BEST REUSE OF LAND
Juanita Village
When SECO Development Inc. earned the opportunity to revamp a 1950s-era strip mall in Kirkland, Wash., it knew it would be racing against time. A gas station and a dry cleaner had occupied the strip mall, and over the years, waste from both businesses had seeped into the ground, a spot near Lake Washington, Juanita Bay, and other streams.
Obviously, it was important that the site be cleaned up. And the sooner, the better. Some estimates projected that dry cleaning fluid could reach the street and lake in a year’s time. So SECO, based in Renton, Wash., hired a company to inject air into the ground, force the plume of dry cleaning fluid to the top, and filter the plume.
The company succeeded in that, laying the groundwork for a thriving mixed-use development with retail and apartments. In the middle of the village, there’s a freestanding building, which became a Starbucks. This was the first step in attracting retail and residential occupants. “It was an incredibly expensive freestanding building, but it gave the image of what the balance of the site would look like,” says Michael P. Christ, president of SECO Development Inc., adding that the building cost about $1.4 million.
The 550 multifamily units are three or four stories above the retail shops. The development goes down in stories toward the water so that residents can have more water views, according to Christ. There are also wide vehicular and pedestrian streets in front of the project, which open up the views toward the water instead of the street.
–L. Shaver
Juanita Village
Location: Kirkland, Wash.; Developer: SECO Development Inc.; Opened: June 2003; Units: 407 units built and under construction, with an additional 173 units in design and development; Rent: $845 to $3,490; Unit Mix: One- and two-bedrooms; Cool Stuff: Parks and lakes surrounding the mixed-use village