Issaquah Highlands

[3] The heavily forested area was partially turned into an undeveloped park by the King County government in the 1960s,[4] and was sought after as a site for suburban development in the late 1970s.

[6] Real estate developer Ken Behring, partnering with Port Blakely Tree Farms, acquired the Grand Ridge area from Glacier Park in May 1990.

[7] He planned to build 6,000 homes on Grand Ridge, which was zoned to support 5-acre (2.0 ha) lots, in a move opposed by county officials and environmentalists.

[8] The city of Issaquah considered annexation of the entire East Sammamish Plateau in 1990, including the Grand Ridge area, but was stopped by the King County Boundary Review Board in June of that year.

[16] The Issaquah City Council approved their portion of the Grand Ridge project, including $16.7 million in road funding and annexation of the area, in May 1996.

[20][21] On September 5, 1996, Port Blakely and the county broke ground on the Grand Ridge development, amid controversy and a picket protest over potential traffic impacts in the area.

It was named via an online poll of Issaquah residents to reflect the history of the Pine Lake Plateau and the Grand Ridge Mine.

In 2013, the Grand Ridge Plaza and a 12-screen movie theater opened at the Issaquah Highlands, filling the vacant retail area.

[33] Microsoft, based in nearby Redmond, planned to build a campus for 12,000 employees on 150 acres (61 ha) it acquired in 1997.

[41] King County Metro and Sound Transit operate bus services to the Issaquah Highlands and a park and ride north of the commercial district.