Good afternoon. Issue two of the Kirkland Dispatch: five minutes on what moved in Kirkland this week, one item for your own neighborhood, the market in three numbers, and one practical thing for the house.
Kirkland this week
The I-405 / NE 85th Street interchange closes tonight, then again all weekend. The shutdown called off in September is back on: 9 PM tonight, Thursday, October 1, to 5 AM Friday, then 10 PM Friday, October 2, to 5 AM Monday, October 5. Both directions of I-405 ramps at Exit 18 close, and NE 85th Street closes between 6th Street and 120th Avenue NE for paving and interchange work. Hotline: 425-224-2423. WSDOT · City project page
Tuesday, October 6: speed limits, a station name, and the Holmes Point overlay. The 5:30 PM study session takes up citywide speed-limit changes and an emergency management framework. The 7:30 PM meeting includes naming the NE 85th Street station area, a short-term rental code briefing, an affordable-housing agreement at the Arete Apartments, and the minimum-wage study results; the two Holmes Point Overlay items (middle housing, trees) are on the same list. City Hall, 123 5th Avenue, hybrid; the calendar changes often. Council calendar, revised 9/25
Harvest Festival, Saturday, October 3, 11 AM to 4 PM. North side of Juanita Beach Park, 9703 NE Juanita Drive, free: vendors, food trucks, a cornhole tournament, pony rides, and three bands starting at 11:30. Free valet bike parking and a shuttle from the North Kirkland Community Center; non-perishable food donations welcome. City of Kirkland
A drive-in at Juanita Beach on October 10. Wheels & Reels is back: Hoppers on a giant LED screen, lot opens at 6 PM, movie at 7, $20 per vehicle, advance registration required (kirklandparks.net or 425-587-3336). Three more dates follow in spring. City of Kirkland
Costume Swap, Saturday, October 10, 10 AM to noon, City Hall. Peter Kirk Room, lower lobby, lake side; free; bringing one is optional. Drop off clean, wearable costumes October 5 to 9 at City Hall or the North Kirkland Community Center. City of Kirkland
Your neighborhood
Central Houghton. The Cross Kirkland Corridor between NE 52nd Street and 108th Avenue NE stays closed to around December 8 for King County's culvert and sewer repair; the county's page has no newer update. For the walk you're missing: Watershed Park, 4500 110th Avenue NE, is 75.5 acres of forest trails and an overlook, with entrances at the south ends of 112th and 114th Avenues NE and a short link to the corridor from 108th. King County · Watershed Park
Sold near you: 16 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.64M (range $253K to $7.30M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 20 days.
Everest. Everest Park's forest stewardship work party is Sunday, October 4, 10 AM to noon, from the south lot at 500 8th Street S: blackberry and ivy out, native plants in. Register on Eventbrite so there are enough tools. And the NE 85th Street closure at the neighborhood's north edge runs tonight and all weekend. Eventbrite via City of Kirkland
Sold near you: 37 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.40M (range $253K to $4.29M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 9 days.
Evergreen Hill. Kamiakin Middle School is on Lake Washington School District's list to be rebuilt and enlarged under the 2024 levy, with estimated completion in 2029. The district's construction page carries the project list. LWSD construction
Sold near you: 19 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.03M (range $360K to $1.48M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 13 days.
Finn Hill. The Green Loop, the planned trail and open-space corridor through Finn Hill and Juanita, is picking a logo: the survey closes Friday, October 2. Council gets a Green Loop update at its October 20 study session. Green Loop · Council calendar
Sold near you: 12 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.06M (range $326K to $1.60M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 31 days.
Highlands. Juanita Bay Park's east entrance, 10442 Forbes Creek Drive (not the main lot), hosts a stewardship morning Friday, October 9, 10 AM to noon: invasive removal, planting, mulching. All experience levels; register on Eventbrite. Eventbrite via City of Kirkland
Sold near you: 18 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.59M (range $950K to $4.29M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 22 days.
Juanita. Saturday is the Harvest Festival on the north side of Juanita Beach Park, 11 to 4, and the drive-in returns to the same park on October 10. Longer term: the fieldhouse and community pool at Juanita High School are being upgraded under the district's 2024 levy, estimated completion 2028. Harvest Festival · LWSD construction
Sold near you: 23 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $920K (range $300K to $2.80M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 8 days.
Lakeview. The Emerson campus at 10903 NE 53rd Street is being rebuilt and enlarged: a new building for 345 students, ground broken March 26, opening planned for fall 2027. The district posted a September construction update. LWSD project page
Sold near you: 13 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.27M (range $253K to $7.30M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 25 days.
Market. Waverly Beach Park, 633 Waverly Park Way, is 2.8 acres on the lake with a U-shaped dock, a reservable picnic shelter and a row of carved cedar benches by Pat McVay telling fishing stories. The restroom building typically closes for the season at the end of October. City of Kirkland
Sold near you: 27 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.77M (range $1.08M to $4.29M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 17 days.
Moss Bay. The Costume Swap is at City Hall on Saturday, October 10, 10 AM to noon, Peter Kirk Room, lower lobby on the lake side; drop-offs the week before. Getting downtown this weekend: NE 85th Street is closed between 6th Street and 120th Avenue NE from tonight through 5 AM Monday. Costume Swap · WSDOT
Sold near you: 34 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.50M (range $455K to $3.15M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 9 days.
Norkirk. The Norkirk Neighborhood Association meets Wednesday, October 7, at 7 PM at Heritage Hall, 203 Market Street. It meets the first Wednesday of even-numbered months; the agenda is at norkirk.org. City of Kirkland
Sold near you: 30 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.59M (range $1.06M to $4.29M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 17 days.
North Rose Hill. This weekend's NE 85th Street closure reaches 120th Avenue NE, the neighborhood's west edge, from 10 PM Friday to 5 AM Monday. The 132nd Avenue NE and NE 100th Street signal project still shows the city's April update (work paused for signal poles, expected to finish this fall); no newer note as of October 1. WSDOT · City project page
Sold near you: 19 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.34M (range $260K to $2.75M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 28 days.
South Rose Hill / Bridle Trails. Rose Hill Meadows Park, 8200 124th Avenue NE, has a habitat-restoration morning Saturday, October 3, 10 AM to 1 PM: blackberry and ivy removal and native planting in the four-acre park. Register on Eventbrite. Also on the council calendar: a Kraken ground-lease amendment for the Iceplex site, October 20. Eventbrite via City of Kirkland · Council calendar
Sold near you: 21 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $1.50M (range $825K to $3.49M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 18 days.
Totem Lake. EvergreenHealth presents its "2026: State of Healthcare" to the City Council on Tuesday, October 6, at the 7:30 PM meeting (City Hall, hybrid). And the North Kirkland Community Center, 12421 103rd Avenue NE, takes costume donations October 5 to 9 for the City Hall swap. Council calendar · Costume Swap
Sold near you: 22 homes closed within 0.8 mile of the neighborhood center in the last 45 days, median $935K (range $235K to $1.60M); the fastest went from listing to closing in 24 days.
The market in 60 seconds
Across Kirkland ZIPs 98033 and 98034, the median home sold for $1.24M over the last 30 days (126 closings; single-family alone $1.48M). The median home took 55 days from listing to closing, and there are 4.4 months of inventory on the market.
Last week's pull read $1.20M, 57 days and 4.7 months, so the needle moved a notch toward sellers: more closings, fewer active listings (556 now). Still balanced territory: under three months favors sellers, over five favors buyers. For an owner, that means a correctly priced home is finding its buyer in under two months. For a buyer, there is still room to negotiate; 7% of homes closed above asking.
The full Kirkland market report
One useful thing
Run the heat before the first cold week. Twenty minutes with the furnace or heat pump on now, a fresh filter, and a listen for anything that grinds or shudders beats a service call on the first freezing night, when everyone else is calling too.
If the furnace is near the end, price a heat pump alongside the replacement. Energy Smart Eastside, the program Kirkland runs with Bellevue, Issaquah, Mercer Island, Redmond and Sammamish, applies a $1,000 rebate at the point of sale on approved heat pumps installed by an approved contractor and sized to heat the whole home. Households under 150% of area median income can add a $5,000 bonus on a fully electric system with no furnace backup, up to $6,000 off. For PSE's own rebates, its Energy Advisors answer at 1-800-562-1482, weekdays 8 to 5. Energy Smart Eastside · PSE rebates
That's the week. Reply with anything you want tracked in Kirkland, and if a neighbor would read it, forward it. Next Thursday: what the council decided about speed limits and the station name, and whether the interchange reopened on time.
The Kirkland Dispatch is a RexMont Real Estate publication. Adriano Tori, Designated Broker. Reply to this email and a person reads it.