It looks like My Ballard may have the answer to the mystery that is the former Five Corner Market Bar and Kitchen space. The prime real estate at 22nd Ave NW and NW Market was the former home of Lombardi’s, then spent about five seconds (technically five months) as Five Corner, a gastropub with one of those fancy Josper ovens.

The failed restaurant’s shiny illuminated signage still dominates that corner, and anyone in the business of tracking restaurants gets regular queries about what might go in there. My Ballard cites an anonymous but well-placed source as saying that the space is going to become…another Starbucks.

Well, that’s boring. Presumably the tiny Mermaid outpost three doors down would relocate into the space. Seattle Coffee Works is also expanding into a location nearby. However the address is rather large, and this is a city that loves its small and intimate dining spaces.

No confirmation yet from Starbucks HQ, but the coffee giant has been busy adding some new stores in the region, including that one in Tukwila made entirely out of cargo containers, and the just-now-opened South Lake Union location that is planning to add booze this spring. Stay tuned.