is sourced from local fishermen Caldwell has known for more than 30 years.
Freshy’s is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. For more, see www.freshysseafoodmarket.com/.
Mercer Island’s newest gym, OrangeTheory Fitness, started free trial sessions for Island customers on Feb. 13. There will be a grand opening party on March 9.
At Orangetheory, gym goers are fitted with heart rate monitors before their 60-minute group fitness workout, which is meant “to keep heart rates in a target zone that stimulates metabolism and increases energy,” called the “orange zone.” They can see their workout statistics, as well as the stats of others in the class, projected on monitors in the studio.
Fifty-four short-term customer parking spaces are located in the Hadley.
Freshy’s Local Market employees, including store manager Jason Maloney (center) pose in the new location, which opened Feb. 9 in the Hadley building. Photo courtesy of Freshy’s Local Market
