More details about the planned redevelopment at Totem Lake Malls property were discussed by the developer and the city of Kirkland’s design review board (DRB) at a Dec. 7 meeting.
The conceptual design envisions a plaza situated between two separate buildings on the lower section of the property, with a large parking lot dotted with independent structures. Among the DRB’s guidelines concerns parking, which is intended to “minimize the number of driveways by restricting curb cuts and by encouraging property and business owners to combine parking lot entrances and coordinate parking areas,” according to a city memo. It also calls for the redevelopment to “encourage side and rear yard parking areas by restricting parking in front yards” and “require extensive screening where there is front yard parking.”
“Throughout Totem Center, parking areas located between the street and the buildings should be discouraged,” the memo continues.
The master plan anticipates Metro Transit will eventually add a bus stop along 120th Avenue Northeast, the location of a joint effort between the city and CenterCal as part of a redesign in order to make it more friendly to pedestrians that could include more sidewalks and walkways.
The masterplan design conceives the Village at Totem Lake as a mixed-use development that includes a theatre-anchored center featuring retail, 400 residential units, entertainment and office spaces.
The landscape concept for the village is to “create lush and bucolic streetscape and public spaces that complement the mixed-use nature of the development,” according to their conceptual design plans. “The proposed landscape tree and plant selection will utilize an eclectic collection of native and imported species, providing scale and color throughout the year.”
In all, the new mall is expected to include one million square feet of space.
According to the conceptual master plan for the project, now known as the Village at Totem Lake, most of the one-story retail building in the lower mall will be demolished, leaving the northern section intact. Most of the upper mall buildings will also be demolished, as well.
For the redevelopment, “all buildings on pedestrian-oriented streets should be encouraged to have upper-story activities overlooking the street, as well as balconies and roof decks with direct access from living spaces,” according to a city memo.
“Residential building facades visible from streets and public spaces should provide balconies of a sufficient depth to appear integrated into the building and not ‘tacked on,’” the memo states further.
Additionally, the DRB guidelines call for a variety of colors and materials for the numerous buildings.
As part of the redevelopment, the Village at Totem Lake also envisions an 2,500 square foot Wells Fargo Bank building at the southern corner of the lower mall property, with drive-thru tellers as well as tellers inside the branch.
Once the design review board approves the project, they will be able to obtain building permits.
Businesses like the Ross department store, Famous Footware and Car Toys in the lower mall will remain open throughout the redevelopment and there is no plan to demolish that building.
Conceptual design documents state that this section of the lower mall will be “architecturally consistent with the new construction.”
A Trader Joe’s spokesperson told the Reporter earlier this year that the grocery store has no plan to move away from Totem Lake despite the fact that Whole Foods has been announced as the anchor tenant for the new development. The Whole Foods store will be 40,000-square-feet and located in the mixed-use development at I-405 and Northeast 124th Street. It is anticipated to open in the summer of 2017, and will be the first Whole Foods Market in Kirkland.
Meanwhile, the owners of the Totem Lake Hotel, located adjacent to the malls and the Totem Lake Cinema, are taking advantage of the redevelopment by engaging in their own renovation work.
In 2004, Coventry Real Estate Advisors and Developers Diversified Realty purchased the Totem Lake Malls from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System for $37 million, intending to redevelop the site. Instead, the site became entangled in a $500 million fraud lawsuit filed in New York state. In April, Village at Totem Lake LLC purchased the mall. The Village at Totem Lake LLC is a joint venture partnership between CenterCal and PCCP, LLC.
