Kirkland Highlands Real Estate Buzz

I have Karen Story to blame.  It’s all her fault.  Karen turned me in to the Kirkland Reporter as a prime suspect in their search for local columnists.  I’ve been caught and now I am  doing some time as one of the Reporter’s (reporters?)  columnists. 

Seriously, I am excited to be doing this. Truthfully, I jumped at the chance to write. I get to talk about our city, our neighborhood, development, real estate, kids, dogs, seniors, disaster preparedness, parks, area events, and not necessarily in any order.  

Writing for the Reporter is a natural extension of my blogging.  When I started to blog last year, I had no idea where it would lead.  But I can say now,  blogging has given me a new appreciation for Kirkland and The Highlands.  I’ve had the opportunity to see our city in a different light. (You may have seen me running around town taking lots of photos.)  I’m paying more attention to what’s happening, meeting lots of interesting people, and doing a lot of fun things in Kirkland.  Blogging, and writing, are both an opportunity for me to combine the things I love to talk about and do. 

Through this blog and the Reporter, my goal is to highlight topics that are important to  people in The Highlands and  Kirkland.  Some topics will be more serious, some will be fun, but hopefully, all will have some meaning.

 Now here is your chance to put your two cents in.  If you have a topic of interest you think people should know about, please let me know, and I will try to write about it.  You can comment on this blog or send me an email at debra@debrasinick.com .  After all, this blog’s for you!

The sidewalk is done over the railroad tracks in Kirkland’s Highlands.  Time for everyone to head down to Parkplace!

It’s been a busy week with market stats!  I just posted my year end statistics to summarize the 2007 Kirkland real estate market.  Now back to the real estate market at hand in The Highlands through January 25th, 2008.

Sellers had a 10.2% chance of selling a home in Kirkland in December, 2007.

(See the above chart to follow the real estate trends for the last few years.  The chart shows trends for Kirkland, south of NE 116th St)

December 2007    332 homes for sale, 34 sales, 10.2% chance of selling.

November 2007   405 homes for sale, 44 sales, 10.8% chance of selling.

December 2006    241 homes for sale  47 sales,  19.5% chance of selling.

Here’s a tally of 2007 Kirkland real estate:

For 2008:

• Sellers must have the best home out there for the money.
• Sellers must have the best marketing program to showcase their home. 
• Sellers must be realistic and flexible with pricing.
• Interest rates are fabulous.
• Competition among buyers for homes will be less.
• Pricing will be negotiable.
 It will be slower this year, but buyers will buy and homes will sell. 
The home that captures the buyer through great pricing and marketing will get the sale.

For a report on the Eastside’s December performance, you can check my summary of Eastside real estate on my eastside blog.

Kirkland also has some wonderful advantages, both natural and man-made. We have the waterfront, Lake Washington,

and a marina at our back door.   We have wonderful parks along the waterfront and throughout the city. 

 Kirkland is a very ”people friendly” town with great demographics.  The boulevard along the water is a great place to walk.  Marina Park,

downtown’s great waterfront park and beach, is mobbed with people in nice weather. (A little too cold today as it was only about 33 degrees.) Downtown is also hopping with people enjoying our restaurants,  galleries, and trendy shops. 

 However, the city of Kirkland has some questions to answer as to how downtown and Parkplace development will go.  Downtown Kirkland is at a crossroads with its growth and development.

Dr. Robert Gibbs spoke at Kirkland City Hall on Monday evening and posed these questions to help Kirkland think about its future:

• What do we want Kirkland to look like over the next ten years? 
• How much market share do we citizens want to have in the downtown?
• How much do we want to be a place for others to come share Kirkland?
• Do we want big box stores?  Do we want big box stores if the stores can have a tasteful presence?
• Do we want independent stores?

These are pretty important questions with a lot to think about.  Right now Kirkland downtown retail captures only 6% of the shopping potential out there.  People head over to Redmond Town Center

or Bellevue Square to buy their socks, shoes, and  undies.

• What part of the other 94% do we want?

Here’s what Dr. Gibbs suggested we need to think about  for our future downtown city core:

• Convenient parking and good on street parking
• Clear parking signs
• Beautiful and inviting shop windows with great merchandise on display
• Inviting, well organized shop interiors.
• The flexibility to walk short distances from the car to retail stores
• Well lit shopping areas for safety.
• Type of retail-the choice of stores is critical.

Here are some other thoughts Dr. Gibb shared with the group:

• Anchor stores will be the key. 
• Many retailers will modify their style to fit what is desired. 
• Our retail center and stores will need to be built to accommodate these choices. 
• Mixed use planning with offices and hotels will support retail.
• Red, my favorite color, is a great choice to encourage people to shop.
• (The color red may explain my love of shopping)

I have mixed feeling about the possible development, as I mentioned in a previous post, but if we manage our growth and make choices that have the most benefit to the most people, the changes can be exciting for the city.

