County Council OKs South Kirkland Park and Ride Development

A planned development to add affordable housing, more parking, and business and retail space to the South Kirkland Park and Ride was given the preliminary go-ahead Monday by the King County Council.

Construction could begin next year on the “Transit-Oriented Development” at the heavily used park and ride at the intersection of 108th Avenue NE and NE 38th Place—right on the Kirkland/Bellevue boundary.

The council unanimously voted to approve the objectives and principles of the development, as previously approved by the cities of Kirkland and Bellevue.

The idea of TODs is to maximize the use of pubic transit by allowing high-density residential development (along with some commercial space) at or near major bus or train stations.

“This is just great news. I am just delighted," Kirkland Mayor Joan McBride said Tuesday. “To me this is a legacy project for Kirkland. It is one giant step in the future of Kirkland.”

The development would mix 200 to 250 affordable and market-rate housing units on land in Kirkland at the seven-acre park and ride, which is owned and managed by King County. The City of Kirkland sees it as potentially providing housing to people who work in Kirkland but could not otherwise afford live there.

It would also add 200 parking stalls to the existing 603 at the park and ride, which has been operating at capacity on weekdays for years.

Kirkland and Bellevue have already approved the principles of the project. Also, the Kirkland City Council and Houghton Community Council approved zoning and code changes in June that allow residential units on the property and taller buildings. About $7.2 million in government money—most of it federal, but some state grants—have been secured for the project.

The county's next step will be to issue a formal request for proposals from developers and/or nonprofit housing agencies. McBride noted that those entities have shown interest.

“There has been buzz about it,” she said. “We’ve set the framework for this; now the King County Council has done the same.”

The abandoned Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railway runs north/south through Kirkland and right past the park and ride. The city sees it as becoming a vital bicycle/pedestrian corridor linking the facility and neighborhoods to the downtown area.

“This is not just about affordable housing,” McBride said. “This is as much about the environment. It’s about reducing our depedence on cars, and it’s about how we grow in Kirkland. Do we want suburban sprawl out into the hinterlands?”

McBride noted that the project is still subject to the city's Design Review Board, and that the zoning changes adopted will ensure a high-quality development.

King County Executive Dow Constantine was quick to voice his approval of the council’s vote.

“The expansion of park-and-ride space, combined with approximately 200 units of housing, is a huge step toward improving mobility in the congested SR 520 corridor,” he said in a news release. “I commend the council and the cities of Kirkland and Bellevue for partnering with us to provide people with more and better transit options. Added capacity means more people will be able to take advantage of expanded bus service, increasing cross-lake capacity while avoiding paying tolls.”

The project's scheduled completion date is October 2014.