TC Northwest Development, Inc. plans to construct a 19-story office tower at the Washington Square superblock in downtown Bellevue.
The local development company recently filed an application with the City of Bellevue for a permit to demolish an existing building and construct an office tower on the 1.5-acre site at 833 108th Ave. NE.
Construction is pending design review and permit approval.
The new building would include two levels of underground parking, as well as a detached parking garage with six above ground levels and eight underground levels.
“The new building would include two levels of underground parking, as well as a detached parking garage with six above ground levels and eight underground levels.”
Really? Detached garage with 6 above ground levels?? Are we back in the 70’s?
I can’t even believe that the city would allow a developer to build an above ground parking garage on such a prime piece of real estate in downtown Bellevue. Any developer that would choose to do this is doing so for pure $$$ reasons. If they can’t afford to put the garage in the ground like a responsible developer should, the building is probably going to be cheap too. I only hope the city has enough brains not to allow such a thing to move forward.
Shame on Trammell Crow. Bellevue is better than this. I could see it maybe if it was by 405 and close to the new transit center, but in the heart of Bellevue an above ground garage is nothing short of cost cutting and poor development.
If the city allows this, it’s nothing but dirty politics. Someone got something to push it through. I saw the building they are proposing too and it is nothing but a box. No architectural imagination at all.
I’m a resident at Washington Square and I am outraged that Wasatch (the landowner) is so desperate that they are going to sell off the land to a developer who’s too cheap to build an underground garage. I attended the meeting last week that TC held with the residents and it was an insult. They tried to sugarcoat it and preach about how the garage will utilize “good urban design”. They even tried to convince us that it was better for us that they are building a garage instead of a second tower on that site.
I saw the building proposed, thought it looked decent. NE 9th and 106th is going to be a nightmare for Wa Sq residents though. You can thank Deloy Hansen for that. He flipped the big bird to residents with that decision.
Amazing that land use will permit an above grade garage of that scale within feet of residential. Also disappointing given how much the city has touted plans to become pedestrian oriented. Legacy’s plans on the adjacent parcel have a below grade garage,not sure why TCR can also do this. A cheap plan by Wasatch that’s being recycled….
The building design is nothing but a box. However given the land space that is not surprising. The original design for the block had fewer but larger building footprints which would have allowed for better architecture design. They are now talking about having 8 buildings plus an above ground garage in the center. The original plan was for 6 buildings with a retail/restaurant in the center. Also, the new road cutting the block in half does nothing to create a community as was the original vision. It does the opposite in my opinion.
Is there anything we can do to influence the city not to approve the plans with the above ground garage. I understand we won’t have the thousands of backers, but even if we could gather a hundred or so signatures and submit to the city council, perhaps we can influence the decision. Another option to consider is writing individually to the city council CCed to TC (a hundred or so email ought to get their attention). Or perhaps approach a council position (not re-election) candidate that is willing to expose any underhand dealings of city’s planning division.
Is the whole ‘downtown livability initiative’ just a grand scheme to spend tax dollars if they are going to put a garage right where a pedestrian corridor with a great street level experience ought to be?
I believe the review is on Aug. 14th at city hall, 6:30pm. Perhaps someone on here can confirm…
@JF, it’s at 6PM. As per this http://www.ci.bellevue.wa.us/pdf/Land%20Use/7-25-13_WeeklyPermitBulletin.pdf, the public meeting is at
Wednesday, August 14, 2013, 6 PM;
Bellevue City Hall; 450 110th Ave NE,
Conference Room: 1E-112
In the meantime, you can call/email the city planner assigned to the project:
Planner: Toni Pratt, 425-452-5374
Planner Email: tpratt at bellevuewa dot gov
This is terrible. An above ground parking garage will be an eyesore definitely. Walked by there the other day and the ‘land use notice’ thingy that is posted says it will be a above ground parking garage. Looks like they are building that first.
I know the owners of a couple businesses in the decrepit looking building that is facing NE 8th street. First, Wasach co. kicked everyone out of their leases and made them go month to month and then now (like a week ago) is asking everyone to sign a 3 year lease. A Seattle Coffee company is moving into that decrepit building also with 3 year lease.
