What is the SIS like today?
The SIS is located within the Totem Lake Urban Growth Center, just southwest of the Village at Totem Lake. The area today is home to many activities including indoor recreation, automotive repair, construction and wholesale businesses, offices, and more, in large flexible warehouse spaces. The Cross Kirkland Corridor (CKC) runs through the area and provides walking and rolling connections to the Village at Totem Lake and to central Kirkland. Forbes Creek flows through the area, although it is tucked away behind the warehouses and parking lots.
Project Background: Exploring future possibilities in the SIS
The 2044 Comprehensive Plan includes policy TL-33 calling for a new subarea plan for the SIS that will “evaluate and identify the necessary infrastructure and services to consider a new mixed-use, walkable, sustainable neighborhood that leverages its proximity to the CKC and the Village at Totem Lake.”
The Comprehensive Plan also includes policy TL-34 “to accommodate residential use where appropriate within the subarea”, particularly focused in areas along the CKC.
Implementation of these Comprehensive Plan policies has been divided into two phases. Phase 1 focuses on visioning and community outreach to understand existing conditions and create a shared vision for how the area could evolve over the short and long term. Phase 2 will involve the full subarea planning process, including the elements identified in policy TL-33.
Phase 1: Visioning
BLOXHUB Collaboration
The City partnered with BLOXHUB, a Nordic hub for sustainable urbanization based in Copenhagen, Denmark, to support Phase 1 of the Totem Lake Southern Industrial Subarea project. BLOXHUB works with cities and communities around the world, including in the Pacific Northwest, to bring people from different sectors together to explore shared urban challenges and opportunities.
For this project, BLOXHUB brought together a team that included landscape architects from Schønherr, an architect from GXN, and a community engagement professional from Agora. The project was funded through a grant from the Scan Design Foundation, which supports projects that strengthen Danish-American relations and focus on sustainability.
Community Workshops
Phase I included two workshops that brought together a diverse group of participants, including local business owners and employees, City Councilmembers, housing developers currently building in the SIS, community members, and City staff.
Participants worked together to explore:
Design Concepts
Through this collaboration with the community, nine primary design concepts were identified as opportunities to implement short-term and long-term improvements.
The Design Concepts Report provides more information about each concept including existing conditions, potential actions, regulatory considerations, key stakeholders, opportunities to expand or scale the concept, and issues that may need further exploration.
The report provides a summary of Phase 1 and the City's collaboration with BLOXHUB and offers ideas and opportunities that the City, businesses, property owners, community members, and other partners can consider as the SIS continues to evolve.
Phase 2: Subarea Plan
Phase 2 is currently scheduled to start in 2027 and will involve a full subarea planning process, which will include a more detailed look at market trends and conditions in the SIS, a comprehensive analysis of the SIS and its surroundings to implement Comprehensive Plan Policy TL-33, and exploration of the possibility of expanding housing allowances in the area.
Phase 2 will build on the community engagement and relationships established during Phase 1, including continued collaboration with businesses, property owners, community members, and other stakeholders. The City will also consider how the design concepts developed during Phase 1 could be implemented as part of the subarea planning process in Phase 2.
More information about Phase 2 will be available as the project gets underway.
Meeting Information
View meeting packet information for Planning Commission or the City Council by clicking on the appropriate tab below: