By BRIAN MILLER, Real Estate Editor, DJC
Rowley Properties announced the completion of its 2005 Poplar office building in Issaquah.
The four-story development, at 2005 N.W. Poplar Way in Issaquah, broke ground on a speculative basis about a year ago. It replaced a small old commercial building on property the family-run business has owned for decades. It’s part of Rowley’s broader Hyla Crossing redevelopment of other older retail and commercial buildings on the south side of Interstate 90, next to 19th Avenue Northwest and Tibbetts Creek.
The design, by VIA Architecture, makes extensive use of cross-laminated timber, or CLT. GLY Construction built the hybrid project, which has a steel frame and glass curtainwalls — so it isn’t an entirely mass timber development. But extensive use of CLT did lower the project’s carbon footprint; and the pre-cut timber also trimmed the construction schedule.
One of 2005 Poplar’s marquee features is a four-story, glass-enclosed central staircase, which will light up like a lantern at night, says the developer.
The building totals a little under 70,000 square feet, including about 56,000 square feet of offices. Rowley is leasing the space directly, with Mitch Tallman and Kelly Richardson in charge of that effort. The asking rent is $38 per square foot for a triple net lease. For more information: 2005poplar.com.
Floor plates average around 18,672 square feet on levels two through four. The ground floor is programmed for 7,358 square feet of flex space, suitable for a childcare center; and another 4,917 square feet suitable for retail or office use. The 3-acre property has 193 surface parking stalls. For commuters of all stripes, 2005 Poplar also features in-building showers, bike racks and EV charging stations.
Healthy building features include what Rowley calls a Dedicated Outdoor Air System, or DOAS, which continuously circulates 100% fresh outside air via the HVAC system.
The building is about 20 minutes by foot to the Issaquah Transit Center, or five minutes by bike. Formula Brewing also recently opened a few steps east of 2005 Poplar, across the creek. It’s also next door to the existing Issaquah Fitness and Arena Sports Issaquah.
Hyla Crossing already includes a Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites complex, which was completed a few years ago A time capsule has been placed in the nearly completed 2005 Poplar. Rowley CEO Kari Rowley Magill said in a statement, “2020 has been a time of immense change, disruption and innovation that likely will go down in history as a defining moment for our civilization (good, bad or otherwise). Given that the completion of our new building coincided with this historic year, it seemed appropriate to gather items documenting these unprecedented times and leave a record, a snapshot in time, for the future.”
Rowley is now in its third generation of management. The company acquired about 640 acres in 1954, making it Issaquah’s largest landowner. Some of that land has since been sold to other developers.