The Advisory Committee was comprised of developers, architects, retailers, real estate market
experts and brokers to provide candid insights and feedback on ways to enhance the EGUV
appeal in today’s competitive market. The Advisory Committee met on October 12, 2010.
The
results of the Advisory Committee meeting are summarized below.
Advisory Committee Suggested Changes to the EGUV Illustrative Plan
· Create a bold plan. Must be different than Town Center, long term sustainability, different
than other centers in the
vicinity
·
Define what the City will
do to participate
·
Make sure the development
creates a “There” there
·
Rethink some of the
zoning restrictions to make the site competitive
·
Infrastructure to create
momentum – public plazas, public park, and wetland viewing platform
·
Consider larger format
user (100,000 sq ft+), if designed consistent with vision
·
Consider reducing retail
square footage
·
Consider movie theatre,
community facilities and senior housing
Options A and B
In order
to convey the vision of the suggested revisions to the EGUV Illustrative
Plan to the public, the City worked with Callison Architecture to prepare
two potential refinements to the EGUV Illustrative Master Plan: Option A,
which incorporates a big box store, and Option B, which has no big box store
and maintains the code-required 60,000 square foot maximum building
footprint. Below is a brief
description/comparison of the two options:
Both
options share many site development characteristics consistent with the EGUV
policies. The location of the
site access points and the general alignment of the Spine Road are
consistent with the EGUV Preliminary Engineering Design Study, which
features controlled intersections at 39th Avenue SE and 44th Avenue SE and
the right-in/right-out access across from the elementary school. There is
also access off Seattle Hill Road at 136th Street SE utilizing a roundabout.
Both
options introduce a medium size anchor (50,000 sq. ft.) on the west end of
the site adjacent to the 39th Avenue SE entry.
This anchor could be a cinema, or some other type of large retailer
such as a grocer. Each of the buildings along the southern side of the Spine
Road would have up to 4 stories of residential units above one story of
retail use. There is a
landscaped parking area, which would create a natural buffer between the
single-family neighborhood to the south and new structures that could be
constructed over one of the two regional detention vaults.
The northern side of the main street is set up for single story
structures with retail and food and beverage uses.
Both options incorporate a 40,000 square foot civic use in the
development. The civic use could
be a library or a community center.
Both
options also include three large landscaped plaza areas along the spine
road, with the largest (approximately 15,000 square feet) located adjacent
to the medium sized anchor. This
plaza would be large enough to host a variety of events like an art show,
farmers market, etc. A second
plaza area is shown adjacent to the potential civic use area. A third plaza
area is shown at the intersection of the spine road and 44th Avenue SE.
Within the wetland buffer on the west side of the project site, open
space and trails are shown. The
trails connect to a pedestrian trail that runs along the southern boundary
for the full length of the site.
Both sides of the main street are lined with wide sidewalks and short term
on-street parking. This sidewalk
and parking will help to provide an active, vibrant street.
Longer term parking is provided in a series of on grade landscaped
parking areas in the rear of most structures.
A new public neighborhood park with adjacent multifamily residential
structures is located in the southeast portion of the development site
adjacent to the concentrated residential developments and near the
pedestrian access to the existing single-family neighborhoods.
Option A: The main feature
of the Option A alternative is that a big box store (130,000 square feet) is
shown on the eastern portion of the site.
A large parking lot is shown in front of the large retail anchor.
Option A places the 40,000 square foot “civic” building on the south
side of the spine road adjacent to retail or food and beverage services and
one of the public plazas. Other
differences are that there is more commercial space and fewer residential
units in Option A compared to Option B.
Option A has a total of 351,500 square feet of retail/commercial use,
a 40,000 square foot civic building, 13,927 square feet of church use, and
394 residential units.
Option B: The main feature
of the Option B alternative is the lack of the big box store, with the
alternative instead having the mixed use element of the project integrated
throughout the site for vibrant and active ground level activity and a
greater emphasis on residential
use.
In place of the big box on the eastern potion of the site, buildings
with retail uses on the ground floor, with office and residential uses
above, line the internal drive aisles and streets and a fourth landscaped
public plaza. Also unique to Option B, the 40,000 square foot “civic”
building is situated on the north side of the spine road.
Option B has a total of 292,500 square feet of retail/commercial use
(59,000 square feet less than Option A), a 40,000 square foot civic
building, 13,927 square feet of church use, and up to 694 residential units
(300 more residential units than Option A).
Both
options are generally consistent with the policies within the EGUV
Comprehensive Plan policies.
Option A, however, would require an amendment to the provision of the
Development Code that restricts the footprint of a single occupant building
in the EGUV to 60,000 square feet.
Please click here to view both
Options A
and B; send comments to
Christi@cityofmillcreek.com
Community Input on Options A and B
On April
5, 2011, the City staff presented to the Council the potential revisions as
suggested by the Advisory Committee to the EGPUV as shown in Options A and
B. The Council reviewed the
Advisory Committee suggestions and recommended that Staff present the
Options to the property owners with the EGUV and then solicit public comment
on Options A and B.
June
21, 2011 Open House on Options A and B
On
June 21, 2011, the City held an open house to solicit public comment on
Options A and B. Approximately
50 people attended the open house.
You may still submit your comments and suggestions regarding the
ideas and concepts contained in Options A and B to
Christi@cityofmillcreek.com.
Next Steps for the EGUV
The City
will continue to solicit comments on the Options through the public
participation process; more news to come…
Changes
to the Illustrative Plan/Comprehensive Plan amendments will likely be
considered as a part of the 2012 annual Comprehensive Plan update process or
separately as a subarea plan.
City Contacts
Should you have any questions regarding the City’s
progress on the development of the East Gateway Urban Village, you can
contact Christi Amrine, Senior Planner at
christi@cityofmillcreek.com or
Scott Smith, City Engineer at
scott@cityofmillcreek.com or by
phone at 425-745-1891.
