Politics & Government
Long Troubled Juanita Restaurant Location to Become Coffee Shop
The location at 11451 98th Ave NE was first a Jack in the Box and has been many short-lived restaurants since. What do you think of current plans to turn it into a coffee shop? Do you remember it as Jack in the Box?
The 98th Avenue property near the north end of Juanita Bay Park where several restaurants have come and gone over the years apparently will become a coffee shop, according to City of Kirkland planners.
Originally a Jack in the Box, the long empty building at 11451 98th Ave NE in downtown Juanita was built in 1969 and has been a variety of restaurants. They included sushi and Greek restaurants and most recently a Casual Dining location.
Resurfacing and striping work began recently on the parking lot, prompting a visit by the City of Kirkland Planning Department. Christian Geitz, assistant planner, said the striping work revealed the structure would have a drive-through service, which is not allowed in the city code at the location because of the intense traffic situation there and ingress-egress issues.
A stop-work order was issued and the contractor told planners the owner was creating a coffee shop. Geitz said since the work to put a coffee shop there required no major reconstruction, a building permit is not required, just a city business license.
King County records show the property is owned by Yang Xiaowei, who bought it in 2011 for $850,000.
The photo with this story was posted Monday on the Kirkland Patch Facebook page, eliciting many responses from people reminiscing about the structure’s former incarnations, most of them short-lived, and thoughts about its likelihood of success as a coffee shop.
What do you think? Do you remember it back in the day as Jack in the Box? Please tell us in the comments box below.
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