Chinese development company Create World America broke ground on their first international development in Bellevue on Monday, Aug. 17, a six-story, 162-unit apartment complex called the Mirador.

“For the last generation, we have had an increasing foreign footprint because Bellevue is an investment city, and I’d expect more in the future,” said Deputy Mayor Kevin Wallace, who spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony. “This will help us continue our great relationship with China.”

The Mirador apartments, located on 103rd Street in Downtown Bellevue, are the first phase of a residential project that will eventually also include a 17-story, 120 condominium high-rise. Altogether with land costs, the project will cost approximately $147 million.

Deputy Wallace joined city council members Lynne Robinson and Conrad Lee, UW Vice President for Student Life Denzil Suite, and officials from the Create World Group for the ceremony on Aug. 17.

In addition to being Create World America’s first international development, the Mirador is the first private Chinese multi-year development in Bellevue and the Greater Seattle area.

“The official answer to why we chose Bellevue for our location is how great Bellevue looks, with the views and all of the mountains, the proximity to Seattle, the nearby tech companies, and schools here are absolutely wonderful,” said spokesperson Eugene Hu.

Additionally, the Seattle area holds a large appeal to the Chinese because of its cultural and physical proximity as the first stop between Beijing and America, and due to the popularity of a Chinese film titled “Looking for Mr. Right”, which is set in Seattle.

The Mirador will cater to employees of local technology companies, but Create World America also plans to advertise heavily in China and hopes to draw an international crowd to the residence, said Hu.

The Create World Group has developed large, residential mixed-use projects in Xian, Jilin and ZhuHai, China. For their first project outside of China, the Beijing, China-based company has partnered with the locally owned Daniels Real Estate Company.

“Daniels Real Estate Company has a strong reputation for sustainable, high-quality work,” said Tom Yang, president of Create World Group. “How the market works, contracts are cleared, budgets are built, and order of events are much different in the United States than China. We want our local team to learn from the best as they look for other development opportunities along the West Coast for our firm.”

Create World Group hopes to have five projects in the U.S. over the next ten years, said Hu.

The developers hope to receive their final permit from the city of Bellevue by the end of the year and begin construction on the 162-unit apartment complex in 2016. Construction on phase two of the project, the 17-story, 120 condominium high-rise, is slated to begin in late 2016 or early 2017. Both projects are anticipated to take a total of 15-18 months.