Kirkland Highlands Real Estate Buzz

Not only is it sunny in Seattle, but now it’s photography season for me.  I’ve started doing my “summer outdoor” run all over the area.  It’s great to be outside and Seattle and Seattle’s Eastside cities are the perfect summer places.  

 On Father’s Day, I  jumped back on the MV Kirkland with my husband and Dad and took the afternoon Lake Washington cruise from the Kirkland docks.  You get great views of the Bellevue, Kirkland, Mercer Island, and Seattle lakefront. The tour is usually narrated by one of the Argosy Cruise staff. This week’s trip incorporated a bit more of the history of Kirkland.  There are always some little known facts revealed that make this an interesting tour.  If you buy a captains’ pass from Argosy Cruises, it allows you to take as many trips as you want for a year.  It ends up being an inexpensive way to get on the water, relax and enjoy the sun.  A great to have some fun on the water without having to own the boat!

  The Montlake Cut was hopping with boats coming in and out of Lake Washington.

I realized this past week what we in Kirkland, Washington could lose when I was standing in the middle of a new shopping/destination center, Blue Back Square, in my home town, West Hartford, CT.  I was back east for a high school reunion (which could be another complete blog post. Yes, it was only yesterday!)  

West Hartford is a suburb of Connecticut’s capital city, Hartford.  It boasts a wonderful center (it’s never referred to it as downtown) which has reinvented itself over the last 20 years as a destination place.  Growing up, West Hartford Center had a department store, lots of shops, and few restaurants.  We went to the center to shop, not to dine. Today, it’s a hopping, happening place with a multitude of great restaurants, coffee shops, and stores. 

 On a warm summer’s evening, you can find people flocking to the center to walk, have a glass of wine or dinner. Blue Back Square is a recent addition to the center. 

It continues the theme of a community based center.  Stores, restaurants, apartments, and condos are all there.  Community plazas exist for people to sit and have lunch or for the local students to present a concert.  The community feel is such a welcoming feature.

The characterization of the town is very similar to how I view Kirkland, Washington. When I moved out to the Northwest, I immediately fell in love with Kirkland.  It felt like home to me because the town had a soul, a “center”, like West Hartford.   Today both cities have morphed into destination places while, keeping their unique identities and small town flavors intact.

We are poised to lose this soul of our community, the essence and character of Kirkland, if we are not careful in our choices.  We have one of the few towns with that “small town” feel while being close to everything on the eastside and Seattle.  We must preserve this as we grow.  Kirkland should grow and change, but not at the expense of our identity and our community.  Development should enhance the city, the services and amenities available to its citizens.  Development should not be at the expense of Kirkland and only for others who commute to or through the city.

Tomorrow, the 12th of June, more important decisions are being made that will affect Kirkland’s future.  Come to City Hall at 7 PM to hear the latest. Parkplace, Touchstone Corp., is presenting two options to the community:  One is an 8 story office complex with a  myriad of retail outlets, restaurants, and a movie theater.  The other is a 5 story office complex with limited services and opportunities for community involvement.  Whatever Kirkland decides, the community element must not be lost.  Whether there is an 8 story building or a 5 story building, we must not lose our soul, a gathering place for the community or our identity.  What a shame it would be if people flocked to Kirkland to work at Parkplace and left immediately after work to return home.  What a loss it would be if there was no vibrant community life at Parkplace both during the day and at night.

My thoughts continue with the trail possibilities.  An examination of ways to improve transportation is vital to the growing eastside.  However, decisions to improve transportation must be made responsibly.  While analysis is being done, the BNSF corridor should be used as a trail for all the eastside, but particularly for Kirkland.  What a gorgeous, fabulous asset it would be for our community.  A train line would be cost prohibitive with little impact on traffic.  The train line would cut Kirkland neighborhoods off from each other.  Let’s not lose this opportunity, too, to enhance the livability of Kirkland.  Let’s make sure Kirkland is a better place for the people who live here, not just for the people who commute through and work in the city and leave everyday.

Don’t have time to attend meetings regarding all the changes in Kirkland, but want to keep up?  Check out Kirkland Views blog.  I was impressed with Rob Butcher’s presentation and analysis of the latest city council meeting. 

 The Bank of America project was evaluated at the meeting, but rather than rehash the already well-written piece, here’s a link to the blog post and online discussion.    Bookmark this blog, so you can keep up with Kirkland changes.  Funny or sad-his next post is advertising positions on Kirkland’s Design Review Board.

