The South Kirkland TOD (transit oriented development) is the first of its kind for the city of Kirkland, Washington; a precedent-setting project that interweaves greater density into a suburban area. The catalyst for this endeavor is the King County Metro Park and Ride; a regional transit collector situated at the intersection of State Route 520 and the jurisdictional boundary between Bellevue and Kirkland. This transit node is a key element to the greater Seattle Metro regional transit system and facilitates smart, sustainable commuter options.
The vision for the project results from a collaboration between citizens, and municipal and county representatives. This is a campus of new buildings including an affordable residential living building by the team of SMR Architects and Imagine Housing, and a mixed-use retail/residential building and a new garage for King County Metro to accommodate increasing demand for the Park and Ride, both by Weber Thompson and Polygon Northwest.
A new network of pedestrian linkages, plazas, courts and sidewalks will link the community to the existing neighborhood and provide activities for new residents and surrounding neighbors. Retail will front NE 38th Place and 108th Avenue NE and help activate the entry gateway plaza which will serve as a focal point for the entire project. The architecture and landscape will transition the lower scale residential fabric to the north and east with the larger commercial office/retail/mixed use projects surrounding the 520 corridor.
Read more about the Urban Design and Landscape Architecture for this project.