9 Apply To Develop Near Mercer Island Light Rail Station

MERCER ISLAND, WA - Nine organizations have applied to take on what might be the most important development project on Mercer Island: a mixed-use, mixed-income building at the site of the coming light rail station along I-90.

In September, Mercer Island put out a request for proposals. The group of nine who submitted plans will be pared down by Friday, also the day Mercer Island will publish the actual plans submitted by developers. The site will include a mix of commuter parking, apartments and condos, and commercial space.

The development will be located near the corner of 80th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 27th Street. Sound Transit's light rail station will have an entrance at 80th Avenue. The city gets to select a developer for a site because it owns or has control of much of the development site at the end of Sunset Highway.

In the map below, Mercer Island owns Parcel 12 and has a contract on the Tully's parcel.

In addition to development rights, Mercer Island will provide $2 million for parking costs.

The nine developers that have submitted proposals include:

• Columbia Pacific Advisors, LLC (CPA): a firm that invests in real estate development; one current project includes the new Whole Foods building under construction in the First Hill neighborhood in Seattle
• Imagine Housing: the most prolific developer of mixed-income housing on the Eastside; developer of the Ellsworth House on Mercer Island
• Lowe: a Los Angeles-based developer with three projects in the Seattle area, including The Talisman located at the Redmond Town Center
• Mainstreet Property Group LLC: Mainstreet has either completed or is in the midst of construction on 18 buildings across the region, mostly in Bothell and Kenmore
• Reve Development: an outfit whose three principals are Mercer Island residents, you can see a sketch of the plans for the light rail parcel here
• Shelter Holdings / Weinstein A+U: Shelter Holdings is involved in developments in the Issaquah Highlands area; Weinstein A+U is an architecture firm that has completed multiple municipal/institutional projects in the region, including the new Woodland Park Zoo entrance and the Mercerwood Shore Club building
• Stream Real Estate Partners: local developer, builder of the 708 Uptown building in Queen Anne
• Trammell Crow Company (High Street Residential): has developed many mixed-use and industrial projects across the U.S., including at a light rail stop in Portland
• White/Peterman Properties, Inc. (WPPI): an Indiana-based firm with at least one mixed-use project ongoing in Seattle

By Friday, the city will publicize building proposals and semifinalists here.

Images courtesy Sound Transit, city of Mercer Island