I am guessing they are building the garage first…cheap asses…then leaving that old looking/falling apart building for years to come.
I am struggling to think of any existing garage in Bellevue that’s 6 levels above ground…
What a shame! We should not go backwards.
Not only is the garage going to be an eyesore the traffic flow will be terrible. You will not only be able to enter and leave garage from 108th, you will also be able to use NE9th Place, a road already crowded by residents of Washington Square.
Nice job City of Bellevue.
I can’t not believe that the focus of the Block is a Parking Garage. Wasatch has sold us out and the dream and vision of the SUPER BLOCK.
What is disheartening is the sales and marketing office is still selling units on the vision of the “super block” and the concept of building a “community.” This above ground parking garage will be nothing but an eye soar to not only the residents of Washington Square but also other residents of the downtown area as well as those visiting our beautiful city. The thing I like most about Bellevue is that we are a newer city with a lot of potential and have always taken into consideration other mistakes that older cities have made with respect to construction, development and growth. Bellevue has structured our city with beautiful parks, underground utility wiring (instead of overhead wires being held up by telephone poles). Let’s not repeat those mistakes made by older construction and development eras. An above ground parking garage in the center of downtown Bellevue is a travesty and so yesterday. We have an opportunity here, with newer construction, to make a bold statement. If you are planning to build here, you will do everything to minimize obtrusive structures such as an above ground parking garage.
This is so sad! If you build it like this they WILL NOT come! The Bravern is proof of that! There isn’t a community feel to the Braven! The location isn’t so much the problem with the Bravern, Its the design. Tramell Crow will build it then fly away leaving the city of Bellevue with this
monstrosity!!!! Make it pedestrian friendly not car friendly. An ABOVE-GROUND Parking Garage in the center of the block??? Why the heck are you directing cars to the center of the block and not PEOPLE????
This is an outrage. Bellevue was becoming a beautiful downtown and now an ugly garage. Why? All the buildings around have underground and not to mention that now the city will NOT be safe. People will sleep there and women will be afraid to walk anymore. I am so glad I moved and don’t have to live this nightmare.
As an owner at Washington Square I feel betrayed by Wasatch. I always knew there would be development and welcome it. What I don’t understand is how they could be okay with an above the ground parking garage in the middle of the now defunct “Super Block”. It troubles me even more that the cit of Bellevue would think that this is okay. It appears that cars rule and pedestrians are second class citizens. An above the ground parking garage might be okay for a business along 405 or 116th but not in the middle of a luxury condominium complex. Money talks and Wasatch along with the city of Bellevue have sold out the citizens of the this city and especially those tax payers living at Washington Square. Its an outrage!
I’m as pissed as any of you since I too live in Washington Square. I feel the only action we can take is to show up at the City Hall like EnataiMan said above.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013, 6 PM;
Bellevue City Hall; 450 110th Ave NE,
Conference Room: 1E-112
Why they would even allow this is beyond me. If they did something like the Summit III complex and built a below grade garage and then didn’t put a building on top for a bit, I’d be fine with that but this is just crazy! Also, if they are going to allow the use of 9th street to access the garage, that will make things even worse. Why couldn’t they build the above grade garage into the building itself? I know the Avalon Tower Bellevue did this and you don’t even notice it…
I hope to see a strong turnout at the City Hall meeting. I’d rather see the parking lot that’s there stay than have a stupid above ground parking garage!
BTW if anyone is putting together a petition to try and block this garage let me know so I can sign it and tell others about it too.
I also plan on attending the meeting and speaking out against this garage. I’m a resident of Washington Square and attended a meeting that Tramell Crow hosted with residents last month. The meeting was a joke and a slap in the face to the residents of Washington Square. They tried to sugarcoat it by describing how they’d surround the building with trees to make it feel like an “urban forest” and they had the audacity to say that we should be glad they’re building a garage instead of another highrise on that site. Please, if they had the finances to build 2 tower they would not be building an above grade garage. These guys are struggling for financing and therefore building this project on the cheap.
