The long-awaited new Kirkland Transit Center opened to great fanfare Friday. Snohomish County Executive and Sound Transit Board Chair Aaron Reardon, King County Councilmember Jane Hague, all of the governing leaders for the City of Kirkland and about 100 guests were on hand for the ribbon cutting.
Many people who walk by the newest business in downtown Kirkland stop to look through the windows out of curiosity. Most find the shoes, an espresso bar and diabetes’ supplies – an interesting mix of products for Remedies Pharmacy.
The blotter feature is both a description of a small selection of police incidents and a statistical round-up of all calls to the Kirkland Police Department that are dispatched to on-duty police officers.
The Totem Lake Malls, lake and surrounding neighborhood have a storied past. The area also has great potential.
The malls’ future is directly tied to the state of the surrounding neighborhood.
Traffic flow and access to the malls from the freeway and surrounding area can hinder or positively impact economic growth. The environmental impacts and potential recreational benefits from Totem Lake could bring in more people to the area on a regular basis or even physically prevent people from being able to get to the malls due to flooding. The expansion of the surrounding business district can take away economic opportunities from a potential redevelopment of the malls or can help to bring more shoppers to the area. These and many more issues cloud the future of the once-vibrant malls.
Getting a feel for what the public wants to see at the Totem Lake Malls site is apparently really easy. The Reporter ran a survey with the Totem Lake Malls series asking residents for their ideas and 333 readers replied. That number dwarfs all surveys published by the Reporter in the past five years.
The blotter feature is both a description of a small selection of police incidents and a statistical round-up of all calls to the Kirkland Police Department that are dispatched to on-duty police officers. The Kirkland Reporter Police Blotter is not intended to be representative of all police calls originating in Kirkland, which average about 800 per week.
During the past two weekends Totem Lake Malls’ lower parking lot has been unusually busy. Voices and shuffling feet have replaced a deafening silence in the mall’s main hallway.
Ken Grammer and Sig Rudowicz, who work in marketing during the week, have opened ShopSmart Bazaar in the space that still has the silhouette of the old Gottschalk’s sign above the main entrance.
“It has been very positive so far,” said Grammer. “Many of the other stores have told us they have had their best weekends since we opened.”
The “upscale flea market” is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays with more than 70 vendors selling everything from collectables and antiques, to jewelry, crafts, clothes and kitchen cabinets.
The blotter feature is both a description of a small selection of police incidents and a statistical round-up of all calls to the Kirkland Police Department that are dispatched to on-duty police officers. The Kirkland Reporter Police Blotter is not intended to be representative of all police calls originating in Kirkland, which average about 800 per week.
Most people consider their dog or cat a part of the family. For employees and customers of Denny’s Pet World the business has become like family during its 37 years at Totem Lake Malls.
Walking into the main building of the Totem Lake Malls is surreal, especially during the holiday season. The normal hustle and bustle, white noise of conversation and sale signs were replaced with a musty smell, shadows of old storefront signs and the echo of one set of footsteps.
The silence is deafening with only 10 of the 23 available spaces occupied in the lower mall. That feel has persisted for years.
In this fourth of a five-part series on Totem Lake Malls, the Reporter will look at the current state of the malls, the economic impact of the malls and how the larger neighborhood has survived during the decline of one of the most important pieces of real estate in Kirkland.
Bob and his late wife Betty Lightfeldt had a big impact on the Kirkland business community for decades. Their shops…
The blotter feature is both a description of a small selection of police incidents and a statistical round-up of all calls to the Kirkland Police Department that are dispatched to on-duty police officers. The Kirkland Reporter Police Blotter is not intended to be representative of all police calls originating in Kirkland, which average about 800 per week.
What’s on your list today? How about a bigger Totem Lake Fred Meyer with expanded photo electronics, apparel and food departments.
The 31-year-old store is currently gearing up for a nearly $10 million remodel, adding approximately 3,000 square feet, a Starbucks and drive-through pharmacy.
When co-owners Coventry Real Estate Advisors (an investment management company) and Developers Diversified Realty (a real estate management company) purchased the Totem Lake Malls in 2004, they intended to redevelop the site.
The joint agreement between the two companies was not the first – but is probably the last.
This is the third part of a five-part series on Totem Lake Malls, which started with the history and continued with the demise of the property. This week, the Reporter will profile the two companies, their joint agreement to redevelop retail property and take a look at the lawsuit that has stymied redevelopment efforts in Kirkland.
The blotter feature is both a description of a small selection of police incidents and a statistical round-up of all calls to the Kirkland Police Department that are dispatched to on-duty police officers.
Former Kirkland resident Matt Harding described the Totem Lake Malls as “some kind of gateway to the netherworld.”
Harding became an Internet sensation for dancing in different places all over the world, including 42 different countries, and posting the videos on YouTube. The lower mall was the “most depressing place I’ve ever been. I almost didn’t make it out,” he wrote in his Web site FAQ.
He visited the malls on his lunch break a few years ago.
“My memory of it is cloudy and probably exaggerated,” said Harding, who now lives in Seattle. “I just remember it being empty and concrete. They were playing some old musac inside and it was bouncing off the walls and echoing. It was moribund.”
Others in recent years have dubbed the malls as the “white elephant,” “albatross around the city’s neck” and the “sleeping giant.”
The malls have also gained national notoriety for being one of the worst in America on several consumer Web sites, including The Sledgehammer and Dead Malls.
Many locals say there’s been an apparent lack of attention given to the languishing Totem Lake Malls – even in the fine details. On the malls’ own Web site, the headline is titled: Totem Lakes Mall.
The first part of the five-part series on one of the most important pieces of real estate in the city looked at the history of the Totem Lake Malls. This week, the Reporter examines what led to the demise of the once-bustling economic engine of Kirkland during the second part of the series.
The state’s budget woes have had far-reaching effects for everything from the state ferry system to health insurance. But the effects may also hit Kirkland and the annexation of the Kingsgate, Finn Hill and Juanita neighborhoods.
The blotter feature is both a description of a small selection of police incidents and a statistical round-up of all calls to the Kirkland Police Department that are dispatched to on-duty police officers.
The Totem Lake Center was touted as completely modern and the only air-conditioned and all-weather climate controlled malls on the Eastside when it opened in 1973.
The 520 floating bridge will have some late-night closures for five weeks starting tonight. Road crews will be installing equipment…
