HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY CENTER WELCOMES VISITORS

Home Tour Edition (Page 33)

1401 Park Drive Northeast
Direct-connect to I-90 (Westbound now open)

1,500 acres of parks and open space

A true urban village with fiber-optic technology

A new approach to telling the story of a planned community has recently been introduced at Issaquah Highlands. The new Community Center, on Park Drive across from the newest City of Issaquah firehouse, combines both a visitor center and a working community center.

Visitors to Issaquah Highlands are invited into the midst of a working Community Association. "Many developers create a sales center with displays that try to show what the community will look like when it's done. Sometimes that's hard to understand and can be intimidating," notes Ruth Winbauer, Director of Marketing for Port Blakely Communities.

"Our goal is to help visitor experience how our community lives. Since we already have some 1,200 active residents who love living at Issaquah Highlands, we are taking the approach of inviting our visitors right into the midst of our Association activities. That way they see, first-hand, the kind of meaningful and diverse experience they can expect when they live at Issaquah Highlands.

Visitors can see how involved residents are with social events, continuing learning opportunities, seminars and helping to shape the future of where they live. This is a very large story, when you take into account that Issaquah Highlands will eventually be home to a Microsoft campus with up to 15,000 employees and the High Street town center area will be similar in scope to University Village in Seattle. "Issaquah Highlands offers one of the widest variety of home choices in the Northwest," notes Winbauer. The diversity of the community is enhanced by these housing choices.

With prices from the low $200,000s to the high $800,000s, with some homebuilders offering an income qualified housing program in cooperation with King County, Issaquah Highlands has attracted residents from a wide variety of ages, occupations, backgrounds, and even nations." The King County income qualification program allows far more potential homebuyers to participate in the urban village lifestyle of Issaquah Highlands.

"This program is designed so that the income qualified buyer, which might be a school teach, fire fighter or retail worker to live at Issaquah Highlands, and their homes can't be distinguished from others in their neighborhood." said Winbuer.

New home shoppers visiting Issaquah Highlands can also find the Northwest's most diverse selection of Built Green^TM homes. Built GreenTM is a certification offered by the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties for homes that meet a specific checklist of sustainable building practices. Built GreenTM homes offer clean and healthy living environments, are efficient to operate and are designed and built to hold their value."The home builders who are participating in the newest phase of Issaquah Highlands have agreed to meet a Built GreenTM 3-Star level, the highest rating currently available."We are very encouraged by the home builder's leadership and willingness in tackling today's environmental and sustainability issues by agreeing to raise the bar on how their homes are built," said Winbauer.

The much anticipated Sunset Interchange will be completed in August of this year, just a few months away. This January, the westbound access to I-90 opened ahead of schedule, taking traffic from Issaquah Highlands and the entire Sammamish plateau directly to the west bound lanes of I-90. This new route has shaved as much as 30 to 40 minutes off the commutes of many plateau residents. In August, when the full Sunset Interchange opens, it will lead directly from I-90 into Issaquah Highlands, and continue on to connect with the plateau.

The interchange will also improve the auto and pedestrian connection with downtown Issaquah and the parks and trails laced through wilderness areas of Tiger, Squak and Cougar mountains known as the Issaquah Alps. Winbauer noted, "With over 1,500 acres of permanent parks and open space, Issaquah Highlands has a group of residents very active in improving the trail system throughout the community. A network of sidewalks and trails encourages Issaquah Highlands residents to walk, jog and bike, and now residents are working hard on new connections so the Issaquah Highlands trail system connects with trails leading into the Cascades and those surrounding Issaquah."

At the new Issaquah Highlands Community Center visitors can hear the Issaquah Highlands story in the residents own words. Interviews with homeowners, Mayor Ava Frisinger, King County Executive, Ron Sims are shown on a large plasma screen. Visitors can also access on-line information about the nine major homebuilders who are now creating new homes specifically designed for Issaquah Highlands. A Tour Guide with a map and pricing information is available to help visitors find their way to model homes or available home sites.