A controversial rezoning proposal for Newport Hills received ample attention last week in front of the Bellevue Planning Commission, when dozens of neighborhood residents donned red to provide comment protesting the possible change to the area.
Intracorp, a Seattle-based developer, is in contract talks with current property owner Rainier Northwest. The company wants to rezone 85 percent of the 5.9-acre property (about 4.6 acres) where the Newport Hills Shopping Center now sits, tearing down the strip mall buildings and adding townhouses and commercial properties fronting 119th Avenue Southeast.
The meeting was a public hearing regarding five proposed rezoning amendments, but none had quite the draw as the Newport Hills plan.
David MacDuff, vice president of Intracorp’s real estate division, urged the commission to move forward with a threshold review later this year.
“We believe we’ve given the city the opportunity to look at the impact of redevelopment,” he said. “We don’t have that information yet, but we do recommend to the commission that you do review our plan.”
The proposed rezoning — from “neighborhood business” to the R-30 zoning — is the densest residential zoning Bellevue allows outside the downtown area. Current plans for the Newport Hills Village are in very early planning stages, but would ask for 23 units per acre, well under the density allowed by the proposal.
Opponents of this project have criticized the potential loss of a communal space and local businesses while adding to an already-congested school and traffic system.
Michelle Hilhorst, chair of the Planning Commission, expressed concerns with the nature of the plan and implications that the existing shopping center was struggling.
“Bellevue is growing,” she said. “Why do we think those businesses are not going to stay and not going to thrive?”
She cited a 900-unit housing complex Newcastle has started nearby, and thought that might bring more business to the shopping center. Hilhorst noted a “marked economic recovery” from 2009, when several businesses either went out of business or pulled their locations from the center.
Newport Hills Shopping Center currently leases space to a brewery, pub, teriyaki restaurant, batting cage business and several others. A significant amount of space is unleased though, the property owner said, claiming the center is only 64 percent leased.
Nicholas Matz, senior planner for Bellevue’s Planning and Community Development department, said he had received plenty of comments about the proposal, around two-thirds of which were against the plan.
He said supporters have claimed it’s time to redevelop the area into something more vibrant and attractive. Opponents have cited already congested neighborhood streets, the loss of public gathering spaces and an impromptu “senior center” at a bar in the center and claim a different plan proposed by another developer would retain more of the neighborhood’s character.
Matz and his department said past trends didn’t portend well for the shopping center.
“We’ve looked at challenges for these centers city-wide,” he said of similarly situated shopping centers. “The question before us is how do we redevelop these centers while helping them continue being the economic drivers they are?”
Produce store Bill Pace closed its doors last year, when owner Bill Pace claimed the store didn’t get enough business to remain financially viable in the location.
However, Resonate Brewing and Pizzeria opened last fall and has become a draw for the shopping center.
Matz recommended the Planning Commission move the plan over the threshold for further review. John deVadoss, commission vice chair, inquired if a study could be taken before the plan passed (or did not pass) threshold review.
The commission heard testimony both for and against the project, but ultimately took no action. It will have a study session and another public hearing later this year, said Terry Cullen, Bellevue’s comprehensive planning manager.
MacDuff said that Intracorp was committed to making the shopping center “right” for the neighborhood, and mentioned the company would be willing to enter a development agreement in which any redevelopment would be held to previously agreed-upon standards. He also said Intracorp would like to retain the same group of tenants if possible.
If the plan crosses the determination threshold, a city-sanctioned work program and impact study will determine how the proposed site would affect traffic, schools, community development and other facets of the neighborhood before eventually coming before Bellevue City Council.
