Ground broke last Wednesday for joint venture Seattle-based Talon Private Capital and New Jersey-based PGIM Real Estate – formerly Prudential Real Estate, as mixed-used project Kirkland Urban begins construction of phase one, which is anticipated to be completed mid 2018.
The 1.6 million-square-foot multi-phase development, designed by Seattle-based architecture firm CollinsWoerman and to be constructed by Minneapolis-based Ryan Companies U.S. Inc., sits on a 11.5-acre site at the corner of Central Avenue and Sixth Street at 134 Parkplace Center in downtown Kirkland, a city just north of Bellevue.
They wanted it to be something that would integrate into the community with a vibrant center, that not only catered to a lot of different needs in the community but could become a real destination as well
“Kirkland Urban will bring vibrant retail, restaurants and entertainment that will create an around-the-clock walkable environment for this premier waterfront community, while also offering sophisticated, modern office space for an expanding high tech workforce,” said Bill Pollard, the founding principal of Talon.
The first phase includes two office towers that will provide a combined total of 396,054 square feet of Class A office space, which is almost 50 percent pre-leased. Wave, a cable, television and internet provider, will occupy three floors in Urban Central, a six-story tower consisting of around 197,000 square feet, and Tableau Software will lease almost half of Urban North, a seven-story nearly 196,000-square-foot tower.
Rick Collins, a regional president for Ryan, says other potential tenants have been showing interest in the space, however, there is nothing to announce at this time. “People usually don’t start paying attention until the building is under construction,” Collins said. “We do have an active prospect list for both office and retail. I’ve been seeing a number of letters of intent in my inbox over the last few days, and that’s the first step before a lease is signed. So we’re seeing a lot of interest.”
The 185-unit residential component, designed by Seattle-based architecture firm Weber Thompson, will be located adjacent to Peter Kirk Park and will include a roof deck, open spaces, plazas, water features and public art. Retail for the initial phase will include a 50,000-square-foot multi-department QFC grocery store owned by Kroger, along with additional destination shops, restaurants and entertainment, totaling 91,378 square feet of space.
Pat Logan, lead architect on the project and a senior associate at CollinsWoerman, says he started working with Talon early on in order to design the vision of a true mixed-use space. The office floor plates are large in size, says Logan, in order to accommodate a growing need in downtown Kirkland.
“They wanted it to be something that would integrate into the community with a vibrant center, that not only catered to a lot of different needs in the community but could become a real destination as well,” Logan added. “We keyed off of that and looked to what is special about Kirkland, in terms of its’ feel and vibe. It isn’t downtown Seattle or Bellevue, it’s kind of in and of itself.”
Once phase one is complete, Collins says construction of phase two will most likely begin immediately after. Because it is unknown at this time whether the total project will be built in two or three phases, plans for the second phase have yet to be finalized. Upon completion, the total project will deliver 650,000 square feet of office space, 180,000 square feet of retail, over 300 residential units and 2,400 underground parking stalls. Now that ground has broken, the large mixed-use project is anticipated to be delivered by 2021.
According to Collins, the project is Ryan’s second in the region. The privately-held real estate firm anticipates opening an eighth regional office in the area in the future where it can continue to expand its portfolio within the Puget Sound and throughout the Pacific Northwest.
“We’ll be new to the market,” Collins added. “I think we have a unique complimentary set of skills, and we’re looking forward to being a part of the community.”
