The Kraken are expanding to the east side.
The Seattle Kraken and the City of Kirkland made it official Wednesday at Kirkland City Hall: a $60 million, 80,000-square-foot Iceplex will rise from the deep parking lot at the former Houghton Park and Ride site at 6920 NE 70th Place. Groundbreaking is scheduled for May, with doors opening in fall 2027.
The privately financed facility will house two NHL-regulation rinks, a city-operated community center, a public restaurant, and a team store. The Kirkland City Council formally approved the lease in December 2025 via Resolution R-5704 after discussions that, depending on which side you ask, began in late 2023 or September 2024.
Asked by KOMO News whether the Seattle Torrent could eventually call the Kirkland facility home, the Kraken confirmed the organization is “in discussions with the Torrent” and described that outcome as “a possibility.”
The Kraken Community Iceplex in Northgate opened in 2021 with three sheets. At Wednesday’s announcement, owner Samantha Holloway said the team chose three rinks despite many thinking one would suffice, crediting Tod Leiweke for the original vision, and described Northgate as oversubscribed across many of its programs. That tracks with the participation numbers the team released: adult Kraken Hockey League participation up more than 50 percent since Northgate opened, youth teams grown from six to forty, roughly 2,000 Learn to Skate participants moving through the program each year, and 12,500 first-time skaters. That’s a lot of hockey growth (baby).
Captain Jordan Eberle, who handed Kirkland Mayor Kelli Curtis a custom Kraken jersey at the event, is a Kirkland resident, and Holloway described Kirkland as a place many of the team’s players call home. Governor Bob Ferguson, also a Kirkland resident was also in attendance, signifying that this was at least a Moderately Big Deal, or at least a big enough deal for the governor to show up.
On the financial side, the Kraken are funding construction privately on city-owned land that Kirkland purchased for $9 million in 2024. The deal is structured as a 34-year ground lease at $1 per year, with the city holding a unilateral option to purchase the facility at any point during the term and the facility reverting to the city at the lease’s expiration. Mayor Curtis emphasized in her statement that the partnership delivers public benefit and private investment with no new taxes, a framing Governor Ferguson echoed at the announcement. The economic projection from the team puts annual activity for Kirkland and the Eastside at roughly $7 million. Kirkland residents will get two hours of free open skate per month, with discounted programming for low-income participants routed through One Roof Foundation.
The same people put $1.15 billion of private money into the renovation of Climate Pledge Arena and asked for no taxpayer money, so this isn’t a departure from how they operate.
Why Would the Kraken Do This?
I ran the numbers because I’m a math guy and it turns out that $60 million is a lot of money. But currently the Kraken are leaving money on the table. The Northgate facility is essentially a victim of its own success. With waitlists for everything from Learn to Skate to adult league spots, the team is turning away customers. USA Hockey growth in the region has slowed down because they are at capacity. We just need more sheets of ice in the region. By building in Kirkland, they are moving the product to the people who are already trying to buy it. This puts another facility in the middle of a high income demographic and removes the bridge traffic as a reason to stay home.
The Dallas Stars have been doing this for over 30 years and they turned Texas(!) into a place where youth hockey thrives and real hockey talent is coming out of that area, including Seattle Torrent (and Olympic gold medalist) Hannah Bilka, who came up through the Dallas Stars hockey program.
The $1 per year lease is the other component here. Sure, the Kraken are paying for the construction of the facility, but what they aren’t paying for is prime Kirkland real estate. They are essentially pre-paying for 34 years of total control. By the time the building reverts to the city in 2062, the Kraken will have spent three decades trying to capture as many hockey dollars as they can on the Eastside.
This expansion also supports the Seattle Torrent. Even though the PWHL owns the team, the Kraken and Samantha Holloway have championed the team. Under the One Roof Sports and Entertainment brand, the Kraken now hold a majority stake in the Torrent’s home ice at Climate Pledge Arena, and Holloway has consistently tied the organization’s success to the growth of women’s sports. She has used the team’s training facility and marketing muscle to boost Torrent attendance and their profile. (The Torrent had the highest attendance in all the PWHL in their inaugural season.)
Moving the Torrent toward a Kraken-run building in Kirkland keeps more money “in the family.” Instead of the Torrent’s rink fees and training costs going to a third party, that revenue stays within the Kraken’s own ecosystem.
So between the youth programs, the adult leagues, and a professional partner in the Torrent, the Kraken/One Roof is making sure its infrastructure is involved and invested in every level of the game locally. They want to create the best environment to become a hockey fan, which obviously serves their interests while also serving the interests of the fans, would-be or otherwise, and everybody wins.
The temporary Houghton Park and Play closes May 4. The Kraken will presumably break ground shortly after.