MJR hosts groundbreaking celebration

Seven years ago, whilst having a beer on the deck of Redhook Brewery, Mike McClure and Mike Raskin of MJR Development hatched the idea to build a wine village on land along the Woodinville-Redmond Road just south of the Hollywood intersection. Three years after pitching their idea to the City of Woodinville, MJR hosted the groundbreaking ceremony for Woodinville Village.

At the ceremony June 28, McClure told an audience of Woodinville City Council members, Planning Commission members, those involved in the project and representatives from neighboring businesses, it was his hope that future ideas would be formed here in the village, that hard issues would be debated here, and that romance would flourish here. He thanked everyone for their support.

“If you are standing here today, said McClure, “you have had a major impact on the development of this project.”

Raskin said MJR was lucky to have a team that included the City of Woodinville, its City Council, its Planning Commission, and the best design team around. He said they’d like to put a plaque at the center of the village listing the names of every person who worked on the project from three years ago to three years from now.

Brian Carter, representing Brian Carter Cellars, said when he was a young man, he dreamed of making wine. When he got older, he dreamed of building a winery. This village embodies the realization of his dreams.

“This is one more step toward making Washington state a significant player in the wine industry,” he said.

Councilman Don Brocha said the village was a positive addition to the tourist district and to Woodinville as a whole, saying it was a perfect example of how a vision becomes a reality. He said another project was proposed for this land but the council decided it wasn’t suitable for the city. MJR, he said, understood the vision.

Councilman Chuck Price spoke of the system of three roundabouts that will serve as a traffic solution for the Hollywood intersection. He said the city worked on a single roundabout configuration for five years. It took this project and the hard work of MJR to make it happen, he said. The road improvements will help Woodinville residents and those who live beyond the city as well.

John Erdman, executive director of the Woodinville Chamber of Commerce, said after the ceremony, “The village is going to have such a positive impact on the tourist district and the City of Woodinville. The professionalism of the two Mikes is to be commended.”

Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Woodinville Lane Youngblood said, “From my perspective, having any facility along the Sammamish River Trail is wonderful. That the project has open space, trails, restrooms, shops and restaurants is a bonus. It’s like adding a park to the city’s park system. And to top it off, it’s being done the ‘Woodinville way.’ It’s a world-class project.”

The 23-acre village will be anchored by four local boutique wineries including DeLille Cellars, DiStefano Wines, Brian Carter Cellars, and Washington Wine Company. It will feature 275 condominiums from $300,000 to $800,000. The Redwood Apartments will be converted into two-story townhomes. There will also be funky, edgy lofts, said McClure in a phone conversation, and traditional European-style condos.

He said 800 have signed up expressing interest in the condominiums and MJR would be putting up a presentation building on the site early next year, where those interested can learn the final pricing and sign binding agreements if they choose.

In addition to the wineries and residential living, the village will have restaurants, a spa, a gourmet grocer, specialty shops and office space. McClure said there was a spot for a hotel on the site plan. They are seeking a boutique hotel similar to the Inn at the Market across from Pike Place Market in Seattle or the Woodmark Hotel on Lake Washington in Kirkland, he emphasized.

The village will have many architectural styles, but all buildings will be tied together by strains from two common styles: Northwest and European.

“A village has many styles of buildings,” said McClure. “We are very consciously trying to create different buildings. For example, all four wineries will have different styles, each winemaker adding their own character to their building.”

To accommodate residents, business employees and visitors, McClure said they were building more parking than was required by the City of Woodinville. There will be 1,600 parking stalls, more than half of which would be underground. There will be private secured parking for the residences, hotels and offices, he said.

The village will also feature a central pedestrian mall, other open spaces and an internal trail system with pedestrian and bicycle connections to the Sammamish River Trail.

For more information on Woodinville Village, please visit www.mjrdevelopment.com.