The representative from Wasatch also did nothing to quell our concerns. Mike Nielsen actually said that they considered a public plaza but that it’d be a “waste of space” and that a garage was a better use of the land. My jaws almost dropped at that statement. Wasatch is so desperate to get rid of the land that they are willing to sell it to these hacks from Texas who can’t even afford to build a subterranean garage like every other competent developer does.
How did the meeting at City Hall go? I had to work late yesterday and wasn’t able to attend.
@VN it’s next Wednesday. You are working too much.. 🙂
Developer should keep parking structure within the footprint of the tower. The
building itself should be designed to take care of all the occupents. Also, entering and exiting traffic should use
108th street and not go into the 9th place
circle dedicated to the traffic of the two
towers. Emergency vehicles have a difficult
time as it is and any additional traffic will make it dangerous if not unuseable.
Please design the new building within the
original “Neighborhood” concept where people can walk safely to and from the buildings there in serene and beautiful surroundings. Bellevue has the potential of becoming a city reknown for its ongoing
progress in city development as a good example. To date, we have done the right
things and we are proud to live and work here – keep up the good work!
HAHA well I guess it’s good that I had to work late or I probably would have shown up…
@Bellevue friend, I like that idea and I hope the developer goes in that direction. However, I’m guessing it’ll be a blend between what you mention and what they orignaly had planned. I just hope that this meeting NEXT wednesday can influence them to submit more of a “Neighborhood” concept.
We need to invite our family, friends and neighbors to join us at Bellevue City Hall.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
6 PM
Bellevue City Hall
450 110th Ave NE,
Conference Room: 1E-112
I am here and no one else is. Not even the city folks. Great lengths you guys went to to punk me!!
@EnataiMan, you may have entered the wrong room. I was at the meeting and there was probably a good 35-40 ppl there (most of them Washington Square residents). As expected, the main concerns were the parking garage and traffic mitigation. Unfortunately the city planners were basically thumping the land use code and said parking garages are allowed so they can’t do anything about it.
so, did anybody go to this? Anything come of it? Essentially they are building this monstrosity and there is nothing we can do about it???…I was going to go but I was on a business trip and my flight didn’t get in until 9:30PM at SEATAC (originally scheduled for 3PM)
I attended the August 14 meeting at city hall as a resident or Arizona and a home owner in Bellevue. I was appalled. There were homeowners against the garage and city planners who couldn’t hide their approval of the project. Previous archaic legislation was cited for the reason the project could not be denied. The defenders of the project seemed embarrassed by some eloquent speakers and questioners. Oh. I am against the present above ground facility.
Hey @HD. yeah, I managed to find the right room. It was in 108 and not in 112 as published in their permit bulletin (I am having my tin foil hat on)
And to echo what Morgan said, the city officials were pretty much like “too bad for you guys…the current land use code allows us to do this”. They did not appear even a bit sympathetic to the residents concerns and appeared to be siding with TC and their architects.
A few raised a very valid point. That 9th Pl is a ‘private’ road maintained by the residents association. And apparently it already backs up all the way to the garage (I was one of a few non-WaSq residents there). The city official was clueless about this fact and was planning on allowing them to dump all the traffic from the garage on to that street which is more of a driveway.
I don’t get what’s so unique about this parcel that makes it economically infeasible to build an underground garage – when we have had so many towers of similar height (Expedia Building for one) with a completely underground garage.
I think it is time to bring in one of the local news crews (King5 or Kiro) to cover this mess. I am not a resident of the building, so it will probably make a more convincing story for them (that of a bait-n-switch from Wasatch) if one of the residents did. But I will be happy to lend them a quote as a non-biased Bellevue resident.
I am still very interested to see what planning/land use intends to do with this project; specifically, the garage. TCR closed on the land this week, PSBJ and DJC ran stories, link below:
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2013/10/02/trammell-plans-2014-start-for-new.html
The major projects list for Q3 still shows the plan as was presented (only one with above grade garage).
After some research, if nothing changes with the garage, DT Bellevue is basically getting a Houston TCR project…..
http://www.kirksey.com/project/noble_energy
@JF, I would be shocked if the city rejected their proposal. They may add some more features to dress the garage a little more but it was apparent at the meeting that Toni Pratt will allow TC to move forward with their garage since it is legally allowed in the city code.
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