There’s a new dentist on the block—one that specializes in pediatric dentistry.

Seattle Kids Dentistry has moved into the vacant space at 2223 Queen Anne Ave N, next to the former Hilltop Yarn. Pediatric dentist Purva Merchant says the office will offer specialized services for infants, children and teens (look for a follow-up story on Purva’s vision for the new business later this week).

Currently Seattle Kids Dentistry is open every Saturday, and every other Tuesday and Friday, but Purva says hours will expand as the patient base grows. For now you can find more information on Seattle Kids Dentistry on its website, or by contacting the office via phone at 425.780.KIDZ, or email at info@seattlekidsdentistry.com.

Updated 10:30 p.m.: All King Country Metro buses are now on snow routes. The Seattle Department of Transportation has announced that it will begin to transition to plowing snow routes as they continue to spread salt throughout the city. Though it is still falling hard out there, there is some good news, at least for those who face a morning commute—forecasters expect the snow to transition to rain sometime between midnight and 10 a.m. Wednesday. For the time being, however, Queen Anne Avenue and West Olympic/10th Avenue W are just a few streets drivers should avoid.

If you’re still planning to head up or down the hill tonight, you might want to find a way around Queen Anne Avenue. Just after 9 p.m. this evening the Counterbalance claimed its first victim of tonight’s snowy slope when a vehicle lost control and went over the curb of the southwest corner of Queen Anne Ave N and Aloha.

Several passersby successfully helped the driver push the car off the main thoroughfare and onto Aloha, but the incident is a reminder of just how out of control cars can get on the Counterbalance when there’s snow and ice involved.

Remember, if you have to head up the Counterbalance as the snow piles up tonight, use four-wheel drive and/or chains, keep distance from other cars, and be careful. If you can, take another way up the south slope (5th Ave N or Olympic to 10th Ave W). And if you’re parking on the slope tonight, try to find as flat of a space as possible, and don’t forget to turn your wheels into the curb.

And just one more time for good measure: we don’t want another repeat of last time.

Good luck with the evening snow Queen Anne!

Seattle City Light crews are doing some work along Queen Anne Avenue N today.

As of 11:15 a.m. three City Light trucks were blocking the right-hand, southbound lane along the Counterbalance from Aloha to the bottom of the hill. If Queen Anne Avenue is part of your commute today, keep in mind that it may be a bit slower leaving the hill due to the lane closure.

Update 12 p.m.: City Light crews have finished work on Queen Anne Avenue. All four lanes are now clear for through traffic.

Emerald Bay Equity hopes to break ground in the first quarter 2011 on a long-stalled development project on Queen Anne Ave N, according to a report by the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce yesterday.

Artist rendering of Seven Hills project.

The Seven Hills project, located at 1919 Queen Anne Ave just across the street from Metropolitan Market, was originally slated to be a mixed office/retail building, but as we previously reported, the developers changed plans to mixed-use retail/residential back in August. The four story building will include 57 apartments, some 8,200 square feet of retail space, and two levels or underground parking for 68 cars.

This project is the third of EBE’s four-phase development plan for 2.1 acres of property, called “The Collection,” along Upper Queen Anne’s main drag. The first two phases–the Sweetbrier and Eden Hills mixed-use residential/retail buildings–have already been completed.

Until very recently the Sweetbrier was struggling to fill its retail space, but in the last 16 months a number of new tenants have moved in, including Key Bank, Twirl Cafe, and most recently, Menchie’s frozen yogurt.

The plans to move forward with the Seven Hills project comes only eight months after EBE put The Collection of properties from 1911-1919 Queen Anne Ave N up for sale, a package that included both the Sweetbrier and Eden Hills developments, and the half-block where Metropolitan Market is located, EBE’s phase four project.

Artist rendering of Met Market project.

The group still plans to redevelop the final plot into a four-story, 125-unit apartment complex with 40,000 square feet of ground-floor space for the longtime neighborhood grocery and other retailers, and 200 underground parking stalls. According to EBE principal Joe Geivett, the company plans to start this phase in 2012.

When The Collection developments are completed, they will amount to more than $140 million in property value, in 250,000 square feet of mixed-use retail and residential space at the top of the hill, according to a Jones Lang LaSalle report published in April.

Currently EBE is working with an “unnamed partner” to finance the Seven Hills project, according to the DJC. The City of Seattle has tentatively scheduled a design review meeting on the new version of the project for January 19. Read up on past design review recommendations on the project here. Review the project’s permit status here.

Update 12/1 2:30 p.m.: “We are shooting to open up on Saturday,” says Menchie’s representative Elizabeth Garner.

We first told you that frozen yogurt chain Menchie’s would be moving into the corner spot of the Sweetbrier building, at Queen Anne Ave N and W Crockett St, back in September.

Well I have good news for all you frozen yogurt fans out there—according to Menchie’s representative Elizabeth Garner, the new cool sweet spot is less than a week out. The shop will be “opening within the next week (if everything goes as planned),” Garner says.

California-based Menchie’s has locations all over the U.S. and Canada, including two in Washington—in Federal Way and Vancouver. The Queen Anne store will be the first location in the Seattle area.

Menchie’s offers a rotating selection of frozen yogurts and toppings, from classic sprinkles, to local fruits. Read more about the frozen yogurt shop in our past coverage.

We’re waiting to hear back on exactly what day the store is planning to open, and will keep you posted.

