Notes from The Design Review Board Meeting on the Parkplace Development, February 4th

I went to the Design Review Board meeting on Monday for Parkplace and was pretty excited when the developer mentioned Park Lane

 and University Village as models for the development. 

 In reality, the reference to these wonderful shopping areas means the western buildings in the proposed project would have a lower profile and stepped back stories to create the urban village feel.  It’s critical this is done  so we can keep the buildings and retail stores accessible.

However, the continuing evolution (saga?)of the Parkplace design is one step closer to resolution. The Review Board meeting on Monday night was a continuation of the review process. 

The Parkplace development website has a ton of information. For those of you who don’t know, here’s a quick review of what Touchstone, the developer of the project, wants for the zoning changes to Parkplace:

• height restrictions increased to 4-8 stories from the existing 3-5 stories.
• setbacks reduced from the present 20 feet on Central Way to zero feet.
• possible reduction in the 10 foot setback from Peter Kirk Park.

Here are the current stats on the proposed site:

• 1.2 million feet of office space
• 300,000 square feet of retail
• 175 hotel rooms, 175,000 square feet
• 70,000 square feet of a sports club
• 20,000 square feet of movie theater
• 235,000 square feet of restaurant/retail
• 5 levels of parking with 3000+ parking spaces

Space will be divided up as follows:

• 55-60%  buildings
• 20-25% open space
• 20% driveways

After designing 4 different models over the last few weeks, the project is starting to take a more “user friendly”, community, and people oriented approach to the spaces.
One of the most important changes, from an aesthetic point of view, is the large building designed to go along Central Way is now two smaller buildings, with a driveway entering from Central Way.  One of these buildings is projected to be a boutique luxury hotel with a QFC along the building’s back side. Gone is the idea of two hotels in the project, now there is only one. 

The road alongside Central Way will have a parking strip, which is an idea stressed by Robert Gibbs in his talk about the development of vibrant downtown retail areas.  Accessibility at the street level for cars and pedestrians is key for successful community use and enjoyment.

The Touchstone people brought up the concept of Park Lane and University Village, both successful two story shopping experiences. As I mentioned previously, I want to be assured the developers are keeping the western buildings in the project to a couple of stories. 

The central  open area, the courtyard is taking shape. The developers are thinking of a kiosk in the center with some some water features. They’re also looking at joining Peter Kirk Park to the project, possibly with walkways, fountains, art.  Right now, there’s a tree lined drive that would follow along the park and turn into the central part of the complex.

The other concept raised at the meeting is Parkplace and the Tera Apartments acting as a gateway to downtown Kirkland.   Parkplace would anchor the south side of Central Way while Tera occupies the north side.   The upper floors of the Parkplace building along 6th St and Central Way would step back from the lower floors to give some openness and interest to the “gateway”. There’s some thought the buildings in Parkplace would mirror the apartments, perhaps in color, materials, and design.  In addition, the corner on Central and 6th would be a soft corner with extensive landscaping.

 My question is: Would the height of the buildings create a wonderful gateway or a wall?  

By the way, as an aside, the elevator shafts for these buildings would add 16-17 feet to the actual building height.

Touchstone is making some modifications to the original design, which I see as good moves.  However, one of the key points of contention with the community is the height of the buildings.  The need for 8 stories is one of the key issues, for both sides.  Touchstone feels they need this amount of square footage to make the development viable.  The public is leery about such tall buildings. When asked about building height, Touchstone responded the technology tenants need 25-30,000 square feet for office space.  This makes sense, however, the developers need for the eight story height was not really addressed.

There are several more public open houses coming in the near future.  The next one is scheduled for February 21st at 6 PM at The Kirkland Performance Center, 350 Kirkland Ave, in downtown Kirkland.