(Numbers in parentheses are for last week’s data)

Active Listings:   26(27)

New listings:  1(1)

Re-listed properties: 1(1)

Sold subject to inspection:  1(2) 

Pending:  1(1)

Closed Sales:   1(1)

Contingent sale: 0(0)

Number of Price Reductions:  1(3)

Cancelled listings 1(0)

Expired Listings: 0(0)

Temporarily Off Market:  0(1)

Price increase:  0(0)

Back on market: 0(0)

———————————–

0-$349,999:   0(0)

$350,000-$499,999:   3(3)

$500,000-$749,999:    6 (7)

$750,000-$999,999:  9 (9)

$1,000,000- $1,499,999:   5(5)

$1,500,000- $2,999,999:   3(3)
———————————–
Average Price: $957,792 ($942,651)

Median Price:   $869,475($869,000)

Average Days on Market: 67(70)

Highest Priced Listing: $2,299,000 ($2,299,000)

Lowest Priced Listing: $424,900 ($424,900)

This week’s real estate buzz:

Okay, I’m a day early this week!  I figure everyone is going to be busy enjoying the long weekend and not paying attention to weekly stats, so here goes:  There’s been activity in the Kirkland Highlands this week.  One new listing, one new sale, one in most of each category, except there were two price reductions.  Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

New listings:

(Homes new on the market this week)

$499,900 remodeled rambler on 116th Ave NE with 1160 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths.

Homes sold subject to inspection:

(homes that received an offer, but still have to go through a buyer’s inspection)

        $489,000 remodeled rambler with 1370 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 1.75 baths.

Pending sales:

(homes that have had the inspection resolved between the buyer and seller)

$399,950 Forbes Creek town home 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths.

Closed sales:

(Homes in which the ownership has changed hands and the new owner has moved in)

$663,000 Highland Creste two story with 3200+ sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. Last list price of $684,000.   Sold in 113 days for 14% below  the original asking price of 765,000.

Sold contingent:

(Home sales in which the buyer still needs to sell their home in order to buy the new home)

None this week.

Price reductions:

$650,000 Down from $679,000. Remodeled daylight rambler with 2350 sq ft and a seasonal view.

$599,950 down from $674,950 Waterwheel Park two story with 2600+ sq ft.

Price increases:

None this week.

Expired listings:

(The contract to sell the home has expired)

None this week.

Cancelled listings:

(The seller has taken the home off the market)

$545,000 Hidden Woods Tri-level with 1980 sq ft.

Temporarily off the market:

(The seller has taken the home temporarily off the market.

None this week.

___________________________________

Town homes/ condos:

7  homes currently on the market

New listing:

None this week.

Expired listings:

None this week.

Pending listings:

None this week.

Price reductions:

       None this week.

Closed sales:

      None this week.

 Google’s new Seattle/Eastside space is rapidly going up just south of downtown Kirkland.  With 180,000 square feet and over 600 parking spaces,  it’ll be a magnet for thousands of high-tech jobs.   Google is helping to change the fabric of Kirkland from a quiet town along Lake Washington to a hub of high tech jobs.

Here’s a YouTube tour of Google’s current Kirkland offices. Located in downtown Kirkland by Parkplace, there are already hundreds of Google employees working in Kirkland.

Back in February I wrote a post about a group hoping to change the name of Juanita Bay Park to Juanita Bay Wildlife Refuge.  The name change did not pass the city council vote. 

The proponents of the name change thought it would reflect the “nature” of the park more accurately.  In addition, the proponents wanted to make the distinction more clear between Juanita Beach Park,  a park with a sandy beach and picnic tables located just around the corner on Lake Washington, and Juanita Bay Park

 Why didn’t the name change pass?  Rumor has it people were concerned  public use of the park would change with the park being called a refuge.

What started out to be a gloomy, rainy day ended up being gorgeous, sunny, and windy.  And boy was it windy on Lake Washington!  I was walking down Lake Washington Boulevard with my husband and the dog and was treated to a beautiful sight over by Kirkland’s David Brink Park.

Morning view of the Olympic Mountains

Sunset Olympic view.

View of the Seattle skyline from the Kirkland Highlands

 And people think it only rains around here!

 Have you ever paid a visit to Juanita Bay Park?  It’s a gem in the city of Kirkland, Washington.  I took these photos this past summer when I went through the park with my Dad and husband on a beautiful, sunny summer’s day.  Much of the park is wheelchair friendly.  It’s a fabulous nature preserve where you can visit the frogs, the birds,

and check out Kirkland’s wetlands by taking the wonderful walkway

 out over the wetlands.

I decided to post these photos now because The City Council is proposing a name change to reflect the true nature of the park. The proposed new name is Juanita Bay Wildlife Refuge.  I think the photos here show this new name would be a great choice for the park.

Here’s the a press release from Marie Stake of the City of Kirkland, Juanita Park Name Change.  The Kirkland city parks department wants to hear your opinion about the change. Click on the above website to find a link to the parks department and don’t forget to stop by and enjoy the park.  It’s a beautiful, peaceful antidote to life’s hectic pace and it’s right in Kirkland’s front yard.