The Central Issaquah Plan Advisory Task Force is charged with nothing less than designing a vision for the character and vitality of the City of Issaquah over the next several decades.

The Task Force, made up of local business owners, community leaders, engaged residents and experts of all manners, is a key component of the Central Issaquah Plan (CIP) which will guide the future development of the city by taking a fresh look at the commercial area on the valley floor.

In doing so, the city hopes the area will evolve from a collection of suburban strip malls to a cohesive town center, by developing clear guiding principles for development, reshaping existing design standards, and identifying the steps needed to get to a more vibrant economic and social future.

The Task Force is also a forum for brainstorming, for thinking outside the box, and for searching for creative ways to make Issaquah a better place to live and do business.

One of the ideas brought to light at the Task Force’s most recent meeting on April 13 was the creation of a center which would foster local startup businesses, a business “incubator” area of sorts.

The purpose of such an area would be to encourage entrepreneurship in the city, lending a hand to business development at a grassroots level.

The Task Force has identified two areas which could house such an incubator center – the “Tibbetts Valley Center” around Mall Street and 12th Avenue Northwest, and the “Shop Site,” north of I-90, east of where East Lake Sammamish Parkway becomes Front Street.

Task Force members have discussed the idea of creating a business environment where new small businesses could minimize their overheads, with the idea that once they get up and running the business could move up into Class A office spaces elsewhere in the city.

“What we are exploring is how to build a business area that is both thriving and sustainable,” said City of Issaquah Planning Manager Trish Heinonen. “It is about, for one, making space affordable, so they are not having to put all their money into rent. But it is also the provision of the kinds of services that it seems small start ups like to have around them – the cafes, pubs and parks, the transit center, and access to other businesses that offer support services. What we want to do is take all of those pieces, and put them together in a single package.”

Heinonen said those two sites had been chosen mainly because “they are ripe for redevelopment” – the buildings are older, and the land is not being efficiently utilized. She said the business park in North Issaquah had provided some opportunity for small businesses and start ups, but that the Task Force was interested in exploring what more could be done.

The area being looked at for a possible small business incubator is the same area that owner Rowley Properties is eager to begin redeveloping.

Rowley, which owns the parcel of property bordered by Gilman Boulevard Northwest, SR 900, Maple Street Northwest and 12th Avenue, is currently working with the City of Issaquah on a development agreement for the area. Rowley and the city envision the area as a mixed-use development of residential and commercial uses, with a much higher density than presently allowed.

Whether the developer’s vision for the area matches that of the citizen advisory Task Force remains to be seen.

The idea of a business incubator is not new.

The William Factory Small Business Incubator has been operating in East Tacoma since 1986. It houses about 30 companies, working in specialty trade construction, applied technologies and business services.

Director of the Washington Business Center, Carole Butkus, was involved in the management of a business technology incubator project with the University of Idaho in the early 1990s.

She said that an 11,000 square foot building was constructed with the express purpose in of giving small businesses the flexibility to grow.

“The idea was to get them established, and give them the resources to expand,” she said. “For a limited time, new businesses were charged well below market rates for the space. The internal walls could be moved around, so a business could add office space without having to change locations. It is really important to help these businesses reduce their overheads, as they are getting started.”

Butkus said the start ups also shared facilities, such as copiers and computer equipment, but also receptionists.

The University of Idaho incubator was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce, and received assistance from the state.

“The idea was to take an area that wasn’t doing too much, where buildings were vacant, and revitalize it with business activity,” she said.

Butkus, who runs regular “Launch and Grow” classes at the Washington Business Center, said that a number of communities in the state were developing areas for small business development.

“There are all sorts of incubators – it varies from community to community depending on what the city wants to use the land for,” she said. “There is one community that has a food preparation incubator, for example.”

An incubator project in Richland, in the state’s southeast, offers full lease or daily rental for small business commercial or retail business companies, with furniture, DSL phone and internet cable, and professional receptionist and secretarial services.

Some incubator projects are purely virtual – online information resources providing networking opportunities.

Increasing building heights

Another feature of the Task Force’s discussion about the revitalization of Tibbetts Valley Center was increasing density by allowing buildings of up to 12 stories, as long as they were appropriate for the site and did not interfere with the views from residences or other commercial buildings.

The City of Issaquah currently limits buildings to a height of 80 feet, or about 7 stories, and only then through participation in a Transfer of Development Rights deal to secure parks or environmentally significant land elsewhere.

A 12 story building would be about 150 feet tall.

“We have been discussing, if we were to increase heights, where could we do that without impacting views?” Heinonen said. “The valley floor is one of those areas.”

The Task Force is also discussing the possibility of making Northwest Mall Street, between 17th and 12th avenues, “pedestrian priority,” meaning that while cars would still be allowed through, foot traffic would have the right of way, and car traffic would be encouraged to use Northwest Gilman Boulvard and Maple Street Northwest.