Regency Plans 280,000 SF Retail Center for Issaquah

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Issaquah Highlands, a master-planned community east of Downtown Seattle, will get a 280,000-square-foot grocery-anchored shopping center. Regency Centers will develop Grand Ridge Plaza on a vacant 25-acre parcel situated in the heart of the development.

Regency’s forthcoming development will be anchored by Safeway, which will occupy 44,543 square feet. A 12-screen Regal Cinemas will take another 56,820 square feet. The structure is designed by architecture firm Fuller Sears Architects of Seattle. It is part of Regency’s “greengenuity” program and will be a candidate for LEED certification.

For the rest of the space, Regency is targeting convenience retail, restaurants, entertainment and destination retail in an effort to attract shoppers regionally from the neighboring Sammamish Plateau, greater Issaquah and Interstate 90. The opening of the Safeway branch and remaining retail space, which will occur during the fourth quarter of 2013, will follow the opening of the Regal Cinemas in the second quarter.

The master-planned community of Issaquah Highlands will comprise 4,540 homes, 3 million square feet of commercial space as well as 1,500 acres of parks and public space. More than 3,000 housing units are completed or under construction. The community is considered among the first in the U.S. to adhere to the principles of New Urbanism and is regarded as a model example of a sustainable urban village.