“The retail that’s going up all around us is also something else. It looked good when we first saw it at the very beginning. But what’s coming in there now far exceeds anything we’d expected. So, there is a lot going on at KCI and all around it to keep drawing people here.”
It began when Simon offered Lopes and NHL Seattle a land parcel from the former Macy’s store anchoring Northgate Mall. Lopes said the land was perfect for at least a two-rink facility, very likely three if the team could absorb the cost, plus the future Kraken headquarter offices. Simon had already gotten an environmental impact study and other key assessments done, meaning the Kraken didn’t need years for those to come through.
“They had done all of this major phase work in advance,” Lopes said. “And so it not only allowed us to build within the city limits, at a great location, but also to hit a timeline that would get the building ready for our first season.”
That timeline was shaky.
The Kraken formally announced their Northgate plans in October 2018, right after the NHL Executive Committee unanimously agreed to hold an owners’ vote on awarding Seattle a 32nd franchise.
The official vote passed two months later in Sea Island, Georgia, birthing a Seattle franchise scheduled to begin play in October 2021.
With the Kraken and Oak View Group development company building the $1.15 billion Climate Pledge Arena, throwing a practice facility into the busy mix was highly ambitious. But given this was a fledgling franchise, with new players and employees, there was urgency among NHL Seattle members to have a centralized headquarters for everyone from Day 1 without needing moving vans on-the-ready.
So, the lack of red tape at Northgate helped immensely, especially when the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic caused construction to halt for weeks and a demolition mishap on an adjacent property led to wayward debris damaging the KCI facility only months before its scheduled opening.
But the KCI doors indeed opened two weeks ahead of the very first Kraken training camp workout Sept. 23, 2021, followed in early November by the launch of 32 Bar & Grill.
Meanwhile, venue partner Starbucks opened its 21st Community Store on site. The “Starbucks Rink” is KCI’s primary ice sheet used for most Kraken practices and with seating for up to 500 spectators.
The biggest challenge was building a facility players could call home, with top training amenities to draw them to a new market while also availing KCI space to the general public.
“Including the word ‘community’ in name of this building couldn’t have been more appropriate,” said Kraken vice president Krista Leesment, who oversees KCI business operations. “With a building that runs 360 days a year from six in the morning to one the next morning – with programming effectively changing hourly across three rinks – we get a ton of people in here, enjoying the facility and programs we offer.”
A portion of Starbucks proceeds from the KCI location goes to the team’s One Roof Foundation (ORF) philanthropic arm as well as other non-profit endeavors. ORF has since played host to more than 300 field trips to KCI for Title I schools and youth-serving nonprofits, introducing thousands of young people to the rink who might not otherwise have had the opportunity.