There’s been a lot of turnover in Queen Anne businesses lately. However, while many have been closing up shop, new leases are also coming in. The most recent addition in Uptown: Piece of Mind is opening up a new location, at 623 Queen Anne Ave N.

This will be the fourth Seattle location for the specialty glass pipe and smoke shop, and the ninth in the Northwest, according to part owner Quinn Sharpe. The other locations are in Fremont, Lake City and the University District. Sharpe writes,

We are shooting for Oct. 30th for opening and probably will do a soft opening before that.

After months of slow moving real estate on Queen Anne Ave N, it seems things are finally picking back up. Homegrown is moving into the former Pete’s Coffee & Tea space on caffeine corner, and ‘for lease’ signs are dropping like flies (look more updates on what else is moving into Queen Anne soon).

One prime piece of retail space in Queen Anne that has just been snapped up is the corner spot in the Sweetbrier building (at Queen Anne Ave N and W Crockett St), which will soon be home to Seattle’s first Menchie’s frozen yogurt outpost.

California-based Menchie’s has locations all over the U.S. and Canada, and is expanding like crazy. (According to their website, the franchise is opening new outposts right and left, including locations in Japan, Dubai, Australia and Mexico).

An anonymous reader tipped us off to Menchie’s moving in at 2101 Queen Anne Ave N. They wrote:

These folks came all the way from Tacoma and were disappointed, showing me their iPhones, that they store wasn’t open. They said it is the best yogurt, like Greek yogurt, thick and tangy!

Menchie’s offers a rotating selection of frozen yogurts and toppings—”from fresh, locally grown fruits to classic rainbow sprinkles,” according to the company website. Customers mix and match whatever they want, and pay by weight, not topping number or cup size.

Up until this point the Queen Anne Farmers Market has been using the space as storage for the weekly market through an in-kind donation from the Sweetbier building. Market director Julie Whitehorn confirmed that the non-profit is currently looking for a new storage space.

Menchie’s already has two locations in Washington state—one in Federal Way, and another in Vancouver. According to its website, it will also be opening a new spot on Broadway, though the exact location has not yet been announced. We sent a note to Menchie’s asking when they plan to open the Queen Anne store, but have not yet heard back. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more!

Picture Perfect Queen Anne has been working to beautify the entrances of the Upper Queen Anne business district along Queen Anne Ave N at Galer and McGraw through the Green Gateways program. Beginning with the construction of curb bulbs last year, the group has been busy raising money and organizing volunteers to help “green” these intersections and make them more friendly for pedestrians and passersby.

(Photo courtesy of PPQA).

Last week PPQA reached its fundraising goal of $16,000 to complete the Green Gateways project and cover landscaping and maintenance for the 2,200 square feet of garden space for the next two years, a feat PPQA Treasurer Elaine Talbot attributes to “the overwhelming generosity of our neighborhood residents, organizations, and business people,” alongside support from the Office of Economic Development and SDOT.

To commemorate the completion of the project, PPQA has planned a community celebration at the Galer gateway (meet at the foot of the Galer Stairs, at the intersection of Queen Anne Ave N and Galer) this Saturday, May 1 at 12:30 p.m., where they will unveil the paving stones and fully landscaped curb bulbs.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome of the Green Gateways Project,” said PPQA founder Kathy King in a press release last week. “Queen Anne is one of Seattle’s most walkable neighborhoods. Pedestrian safety and a family friendly environment are important to our neighborhood and the city. Not only will we have welcoming spaces, we will, with the engraved paving stone walkway, have a historic reminder of the people who made our neighborhood what it is today.”

Alongside the new four-way stop at Queen Anne Ave N and W Crockett St, a representative from SDOT says they will be painting new crosswalks on all four sides of the intersection either tomorrow or Saturday, March 20.

SDOT anticipated that the new crosswalks will help motorists get more accustomed to the new stop.

“I know some people have been accidentally speeding through, even though the street is marked with stop warning signs,” one SDOT representative said.

But this isn’t the only intersection to get a face lift this week. A new marked crosswalk has also cropped up today just down the street at Queen Anne Ave N and Garfield.

Though one reader, Anna, admits the new crosswalk will help people going to and from the gym to their cars and other businesses along the block, she wonders if the new stops and crosswalks aren’t getting a little excessive. She wrote,

I am all for pedestrian safety, but isn’t this getting kind of ridiculous?  It seems like all the drivers up here are cautious and aware of all the pedestrians.  I live on QA Ave and the only problems I run into are the people who don’t know where they are going so don’t realize they have to drive 15 mph down the Ave.  What’s next – making QA Ave into a pedestrian boulevard?

What do you think? Should SDOT relax their recent pedestrian safety efforts and trust drivers to look out, or should they continue to line Queen Anne Ave with marked stops and crossings? Comment below.

You may have noticed all of the construction going on up and down Queen Anne Ave N over the last few weeks – repaving, tree placement, etc. Well, yesterday, amidst all of the construction commotion, the city made a little extra addition to one of the neighborhood’s main thoroughfares.

The intersection of Queen Anne Ave N and W Crockett St has gone from a two-way to a four-way stop.

While this new four-way stop could slow down traffic on Queen Anne Ave and make it easier for pedestrians walking through the business district, some are worried that the stop signs will cause cars to block the entrances to Safeway and other businesses, making it more difficult to get around. What do you think?

(Thanks to Brent at Muse Coffee Co. for the tip!)