October 31, 2024
Exxel Pacific now building 50 Kirkland units for seniors
Real Estate Editor
Completion is expected in about two years; almost all units have already been reserved.
The nonprofit Transforming Age announced last week the onset of construction on its 50-unit senior community dubbed Parkshore Juanita Bay.
That’s at 11853 97th Ave. in Kirkland, almost immediately north of Juanita Beach Park. Designed by Perkins Eastman and being constructed by Exxel Pacific, the three-story development replaces its prior Gardens complex from the 1970s. Plans began brewing about three years ago.
Transforming Age CEO Torsten Hirche said in a statement, “This milestone underscores our unwavering dedication to serve the triple bottom line: mission-impact, sustainability and efficiency — and providing our residents the highest quality of life.”
The project is supported in part by a $62.5 million bond issue from the Washington State Housing Finance Commission. Ziegler, of Chicago, announced in August that it had arranged the equivalent bond-backed loan from US Bank.
Transforming Age is also participating in the city of Kirkland’s multifamily tax exemption program, to help keep rents affordable to retired folks earning up to 50% of area median income. Units are restricted to those over 62 years in age, and a leasing website is already accepting pre-applications. The buy-in fee starts at around $540,000, which includes many services. Only six future units remain unclaimed, says Transforming Age.
Apartments are to run from one- to two-bedrooms. Amenities will include a dining room, gym and lounge, movie room, roof deck and outdoor walking and sitting areas.
Completion of the roughly 120,000-square-foot project is anticipated in early 2026. It includes some surface parking, plus one level of underground parking with about 94 stalls — all to have EV charging. The project is targeting LEED Platinum certification, with rooftop solar panels and other green features.
IMEG is the energy consultant for the project. Its Nathan Miller said the future building will provide “residents with filtered, fresh air from high-efficiency energy recovery ventilators, year-round comfort from variable-refrigerant-flow heat pumps, and renewable energy produced on-site. All of these systems reduce the energy consumption of the building without compromising on the quality of residents’ lived experience.”
The team also includes Pace, civil engineer and surveyor; GCH, landscape architect; Coughlin Porter Lundeen, structural engineer; Krazan & Associates, geotechnical engineer; and Talasaea Consultants, wetlands advisor. (The L-shaped project footprint will accommodate a wetlands area.)
The old Gardens at Juanita Bay complex, now apparently demolished and its residents relocated, has a long history. It was once a retirement home for German Americans, founded circa 1926. (It affiliated with Transforming Age in 2018.) Of the future building, says Transforming Age, it will “honor the community’s deep heritage by dedicating a space for the German Consulate in the new community, as promised in the affiliation.” That surely means an historical exhibit, not a relocation of the actual consulate from downtown Seattle.
Over in Phinney Ridge, Transforming Age recently initiated plans to gut renovate Norse Home, which it operates, with fewer but nicer independent-living units. Ankrom Moisan is the architect there.
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