There’s time to make your thoughts  known. The next Design Review Board meeting is scheduled at Kirkland City Hall on February 4th, 2008. To receive Parkplace updates from the city, sign up on-line. Contact the city council,  and, of course, feel free to give your opinions here! Oh by the way, Robert Gibbs has been hired to consult on the proposed Parkplace development, a very good thing!

The Seattle Post Intelligencer had an article with  the Eastside latest rail/trail news.  Each time we hear about rails/trails news, we hear it’s the final plan.  So this may or not be it!   Until some money changes hands, don’t make any plans to take the train to work or ride your bike up to the Burke-Gilman trail.

Here are the highlights from the newspaper article written by King County Council members Bob Ferguson and Larry Philips:

•  The port will purchase the entire Snohomish-to-Renton rail corridor from BNSF for approximately $103 million.
• The port and the county will begin a vigorous public outreach process to hear public priorities for the corridor and the future of the rail bed, under the rubric established by the County Council that prioritizes dual use for recreation and mass transit.
• The county will have an option through July 1 to purchase sections of the corridor between Woodinville and Redmond and south of the Wilburton Trestle in Bellevue for $42.5 million.
• Should the port later decide to divest itself of any part of the corridor, the county would have 120 days in which to purchase the property. After that, the port would offer the property for sale for another 120 days to any other public agency that provides mass transit, rail services or trails.

According to our county councilmen, there will be opportunities for Eastsiders to voice their opinion about the plans for the rails and trails.  As soon as I hear anything more about either the plans and/or meetings, I will pass the word along.  Of course, if anyone has opinions here, fire away!

Built green is one of the most recent buzz words in real estate and remodeling. If you are thinking of remodeling or simply interested in the topic,  Kirkland is sponsoring a free seminar on Wednesday, January 23, from 8 AM to 12 noon at Kirkland City Hall, 123 5th Ave.   The Eastside Business Weekly also wrote an article about the upcoming class.

 Since green built and environmental concerns are so important to buyers today, if you are planning to remodel, it may be valuable for you to consider green built techniques.  Buyers will always be looking for that special feature that sets a home apart.    When remodeling or buying, it’s smart to  consider popular features and styles.  It’ll most likely increase the enjoyment of your home and help you make the most money when selling. Interestingly, green building isn’t always as expensive as people think, and it may even save homeowners money in the long run.

Ironically, I will be taking a class on Built Green techniques through Windermere Real Estate on the very same day.  The class I will be taking is at Windermere’s education center in Seattle.  It begins at 12:30 PM.  Hmm, making I could run from one class to the other? 

I will post an article on my www.eastsiderealestatebuzz.com blog about what I learn next week and also have a link here.

What is the key to the development of a vibrant, people-friendly downtown core?  Find out at the  free lecture on Monday evening, January 21st at 7 PM in Kirkland’s City Hall, 123 Fifth St, Kirkland.  Dr. Robert Gibbs, a noted Urban Planning Consultant, will speak about ways to enhance a downtown retail core so it can compete with large shopping centers. 

 It ought to be an interesting talk, given the possibility of the redevelopment of Parkplace.  This talk should give attendees some new insight into urban development  and may help shed some light on the viability of the Parkplace ”redo”.

 I know many people have mixed feelings about the project.  People are worried about the small shop owners, traffic, and losing the “small town” feel.  Others think the development would be an asset to Kirkland.  Managing the growth of the city, while maintaining its uniqueness, is a challenge.

Unable to make the talk?  It will be broadcast live on Channel 21, the Kirkland TV Channel.

 Kirkland Highlands Association Meeting

January 17th at 7 PM at The Kirkland Maintenance Center

915 8th St.

It’s our turn again.  Every three years Kirkland neighborhoods are eligible to receive a $25,000 Neighborhood Connections Grant.  Thursday night will be an opportunity to talk about the $25,000 grant the city will award to The Highlands.  The neighborhood gets to vote for the project of its choice. Selected projects are for neighborhood improvement, whether it be for sidewalks, landscaping or safety. 

The last Neighborhood Connections grant went to the sidewalk on 112th that extends down to NE 87th.

Not able to make the meeting?  Then log onto The Kirkland City website and submit your concept for a neighborhood project.   You should have also received a letter from the city encouraging you to voice an opinion.  The letter included a postage paid envelope you can use to mail back your proposal.

The deadline for submission is February 15th, 2008.