It has been over a year since the residents at the apartment complex Metro 112 started to move in, and still none of the retail space is occupied. With over 20,000 square feet available, which allows for 7 – 9 tenants, the building’s retail spaces are getting quite lonely.
Metro 112 houses 299 apartment homes at the intersection of NE 4th St & 112th, of which over 80% are occupied. You would assume this might be an attractive audience for potential retailers, no? So why hasn’t any retailer taken a chance on Metro 112 yet? A possible concern is that there is hardly any foot traffic going by, like there is closer to the Downtown core. There are, however, many cars passing by every day, as well as easy access to the freeway. In addition, there is ample parking for residents and retail patrons.
It’s hard to pinpoint why there aren’t retailers flocking to the building, but the fact is that they aren’t. What would you like to see go into Metro 112? Here’s a list of some ideas that might be a good fit: dentist, café, convince store, niche retailer.
If those don’t work, maybe another Subway or Starbucks? 😉
That building is 80% leased? Every time I drive by at night it was quite dark with a couple of windows lit up. But if it’s true, then downtown Bellevue’s rental market is indeed booming.
I am not surprised at all that the retail space is not leased up though. It’s at the bottom of a big hill which makes it extremely hard to walk to, and technically it’s no longer “downtown”, rather than “beside I405”.
No foot traffic + horrible pedestrian area (two people standing next to one another probably couldn’t hear each other over all of the traffic) + and parking that the average driver would have a very difficult time finding = these spots will never be leased to normal retailers. Combine all of the space for a dentist office or something like that.
When I moved into Elements Too about ten months ago all of the retail space in that building was vacant, but within the time I’ve been there most of the space in the 909 building has filled up now. There’s still vacant space under the 958 building and the 989 building’s space is still mostly vacant The space where the nightclub and restaurant got evicted is still vacant, and Open Satellite closed recently. Apparently trying to sell bongs by passing them off as art wasn’t exactly paying the bills…)
I’m sure something will move into these spots soon enough, but right now there’s spaces available with a lot more accessibility and visibility if someone’s looking for a place to put a business.
This location isn’t great for pedestrians, but could work well for a company that relies on customers to drive.
Horrible car access. Plain and simple. No reason to shop there unless you live there.