By Anne Higuera
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
2026 may finally be The Hydrant‘s year.
More than 10 years after “coming soon” plans were first announced to open The Hydrant at 4541 California Ave SW in The Junction, one of the business owners tells WSB the actual opening date may finally be nigh. “It really is imminent,” says Beya Mark.
Mark and her husband Cliff own and run Next-to-Nature, the pet product store next door at 4543 California Ave SW as well. While keeping that business going, they have worked on and permitted the build-out of The Hydrant space as a bar and coffee shop where people and their dogs are welcome. Mark describes the decade-long quest to open the space as a “very trying period,” particularly because they were paying rent the entire time. She says the extended time led to all kinds of speculation about the source of the delays and what she says were outlandish suggestions about why it could possibly take so long. “We’re not a drug front,” she laughs. “We’ve been pretty quiet about the whole thing because there is so much speculation out there,” she adds.
The reality, she says, is that there were fire code and permitted-use issues to work through, including adding a sheetrock barrier between the two businesses, and a lot of back and forth around what the city would require. “It was bizarre because we would get one opinion and then another, and they disagreed on what we needed to do.”
But they have gotten far enough along to be able to rent the space out for private events and use the retail area as a “pop-up” space for Next-to-Nature products during the Christmas shopping season. It will remain open for retail into the new year.
When The Hydrant opens for its intended purpose, hopefully early in 2026, Mark says, “We want to be a meeting place [and] cater to the coffee crowd, who want to come in and work with their pups.” They will serve wine and beer, mocktails and coffee, along with offering retail items that might appeal to their customers. “It’s mainly going to be community-focused, with merchandise for humans and pets, geared toward the outdoorsy lifestyle.” Mark says they will focus on French and Washington state wines and ciders, with space for up to 25 offerings on tap. They also hope to partner with nearby restaurants so that food can be ordered in, with the possibility of even collaborating with a food truck on the alley side.
While a firm opening date is still elusive, Mark says people and their pups won’t have to wait much longer for the long-promised place to gather. “We are in the final phases of the permitting,” Mark says confidently, adding that they are still “moving forward and staying positive.”
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