Quiet, dark, but no ghosts (Image: CHS)

Despite some of the boom times for development and commerce in the area, a stretch of retail space in the 1300 block of Madison suddenly looked like a ghost town in recent weeks as a longtime cafe joined an exodus from the block. It appears it won’t be empty long.

Cafe Madison, the latest iteration of a longtime cafe space on Madison just above Broadway, has closed to make way for a Salal Credit Union.

The restaurant at 1320 Madison, across from Swedish, had been known as Zeena’s before changing the name a few years ago. The cafe had been on a month-to-month lease and was unable to come to a permanent deal for a new lease.

Salal expects to open sometime around March or April of 2015, according to Sheryl Kirchmeier, the credit union’s chief marketing officer.

The building is undergoing a change in ownership, along with the change in tenants – Panos Properties, based in Green Lake, was slated to close on the property. Among other area holdings, the company also owns a retail stretch on Broadway that just lost a boutique tenant.

In addition to Salal taking over in Cafe Madison’s old spot, Legsmart, a company which sells orthopedics such as compression socks, braces (not the kind for your teeth), canes and wheelchairs is set to move into a nearby, empty space at 1314 Madison. That space had been home to Mad Pizza before it moved across the street.

With Salal, a credit union started by doctors from Group Health in 1948, and Legsmart, the strip is doubling down on its proximity to the hospitals of Pill Hill.

Legsmart is no newcomer to the area. It has been located around the corner at 1001 Broadway operating under the name Allcare. That location will close Oct. 6 and reopen as Legsmart Oct. 9, said Noel Carbajal, outreach coordinator for the company. The store is changing names in an effort to align themselves with their website, a company spokesperson said. They also plan an open house on Thursday October 15th.

The building had also been home to a Rite Aid which closed in August. That space remains vacant. The new owners are not ruling out any potential tenants for the Rite Aid spot though they want someone who will succeed in the location. They have no plans to redevelop at this time.

Meanwhile, on the other end of Madison, there’s some movement toward putting a long empty retail space back into motion. The former home of M Street Grocery — shuttered way back in 2011 and empty since — might be home to a new medical facility. No surprise there, right? The patients of the prospective new tenant, however, won’t be your typical Pill Hill denizens. But dogs and cats need quality care, too.

UPDATE: Worthy of note — Cafe Arosa remains open on the block!