Kenmore will accept $8 million from King County towards the planned waterfront park at the Lakepointe industrial lot

A rendering from Kenmore’s website shows the planned Lakepointe park to the west of a hypothetical mixed-use residential development on the 50-acre former landfill

Kenmore will accept $7,493,100 from King County for a 13.29-acre portion of the 50-acre Lakepointe industrial lot to create a new public park with a scenic waterfront trail and restored wildlife habitat.

Another $450,000 from the county will go towards a cleanup plan for the former landfill. In a six-to-one vote, the Kenmore council voted to accept the grants at the April 21 meeting.

The property was recently appraised at $8,853,000 but is still under negotiation for a purchase and sale agreement with the owner.

Kenmore used $650,000 from its General Fund to establish a new Lakepointe Fund in its 2025-2026 Biennium Budget and is considering putting a ballot measure to establish a Metropolitan Park District to fund acquisition, development, and ongoing maintenance of city parks.

Before buying the property, the city says it will conduct due diligence, including testing for contaminants. The city will receive $450,000 from the county for testing and to develop a restoration plan. Kenmore is seeking other grants to pay for cleanup including a $500,000 grant from the EPA.

A map from the city of Kenmore shows the 13.29-acres of the former landfill
the city plans to acquire for a waterfront park

Originally a wetland at the confluence of the Sammamish River, when Lake Washington was lowered in the early 1900s a new peninsula was exposed. 

The site was filled with debris from the construction of I-5 in the 1950s and 1960s and operated as a landfill through the 1970s. Little is known about what exactly was dumped at the site.

Lakepointe is on the state Department of Ecology's list of polluted sites with chemicals of concern, including petroleum oil, diesel, arsenic, barium, and lead.

However, since 1984, at least ten tests have been conducted at the site for several toxic chemicals that were either not found, were found at levels significantly below cleanup standards, or were ruled out as chemicals of concern, including PCBs, other volatile organics, hydrocarbons, pesticides, other metals, medical waste, and transformers.

Kenmore has been trying to redevelop the former landfill since 1989 with an effort in the early 2000s collapsing amongst the dot-com bust. A proposed $1.5 billion mixed-use project featuring a walkable urban village with retail, offices, restaurants, and hotels failed in 2018.

--Oliver Moffat