Happy New Year from your Houghton Neighborhood Association

Year-End Update: Sheila Stanton Place (LaQuinta), Houghton Village, K-Line and HNA Advocacy

Dear Houghton Community,

We hope you’ve been enjoying the holiday season with family, friends and neighbors! As the year draws to a close, here are a few updates on key issues that we’ve all been all been engaged with over the past year (and then some).

Please support HNA with a year end gift:
To continue our volunteer work—including our independence, securing meeting spaces to keep you informed,  hosting community events such as our Summer Soiree and candidate forums, communication materials and more, we rely on your donations. Please note that as a 501(c)(4), donations to the HNA are not tax-deductible.

If you’ve supported HNA financially in the past year, we THANK YOU!

How to Donate:

• Online: houghtonlives.com (Zelle/Venmo/PayPal)

Note: For Zelle, use the QR code in your banking app or search for “Central Houghton Neighborhood Association.”

Now onto the updates….

Permanent Supportive Housing

The King County funded permanent supportive housing project, at the former La Quinta site, is now named “Sheila Stanton Place.” Sheila Stanton was a local community volunteer who tragically died in a car accident earlier this year.

While the project is nearing its first phase of occupancy, recent disclosures from King County and the operator, Plymouth Housing, have raised concerns regarding transparency and fiscal responsibility.

Cost and Staffing Concerns
During a recent tour of the facility, two major issues were brought to light that the HNA believes the community should be aware of:

• Ballooning Costs: Construction surprises have caused the project’s price tag to significantly increase. The renovation budget has jumped from an already substantial $11,000,000 to over $14,000,000. This brings the total cost of the project to $43,000,000 or more than $400,000 per room. 

• Staffing: Contrary to previous promises made, Plymouth Housing has dropped plans to have a staff member residing on each floor. What took both Eastside Preparatory School leadership and HNA by surprise, was that this revelation didn’t come to light during our monthly roundtable meetings, but when asking a casual question during the tour. Plymouth assessed that 24/7 on-site staffing is sufficient. We are disappointed as this reduction in oversite and support is a major departure from the management model originally presented.

Current Status
A temporary occupancy permit was issued earlier this month. The first 20 residents will arrive in small groups of five starting in late December or early January.  They will be local referrals (individuals with local ties that are known to service providers). There will then be an occupancy pause until May/June, or when construction on the remaining units concludes.  A permanent security gate for Northup Way is scheduled for installation in January; until then, temporary gates remain in place.

HNA will continue to monitor the project and provide updates. We will reach out to the responsible parties if made aware of issues that require addressing. Below, you will find contact information to liaisons for King County, the City, and Plymouth as well as other useful information. We encourage you to reach out to them directly with comments and/or concerns. We would appreciate it if you’d cc us on any email communication. It is vital that the community remains engaged and observant to ensure the safety and success of both the residents, the surrounding neighborhood and businesses. More details on the City of Kirkland website 

Houghton Village

On November 18th, Council held a public hearing related to their proposed Development Plan (master plan) for Houghton Village. Among other things, the Development Plan relates to potential building(s) height (5 stories), as well as a variety of other council guidelines, related to types of housing, retail, public amenities and community space. The Development Plan was passed at their meeting on December 9th. Per Planning Director Weinstein, the development plan “doesn’t compel construction of the development plan” and “doesn’t affect the city council’s decision to sell the property or keep the property”. Councilmember Pascal proposed an amendment to the development plan resolution, with a second from Councilmember Black. It states that no later than March 3, 2026 the City Manager provide “consideration expressing the Council’s intent to sell the Houghton Village property”. This “consideration for sale” amendment passed 5-2, with Councilmembers Falcone and Sweet in the minority. In the meantime, the city will continue to entertain any development proposals that may come their way. More details on the actual development plan can be found here

Metro K-Line Bus Update on 108th:

In late August, King County Metro submitted their application to the US Dept of Transportation, to be considered for a Small Starts grant, to fund 50% of the construction costs related to the planned K-Line bus route from Eastgate to Totem Lake. Houghton neighbors have raised concern over Metro plans to install dedicated bus lanes on 108th and 6th Street that would require seizing the private property of home owners and the commercial land owners of the Starbucks and Houghton Plaza site to construct them. The consensus is that there is not a usage or financial justification for the disruption. A concern voiced by both Metro and City of Kirkland staffers is how the current administration will respond to this request - at this point, it’s an unknown. The K-Line project will be competing with others throughout the US for any potential funding. Additionally, due to financial constraints, Metro recently initiated a series of significant budget cuts, which includes a 20% reduction of the K-Line This means less advanced features like transit priority lanes (like proposed for our community) and signal priority, aiming for a more basic approach. At this point, studies are being conducted as to where impacts and service reductions will occur. Your continued outreach to both Metro and the City of Kirkland are important as planning moves forward.

We wish you a happy and healthy 2026! Our next in person meeting will be in February - be on the lookout for date and time soon.

Sincerely,

Your  Houghton Neighborhood Association Board