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  Select Month February 2009 January 2009 July 2008 May 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007

Hi folks. Sorry to have been off the blogging radar screen since May - I have been busy helping clients buy and sell homes and haven’t had too much time to share my thoughts with you all. I just got an email from a colleague of mine, Mike Anda with Washington Financial Group,  letting everyone in our Issaquah Highlands Networkers group know that Port Blakely has announced Town & Country Markets Inc. will open a signature Central Market store at The High Streets. The store opening is scheduled for mid 2010.

Construction of the 50,000 square-foot store – almost as large as a football field – is set to begin in 2009. Central Market stores feature exceptional produce, organic foods, fresh seafood, natural meats and a delicious selection of gourmet foods and specialty items.

Town & Country Markets selected Issaquah Highlands for its fourth Central Market store because of Issaquah’s community spirit, exciting growth of the High Streets shopping center and excellent location for retail expansion. Central Markets are considered to be “destination” grocery stores with a broad scope of quality, selection and value. Central Market’s unique format, unsurpassed service and vast variety of the freshest and best food available makes food shopping an adventure in culinary discovery and delight. So it looks like we are finally getting our high end grocer after all. Yippee!!!

World Pies is here and off to a great, and tasty I might add, start. My husband and I were one of the lucky few that were able to get a sneak peak at the delicious food World Pies is serving up. This week they have been having a "Soft Open" by inviting friends and family in to test out the menu as well as work on the restaurant’s operations. I thought the evening was lovely. While you could tell that people were still getting the hang of a new restaurant, I couldn’t find any flaws in the service. Our server was a bit on the shy side, but she was knowledgeable, attentive, accurate and made sure that all here tables were well taken care of.

What I really loved about the evening though was in addition to the food which was great, was that without even trying to plan it, we ran into six of our friends.  To me one of the whole points of a neighborhood restaurant is be able to do exactly that. The atmosphere was nice and relaxing and after a busy day - it was really nice to sit down to a nice meal and an impromptu gathering with friends. 

Their menu is pretty solid with a nice selection of pizzas and salads. I had a wonderful pizza that had all sorts of delicious meats and cheeses. My husband had one that had some amazing pesto sauce and we both really enjoyed the flat bread and hummus. All at our table agreed - the crust is perfect! Apparently it is reminiscent of New Haven style pizza, which I must admit, I have never had the pleasure of trying, but I draw upon visions of "Mystic Pizza" for a point of reference. The Caesar salad tasted great; not overly dressed and not too fishy. The wine was nice although I would like to see them expand their selection by a few.

All in all - it was a wonderful ending to a busy day and I look forward to going back once they officially open.

Thank you World Pies and Welcome!

UPDATE - Here is the phone number for ordering takeout: 425-392-6099

  Well in case you haven’t noticed, the much anticipated arrival of Nine Bar Espresso has finally come to fruition. Nine Bar opened their doors today.  I stopped by for a tasty treat and was very pleased with the indulgence. Their coffee was FANTASTIC! I also personally love that they offer their sweetener in liquid form. Not only does it more evenly distribute sweetness to your favorite coffee beverage, but it cuts down on paper waste by not having individually wrapped packets of sugar. Way to look out for the environment.

The atmosphere is great too. Nice warm colors throughout the space and great tables and booths make it a cozy place to sit and enjoy a cup of joe with some friends. During the warmer months there is going to be a fantastic patio area that I am looking forward to frequenting.

World Pies, the other half to this taste sensation, will be ready to go soon. Hopefully by about the 15th of this month according to the owner Matt Snook. Matt was very gracious and gave me a personal tour of the shop. You can tell he is very proud and excited about this project.

Matt - congratulations and welcome. You and your crew are off to a great start.

They’ll be open this week from 9am to 6pm. Watch for extended hours and Grand Opening info coming soon!

The last Retail Task Force Meeting didn’t uncover too much that wasn’t already known. Judd did mention that an Oregon business man who owns several hotels had recently signed a lease on the hotel space at The High Streets. Unfortunately, at the time, he was not sure what hotel he was going to build. Recently, things have changed.

As of last Wednesday night, it looks like he will be moving forward with the Residence Inn brand under the Marriott umbrella. I think this makes total sense.

People don’t really want to come to Issaquah (as much as I love this place I call home) to spend a weekend or a night or two for leisure. They are more apt to come because they are here from out of town visiting friends or family or possibly relocating to the area and need a place to stay until they find a permanent home. And with Swedish building a hospital 3 blocks away, it will also be a convenient place for out of town guests to be close to loved ones who have the unfortunate privilege of being a guest of the hospital.

This is perfect for this brand whose core competency is catering to guests who have longer stays. For more details on what a Residence Inn offers travelers, check out their website.

As of January 15th, I am happy to announce that Issaquah Highlands has one more shop open for business. And on top of that, it is the FIRST of many to go into the new Starpoint buildings at Park and 25th.

Alice’s Beauty Salon occupies one of the wonderful live/work spaces on the ground floor of Starpoint North. Alice Abercrombie, the owner of the salon does everything from basic haircuts for men, women and children to fancy colors and perms all at very reasonable prices.

I am super excited to see the shops starting to open up in Starpoint. With the pet spa opening up in February and the pizza shop and espresso bar opening up at the end of this month, our neighborhood is really starting to fill out.

