'Way out' neighborhood becomes easy commute

By JOHN IWASAKI
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Juanita's business core wasn't much back in 1964, the year Lee Bitz Anchan and her former husband opened Bitz Barber Shop in the center.

"There was us, a bank, a grocery store, a ladies dress shop and a photographer," recalls Anchan. "Across the street, there was a dentist and a couple of bars. No apartments."

The site once included a Chevron gas station, "back in the days of full service," says Sally Hanson, co-owner of Juanita Bay Pharmacy, which also was in the shopping center at one time.

When Hanson and her husband, Don, lost their lease, they moved their business north about 20 blocks to an upper Juanita strip mall. But they didn't lose their trademark sense of humor. A disembodied plastic hand in a shirt sleeve hangs over a box in the back of the store with an ominous sign: "Our last rude customer."

Besides Spud, the eatery most identified with the area is Cafe Juanita, which started as a converted ice cream parlor across from the beach park in 1977 and moved two years later to a ranch-style house nearby.

Owner Peter Dow, who remembers when pheasant and deer could be seen behind his restaurant, serves northern Italian cuisine nightly to enthusiastic patrons. He has mixed views on the proposed urban village development near a major Juanita intersection.

"As a restaurant owner, it'd be nice to have that many captive people next to you," he says. "But as far as changing the area, I'm not necessarily in favor of that big a development."

The interest in the urban village reflects the popularity of Juanita. That's a shift from the late 1970s and early '80s, when Juanita was considered to be geographically "way out," says Craig Shriner, who has owned a Windermere Real Estate office near the beach park since 1983. "So the biggest change is that it has become very urbanized. It's a very easy commute to anywhere."

Home prices have risen accordingly, although relative bargains still exist. In 1990, the average three-bedroom house in Juanita sold for $130,000. Today, the price has almost doubled, to about $250,000, Shriner says. Starter homes can still be found for less than $160,000 and condos for $100,000.

On the other end of the scale, Shriner tells of a recent listing for a $1.5 million Juanita property. With two quick offers, the house lasted one week on the market.

Selling points for Juanita include proximity to employers and retailers in Bothell, downtown Kirkland and Totem Lake.