Comments on: The Colorful Past and Unwritten Future of Kirkland’s Totem Lake Mall – Part 3

By: Hank3429

Hank3429 — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:40:18 +0000

I don’t think the Northgate Mall example is a good one because it is very different from Totem Lake. And Parkplace also is different even if it is the same builder. The difference is the design requirement s of the city. I think we can all look at the NOrthgate Target store and see an eyesore. That is what Seattle allowed to be built. Kirkland wont allow any such thing because we have lots of processes which so many of you on this blog write about. Even if we have problems to fix in the process atleast we know the process wont make a building like Northgate’s.

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By: The Ghost of Peter Kirk

The Ghost of Peter Kirk — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 05:30:32 +0000

With the current state of the economy, I am not very hopeful for any development activity at the mall very soon.

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By: Tia

Tia — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 02:55:47 +0000

With 27 public meetings so far we don’t really need to wonder. It isn’t like they are doing this under the cover of darkness. Regardless, stacking big box stores isn’t in the cards for either TL or PP.

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By: Cami Keyes

Cami Keyes — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:55:56 +0000

That Target Building was built by Touchstone…the company wanting to build Parkplace. Makes one wonder what we are in for Downtown. That building is the only mixed use building every built by Touchstone, according to their web site.

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By: Brian Lutz

Brian Lutz — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:20:03 +0000

Given the fact that the plan is calling for a 156,000 square foot store (, I seriously doubt we’re going to end up with anything close to Northgate North (I have to agree with you on that one, the place is a crowded mess.) The Target there is about half the size of any of the ones on this side of the lake (2 stories of about 40-60k square feet each, if I had to guess, plus a Best Buy store below it)) It’s not like there wasn’t room to build there (the space right next to it is just parking lots,) but if I had to guess, the cost of land and growth management act requirements are probably responsible for cramming all this stuff into a single city block. The Totem Lake Target does appear to have some space constraints, but it looks like these will be dealt with by putting the parking for the upper mall above the Target store, although the store itself should be on the large side for a Target store (the Super Target stores run about 175k square feet, but there aren’t any of those in Washington currently.
Either way, I don’t think you have anything to be worried about here.

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By: Gail

Gail — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:51:33 +0000

I wish this would hurry up and get built because we need some shopping options that are close by. What my fear is is that what is going to be built will end up like the Target at Northgate. That Target is in a big ugly mixed use building and it isn’t an appealing store.

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By: Norkirklander

Norkirklander — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:32:39 +0000

Try the Ace Hardware at Bridle Trails. It’s quite decent, and in Kirkland.

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By: Juanita Neighbor

Juanita Neighbor — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:13:39 +0000

My dreams for Totem Lake Mall are Target, Borders, Home Depot and Red Robin. Currently Kirkland has no department store, no hardware store, and Park Place Books is sadly declining beyond the point of no return. Right now, the city of Kirkland gets no business revenue from its own citizens when they shop for most items as we have to go to Redmond or Woodinville to find them. Unfortunately I don’t see the redevelopment happening soon. The current economic climate makes expansion less likely for a lot of chains. Still, a discounter like Target might do well in hard times. We can hope!

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By: Smith

Smith — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:21:06 +0000

I think this is a pipe dream. Nothing will be built here for years and the city should look in other places to find more tax dollars. If Kirkland ParkPlace is built in to a mall then the chance of Totem Lake being built up is even lower. What this town needs is a top to bottom reform iwth economic growth as the #1 priority. I think that for too long Kirkland has focused on every whim that has come along at the expense of long term economic development. Now the whole place is hemorrhaging money and they are looking to do anything they can to save their butts. Hire economists or better yet, elect an economist to city council! That is what we need.

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By: Allen

Allen — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:05:43 +0000

Any idea how many susidized rental units are planned for this project. I heard Joan McBride say they gave concessions to this project so they would build it. These buildings don’t look very tall so I wonder what the concessions were. They should allow buildings the same height as the hospital if they really want to promote urban living and increase density. These half measures don’t solve the problems we have.

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