The retail area in the Issaquah Highlands is finally starting to come together. Recently, Port Blakely and Opus released renderings of what the planned development for The High Streets will look like. Port Blakely and Opus brought in five different architects to design the various buildings so that there could be as organic a feel as possible to the design but trying to maintain some level of consistency and quality in the process. I like that they are doing this a lot.

I really like the plans that they have put forward and can’t wait until it all starts to come to fruition. This certainly will add a great deal to the Issaquah Highlands community as well as make more people want to move here and call the Highlands home.

Below are some of the site plans and approved renderings.

At the Retail Task Force Meeting on Tuesday, Port Blakely and Opus announced the first two “OFFICIAL” tenants with signed leases that will be moving into The High Streets.

Issaquah Highlands can welcome AT&T Wireless and Ben and Jerry’s Scoopshop to our growing community.

Since AT&T reception is pretty bad in the Highlands, I am not all to excited about that retailer. Now Ben and Jerry’s on the other hand is something I can get excited about. Sure, it’s no Coldstone Creamery or Marbletop, but hey, ice cream is ice cream - unless it’s from Baskin-Robbins.

More updates on the way. Stay tuned.

Tuesday night was another Retail Task Force Update.  As usual Judd Kirk and crew did not have much new to report. They still couldn’t give us the names of the possible retailers that are coming to The High Streets. They did however, have beautiful sketches of what the area is going to look like. The plan is to break ground this Spring and is scheduled to have a Fall 2009 Grand Opening with a completely full tenant list.

They also had the person in charge of finding tenants present and while she wasn’t super transparent about Issaquah Highlands, she did point to the types of tenants she has secured for similar projects in the past. The list is quite interesting and varied. It includes the likes of pedestrian retailers such as Old Navy and Starbucks to boutique retailers such as Zoka Coffee Roaster & Tea Company and Blue C Sushi.

Some notable things from the meeting were:

• Drugstore has signed LOI.
• Oregon Company has signed lease on lot for hotel.
• Grocer is still nailing down site plans but has been confirmed. We should see a Press Release in 2-3 weeks.
• Electronics Shop has signed LOI.
• Book Store with a Coffee Shop has signed LOI.
• King County has approved the use of the Park and Ride for future Cinema parking but has not determined what the cost will be to Port Blakely for this privilege.
• 50% of the retail space is accounted for through signed LOI’s. 30% (15% of total) of that should have signed leases in the next 6 months.
• Space is being preserved for a gas station but won’t happen unless the people demand it. Port Blakely and Opus are thinking indoor/underground station like in downtown Seattle.
• Two retailers have signed leases and are now public information…but you are going to have to wait for that one to come in the next post.

 

I am still very excited about it because I think it is going to be a wonderful gathering place for those of us who live in Issaquah Highlands as well as a draw to those from outside our community.

Le Chic Pet Boutique and Spa will be opening its doors sometime in the next 45 days. Le Chic Pet is owned by residents Kandis Paden and husband Dan VanEppsis. The concept is simple - a “boutique” style neighborhood pet supply store featuring self-serve dog wash rooms offering only the highest quality accessories and food for Issaquah Highlands four legged friends.

You can find a nice little Q&A with them over at the Issaquah Highlands website.

It will be really nice to have a store like this in the neighborhood within walking distance. Issaquah Hihglands is making good progress on attracting really local and unique stores to the community which take pride in high quality. I think there is an especially neat opportunity for kids to learn even more about caring for a pet by having access to self-serve dog washing facilities. The only thing that worries me is that they price their products well enough above what people want to pay and they will make the trek down the hill to PetsMart. I want to see as many of the businesses as possible in the Highlands to have good success and longevity.

That said, I want to wish Le Chic Pet the best of luck.

Issaquah Highlands will soon be without one of it’s good old standbys where the owner knew your name and always greeted you with a warm and heartfelt smile. Sometime in December, Marcela, daughter of the late Wenceslao Anaya, sold Marcela’s to a new owner. The new owner, Julian Ramos, currently operates Las Margaritas in Redmond and is now in the process of expanding his empire.

I am truly sad to see Marcela leave our community. I feel for her and her family, having lost a beloved family member so soon after trying to open up a restaurant. I wish her and her family well and future success.

As for the introduction of Las Margaritas to our community (or whatever guise Julian wants to put it under), I am hesitant. I would have hoped for another establishment such as Pesos or Cactus that is a small chain with a location in Alki, Madison Park and Kirkland. My hope for whatever becomes of Marcela’s is that the new owner will make substantial changes to the layout so as to make it feel more inviting and less like a cafeteria. In my opinion this was what hurt Marcela’s. Adding some atmosphere and a bar would be a huge improvement.

In addition, this new development has caused quite a stir in the community (must be a resident to gain access). People are very sad to see Marcela go. She really made Marcela’s, what was otherwise a mediocre restaurant, into a place that you looked forward to going - with or without kids in tow. In addition, quite a few members of the community, myself included, are not looking forward to the transformation from a somewhat unique Mexican restaurant into another franchise of less than impressive Mexi-American food.

Some of the immediate changes you will notice are:

• No more happy hour
• Expanded menu of less than impressive dishes
• Service that is worse than Marcela’s ever was

The deal is not completely done yet as the sale isn’t set to close until the middle of February and a new lease needs to be approved by Port Blakely /Opus. So if you feel as strongly about this as others, I would encourage you to reach out to Judd Kirk and let him know how you feel. We are the only ones that can affect change.

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