Kirkland Urban update: Businesses to start opening in early 2019

Phase one of the construction of Kirkland Urban is going forward on schedule following the groundbreaking last fall.

Last week, DBM Contractors announced it has completed the installation of the excavation support system for the development, which is located next to Peter Kirk Park in the Parkplace space.

The construction for phase one is scheduled to be completed near the end of 2018 or beginning of 2019, and Talon Investments Director Bill Leedom said the community should expect retailers including QFC to be open in their new locations during the first quarter of 2019.

QFC will anchor the phase one retail space with a 50,000-square-foot grocery store, which is more than two times the size of the current location.

Once phase one is complete and tenants including QFC, Wave Broadband and Tableau Software have moved into their new spaces, phase two will begin by demolishing the remaining Parkplace building and the existing QFC location. Phase two is estimated to take another one and a half to two years to finish following phase one.

“It will probably take 20 to 24 months to build phase two,” Leedom said.

In addition to QFC, Wave and Tableau, other confirmed tenants for phase one of Kirkland Urban include Bright Horizons daycare (in a space adequate for 170 children), HomeStreet Bank, Evergreens Salads and Heavy Restaurant Group. Heavy operates several restaurants in the Seattle area, and Leedom said the concept for the Kirkland restaurant would likely be similar to The Commons in Woodinville but would go by a different name.

He said five other dining establishments, a pet store, a gym and other retail tenants are in the process of entering into a lease for parts of phase one of Kirkland Urban.

“If all of those leases are signed, we’re probably about 75-percent leased (in phase one),” Leedom said.

In total, the first phase is comprised of more than 390,000 square feet in two office towers, 140,000 square feet of retail space and more than 1,700 parking spaces. Wave will occupy three floors in the 197,000-square-foot, six-floor Urban Central building, while Tableau will lease more than 90,000 square feet in Urban North, which will be a 196,000-square-foot office building.

The 185-unit residential component of Kirkland Urban, which will feature amenities such as a roof deck, club room and fitness center, also is part of phase one.

For phase two, Leedom said they are in the middle of lease paperwork with a movie theater company and a tenant who would bring another entertainment use to Kirkland Urban.

When asked about competition from the Village at Totem Lake and other developments in the region in securing tenants, Leedom pointed out that the Totem Lake developers seem to be targeting more national brands such as Nordstrom Rack and Whole Foods Market, while Kirkland Urban is pursuing more local or regional tenants as listed above.

“There’s plenty of retail need in the market, (so) both centers should be able to find tenants,” Leedom said.

For more information about Kirkland Urban or to watch live video of the construction, visit kirklandurban.com.