The Village at Totem Lake


The Village at Totem Lake, formerly Totem Lake Mall, is a small shopping center in Kirkland, Washington, United States. The center of Totem Lake Mall consisted of an enclosed shopping mall, and an adjacent strip mall. Collectively, the two centers were sometimes referred to as "Totem Lake Malls". Following the redevelopment of major regional malls beginning in the 1980s, Totem Lake Mall went into steady decline, losing most of its major tenants. Multiple redevelopments for the property were proposed. Village At Totem Lake, LLC purchased the mall in 2015 and in 2016 announced it would be redeveloped and reopened as The Village at Totem Lake.
Major tenants in the Lower Mall were Cartoys, Ross Dress for Less, Sleep Country USA, Famous Footwear, Family Christian Book Center, My Home Furniture brand new in 2013, 24 Hour Fitness and the stand-alone, Auto Zone and Key Bank. Spaces in the lower mall were often leased by short-term and seasonal tenants. The Upper Mall included Denny's Pet World, Guitar Center, Hallmark Cards, Trader Joe's, and Big 5 Sporting Goods.
The majority of these tenants were only accessible on the outside, shying away from the interior mall concept popular throughout the 1960s-1990s. Other malls in the Seattle - Tacoma area such as Northgate Mall and Lakewood Towne Center have switched to this concept as well, having tenants on the outside as well as the inside.

History

Originally called the Totem Lake Center, the mall was first proposed in early 1968 and ground was broken in June 1972. The mall was the second phase of a larger Totem Lake center project including the Evergreen Hospital campus and nearby apartment complexes, all developed by Totem Lake, Inc. around the small lake of the same name, originally known as Lake Watstine. The mall was designed with an "Indian longhouse theme" featuring elements of Northwest Coast art by Richard C. Bouillon & Co., the same firm that designed the Lake Forest Park Center in 1964 in a chalet theme. John Graham & Company were in charge of designing the interior. Although the opening of the mall was originally scheduled for April 1, 1973, the first stores in the mall wouldn't open until May 2, and the rest of the lower mall until May 31, 1973. The mall's Lamonts Anchor tenant/department store, the sixth in the Pay 'n Save Corporation-owned chain, was still under construction at the time, and would not open until October 17 of that year. Additional anchor stores at the mall included other divisions of the Pay 'n Save Corporation including Ernst Home & Nursery, Schuck's Auto Supply, still existing until recently, a Pay 'n Save Drug store and Sportsland, later acquired by Big 5 Sporting Goods. Construction of the separate Eastern portion of the mall continued into 1974, and the East Mall was opened in July 1974. Construction of the mall would lead to the annexation of the Totem Lake Neighborhood by the city of Kirkland in 1974. The adjacent Totem Lake Cinemas opened in 1980.
In the summer of 1988, the upper and lower malls' original exposed wood facades and finishes were covered and the buildings were re-sheathed with a white Exterior insulation finishing system as part of a renovation project that was intended to modernize and brighten the appearance of the malls. Many people criticized this new look deeming it boring and bland in contrast to the previous eclectic theme.
A huge snow storm in 1997 caused part of the lower mall's roof to cave in, triggering the sprinklers and flooding the entire building in of water. Because of water damage, the mall's original wood parquet flooring was replaced with ceramic tile.
A totem pole from the mall's original construction was thought to be hidden inside a sign tower on the mall's west side, though in reality what remained were plain wooden poles that once held the malls' original sign featuring an Eagle with outstretched wings in the Northwest Coast art tradition. The poles were left in place during redevelopment to take advantage of a grandfather clause in the city's sign height limits but the fate of the original hand-carved sign is unknown.
The shopping center was previously considered a dead mall due to financial struggles and had faced a "steady loss of tenants" since the early 2000s. The mall has been described as a "white elephant".
The first blow to the mall occurred in late 1996 when anchor Ernst Home & Nursery closed as part of the company's bankruptcy. The space eventually was divided into three stores, Ross, Famous Footwear and Cartoys, and given a remodel that contrasted greatly with the rest of the mall. This part of the mall remained occupied while the rest of the mall slowly languished.
The main mall has many vacant spaces where anchor tenants used to be, such as Lamonts. In November 2006, the Rite Aid drugstore moved out of the mall to a free standing location up the street. CompUSA closed in May 2007. As of December 2015, the mall interior has only one major retailer: a Christian bookstore. The Old Country Buffet closed in September 2008 due to chapter 11 bankruptcy consolidation. The latest vacancy occurred in March 2010 when one of the mall's only original remaining tenants, Schuck's Auto Parts, acquired and renamed by O'Reilly Auto Parts, relocated off the mall property.
still clearly indicate where many former stores were, such as Gottschalks, Radio Shack, Rite Aid, Comp USA and Grab Bag. The Sweet Shop, still has signs up, despite being closed for a few years. Even a partial logo from Jay Jacobs, a local boutique that closed in 1999, is visible. Although the decor of the mall was originally themed in the style of a Native American long house, the current interior decor of the mall is from the 1980s.

Sale and redevelopment

In January 2004, the mall was sold by CalPERS to
Developers Diversified Realty for $37 million.
DDR has discussed plans to tear it down and redevelop a multistory, mixed residential-retail complex.
As of February 2008, the City of Kirkland had not received an application for design review and did not know the planned mix of tenants, although the city did receive a conceptual master plan. In February 2009, it was revealed that due to the harsh economic climate, DDR had postponed its redevelopment plans for the mall indefinitely and was searching for someone to buy the property.
In early 2015, Totem Lake Mall was sold to Village at Totem Lake LLC, a joint venture between CenterCal and PCCP, LLC. A $200 million, 12-month redevelopment of the mall was announced to begin in mid-2016, with the new mall opening in the summer of 2017. In March 2016, the mall's owner began demolishing the lower mall, with the exception of the former Ernst space which is now occupied by Car Toys and Ross; Trader Joe's took up the remaining space after construction was completed in December 2017. The upper mall and its former movie theater are next in line for demolition. The new complex, named The Village at Totem Lake, will include 400 residential units, office spaces, and entertainment venues in addition to retail space.