Fairfield Residential wanted to build an apartment project in the Totem Lake area of Kirkland, Washington, that felt more like a wooded waterfront retreat than a busy retail district.
Three years later, the multifamily developer opened The Brynn, a development with ground-floor retail that checked those boxes and more.
Fairfield started the project just outside the core of the Totem Lake retail plaza in 2022, with plans to provide a balance of walkable access to shopping, dining and trails and easy access to nearby Interstate 405 — without the congestion usually associated with high-activity shopping areas.
The residential developer, which builds and manages its properties in house, opened The Brynn's 486 apartments in three phases over six months, allowing renters to move in while other apartment buildings were under construction.
The project design draws inspiration from Kirkland’s nearby wetlands, waterfronts and natural shorelines. Each building reflected one of those themes through choice of materials and color palettes that used "design storytelling" to create visual cohesion and a sense of place, the developer said.
Through thoughtful placemaking, strategic phasing, design-forward architecture and operational excellence, The Brynn sets a benchmark for multifamily development in Totem Lake and exemplifies excellence in execution across the development process. Those qualities earned the project a 2026 CoStar Impact Award, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
About the project: The Brynn's 18,000 square feet of amenity space include a two-story fitness center and resident gathering places. The development, situated on a slope and surrounded by greenery, provides sweeping views and an active but serene living environment designed to appeal to residents working in the region’s growing tech sector.
The location provides nearby access to major Eastside employers from a residential retreat that "feels connected to both nature and urban opportunity," Fairfield said.
What the judges said: The Brynn "benefited from the developer's vertical integration and a phased construction and lease-up strategy," said Steven Bourassa, director of the Washington Center for Real Estate Research at the University of Washington.
Fairfield's development team did "an impeccable job of designing the building to create visual cohesion," added Abhishek Garg, senior real estate development manager for Amazon Web Services.
They made it happen: Fairfield Development is the developer, contractor and property manager. Carrier Johnson + Culture designed the project, with interior design by Vida Design.