Project News

Meeting Reports/History

Thursday, April 24, 2008 —

During the Kirkland Planning Commission's public hearing on the draft EIS for the Private Amendment Requests (PARs), the Commissioners identified key issues and topics concerning Touchstone Corporation's PAR. The company's PAR asks for increased building heights and limited setbacks for the proposed redevelopment of Kirkland Parkplace. (See here for full detail on Kirkland's current PARs.)  

The Commissioners discussed some of their key issues surrounding the project, including the character of Kirkland; the ability to change Kirkland's Comprehensive Plan; the scaling of the project; the retail character planned for the project; traffic, parking, transit and mitigations as they are reported in the draft Environmental Impact Statement; the economic impacts of the project, land-use compatibility; and how this project fits into comprehensive and neighborhood plans.

Topics for the Planning Commission's May 8, 2008, meeting will include the project history, the Design Review Board recommendation, the critical mass required for the mixed use project.

Monday, April 21, 2008 —

The City of Kirkland's Design Review Board (DRB) held its conceptual design meeting to review Touchstone Corporation’s proposed office alternative for the redevelopment of Kirkland Parkplace. The developer has submitted an office alternative project, which follows Kirkland’s existing zoning requirements, in parallel to its current proposed mixed-use redevelopment, which is currently being reviewed by the Planning Commission. 

Douglas Howe of Touchstone, Walt Niehoff of LMN Architects, and Kris Snider of Hewitt discussed some of the details of the office alterative plan:

·         The plan features predominantly Class-A office space in buildings 3-to-5-stories in height and limited onsite retail to serve office tenants during the workday.

·         If it were to be built, the City of Kirkland would realize financial benefits in the form of an increase in thousands of downtown office workers who would patronize existing retail establishments.

·         The influx in Class-A, commercial office space would also enable highly desirable, intellectual-based firms to remain in Kirkland.

·         The office alternative plan would not include a movie theatre, a hotel, a full-service sport club, a bookstore, apparel shops or as many restaurants as what Touchstone currently has planned with the mixed-use design approach.

·         Touchstone decided to pursue this project-design path in parallel with its preferred mixed-use redevelopment plan to create a greater level of predictability for Touchstone’s financial partners who have invested in the site.

·         No matter which plan is built, Touchstone will create a world-class, high-profile, environmentally sensitive project that everyone in the Kirkland community could be very proud of.

The DRB’s next meeting will be June 2, 2008.

Thursday, March 27, 2008 —

The Kirkland Planning Commission held the first of several study sessions on several current Private Amendment Requests (PAR), including Touchstone Corporation’s application for increased building heights and limited setbacks as part of its proposed redevelopment of Kirkland Parkplace. (See here for full detail on Kirkland’s current PARs.)  

 

Douglas Howe of Touchstone discussed an overall history of the project and how his firm’s redevelopment plan will help the City of Kirkland meet some of its primary objectives:

 

1. A strong base of employment in Kirkland
2. A strong and vibrant retail center combined with much-needed community space
3. A high-quality project that Kirkland residents can be proud of for years to come

Walt Niehoff and Mark Hinshaw of LMN Architects provided a review of the design process to date, including the previous presentations and revisions made in response to the six Kirkland Design Review Board (DRB) meetings held over the past several months. Hinshaw discussed the importance and necessity of public open space and its interaction with commercial (retail and office) uses. 

 

Steve Cox, a member of Kirkland’s DRB, presented the Board’s recommendations for Touchstone’s proposed redevelopment based on its past review of the project. During the study session, Howe and Niehoff commented that the DRB’s recommendations are largely in keeping with Touchstone’s most recent design vision for the Kirkland Parkplace project.

 

The Commissioners posed some general design questions concerning the project's height, density, open space trade-offs, as well as inquiries concerning traffic and parking. A draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the
Touchstone proposal was issued on April 4 and will address traffic and parking issues. The draft EIS is scheduled to be discussed at the next Planning Commission meeting on April 10, 2008, at Kirkland City Hall.

Press

Googling Kirkland
Seattle Times – Tuesday, May 06, 2008
The last time 1,000 people worked at one company in Houghton, they were building minesweepers at a shipyard along Lake Washington.

Have your say on Parkplace
Kirkland Courier Reporter – Wednesday, April 23, 2008
What’s the difference between a five-story and an eight-story building?

Developers agree green building finally becomes financially sustainable
Puget Sound Business Journal – Friday, April 18, 2008
Among developers, a significant paradigm shift is taking place. Just a decade ago, when government and environmental groups starting promoting "Building Green" and encouraging

Kirkland growth is a given, city report says
Seattle Times – Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Downtown Kirkland is likely to have more jobs, more traffic, more stores, more parking and higher buildings, regardless of what decision is made about an $800 million redevelopment proposal for Parkplace.

The vision of the master plan yields vibrant centers
Puget Sound Business Journal – Friday, March 28, 2008
The Seattle metropolitan area is going through a major transformation. High-density developments have swept through older neighborhoods

Kirkland's Growing Pains
Kirkland Reporter/Courier – Wednesday, March 26, 2008
I've struggled to form an opinion on growth and Kirkland, a hot topic around the city these days given a handlful of recent developments in the downtown area.

After 25 years, venerable shoe-repair shop will move from Kirkland Parkplace
Puget Sound Business journal – Friday, March 21, 2008
Big changes for Kirkland Parkplace have already been in the news. The beleaguered little shopping center is now

New Parkplace Will Have Much to Offer
Kirkland Courier Reporter – Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Kirkland faces a number of challenges ...

New Parkplace: Boon or traffic buster?
Kirkland Reporter/Courier – Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The proposed redevelopment of Parkplace moved two steps closer to becoming reality last week, with the Kirkland Design Review Board...

DRB recommends further Parkplace reduction
Kirkland Reporter/Courier – Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Douglas Howe and his Seattle-based real estate development firm Touchstone Corporation will need to alter their designs for Parkplace redevelopment.....