An award-winning steakhouse and a taproom will anchor the Woodinville Schoolhouse District project.
Walla Walla Steak Co. and Crossbuck Brewing are the latest tenants for the 3.3-acre project, which a spokesperson for Kirkland-based MainStreet Property Group said will cost more than $100 million to develop.
The steakhouse and taproom, which won't open until the first quarter of 2022, leased the entire, newly restored historic schoolhouse building built in 1909, MainStreet said. In addition, two multifamily apartment units are scheduled to open this fall.
Walla Walla Steak Co. and Crossbuck Brewing are partly owned by Paul Mackay, founder of Seattle-based El Gaucho Hospitality, which is now part of Fire & Vine Hospitality. Dan Thiessen and Philip Christofides are also part owners of Walla Walla Steak Co.
The restaurant and taproom will occupy two floors of the historic Schoolhouse No. 23. Each floor is approximately 6,500 square feet. The schoolhouse also includes a 1,000-square-foot outdoor patio that blends into the 3.3-acre development’s common areas.
“The space has the same great historic character as our first location and is perfectly set-up to repeat the successful double concept found in Walla Walla with the steakhouse on one side and the more casual taproom on the other,” Thiessen, managing partner of Walla Walla Steak Co. and Crossbuck Brewing, said in a release. “The similarities are striking between Woodinville and Walla Walla, not only in the building where we will create our second home, but in the warmth and spirit of the community itself. We can’t wait to be a part of it.”
The Schoolhouse District includes the historic schoolhouse, two mid-rise apartment buildings and nearly an acre of open space. Construction began two years ago on the project, but saving the schoolhouse has been an ongoing project for the city for nearly two decades.
“Saving and restoring the old Woodinville School has been a nearly 20-year effort by those championing this vision and we couldn’t be more excited to see this iconic and beloved piece of Woodinville’s community now coming to a new life,” Brandon Buchanan, Woodinville city manager, said in a release.
MainStreet Property Group, along with HAL Real Estate of Seattle, is developing the property in partnership with the city.
The Schoolhouse District is adjacent to Woodinville City Hall and includes up to 11 wine tasting spaces along 3,200 square feet of ground-floor space known as “Wine Walk Row” in the multifamily apartment buildings. The project also includes:
- 3,400 square feet of retail space across from the schoolhouse now available for lease
- 266 apartments across two buildings that are preleasing in the summer
- 8,000 square feet of the Carol Edwards Center YMCA and an additional 8,500 square feet of childcare space for up to 120 children
- about 30,000 square feet of open public space
- 400 stalls of underground parking, with up to 170 available for public use
