With the redevelopment of Kirkland Parkplace comes a new name that the owners believe better reflects the experience residents and shoppers will have there.
Talon Private Capital, which is currently working with the city of Kirkland’s Design Review Board (DRB) on the conceptual design, has renamed the planned mixed-use property “Kirkland Urban,” with the retail section of the development called “The Marketplace at Kirkland Urban.” They have yet to decide on a name for the residential section.
Principal Owner Jim Neal said that they settled on the name after submitting a new master plan to the city last October once they realized it needed to have a separate brand to represent.
“It’s a completely new development for the city of Kirkland,” he said. “It’s going to be the most urban development in the city, and we want to make sure everyone recognizes that.”
During their next meeting with the DRB this month, Talon will hash out more of the specifics for the site, where work is already being done in anticipation of Phase 1. The phase will include the demolition of 505 Parkplace Center where Todd’s Crab Cracker is located and the building across from the QFC, where an underground parking lot will be installed. Businesses will be moving out by Dec. 1, and some have already either closed or made the move to a new location. Three new buildings will then be constructed, two office and one residential featuring 190 apartment units. Each business will have their own storefront and, excluding the restaurants, the spaces range from 800-10,000 square feet. The underground parking lot will have 1,650 stalls, which Neal and Investment Director Bill Leedom said allows for more open space on the property than included in the original master plan.
Talon expects the first phase to be completed by November 2018, at which point the next phase will begin as soon as businesses such as the QFC enter the newly-built office buildings. The Park Place Center building will remain with a marketing office inside through the first phase and be demolished as part of the final phase, which is expected to last around 14 months.
With Phase 1 expected to begin early next year, Neal and Leedom said any impact on the local roads will be mitigated through a traffic management plan worked out with the city. Among other things, the plan will stipulate how many trucks will be allowed per hour and during what hours of the day. Neal and Leedom added that the trucks will only go east on Central Way to reach Interstate 405 and will not go through downtown, and any concrete pouring will take place during the weekends.
Once the entire project is completed, one of the buildings will include a 37,000-square-foot, eight-screen movie theater with residential units above. Kirkland Urban will also be divided into a park level, which is evenly grounded to the adjacent Peter Kirk Park, and the plaza level located above. A woonerf or “walking street,” similar to that on Park Lane, will run through the development. Among the amenities offered, once the redevelopment is finished, includes a 14,000-square-foot daycare center for 175 kids with an outdoor play area and a full service health club. The residential sections of Kirkland Urban will include townhouse-style units with access to roof decks, club rooms and bike storage, among other amenities.
Neal and Leedom stated that while no business has signed a lease yet, they expect to have an announcement in several weeks and have been approached by Seattle-based businesses looking to expand on the Eastside. They also have verbal agreements with two current businesses at Parkplace.
For more information about Kirkland Urban, go to http://www.kirklandurban.com.
