The following “Business Item" in the June 27th Sound Transit Board meeting agenda prompted interest in the Livestream video of the meeting.
Resolution No. R2024-09 (1) Declaring certain surplus properties at Surrey Downs near East Link Main Station in Bellevue, Washington as suitable for development as housing and (2) authorizing staff to offer the surplus properties for sale at fair market value to all interested parties.
The Sound Transit Board’s dealing with “Surplus Property” has been “uneven” at best.
Their Operation and Maintenance Facility East included plans for Transit Oriented Development (TOD). It included Sound Transit and the City of Bellevue each providing property at no cost to support the development of affordable housing on the site. Bridge Housing and Touchstone has been selected to develop the property that will include approximately 500 units of housing, over 400,000 square feet of office space, retail, resident amenities on the ground floor, and public park space. However, it’s not clear how much Sound Transit got for this TOD and very little has been done.
There is no doubt about how much money Sound Transit’s Bus Base North “surplus property” will provide. The 526,000 SF site will use 130,000 SF for an Administration & Operations Building, surface parking lot for workers, underground parking for 120 buses, and Maintenance Building. (This despite the fact Sound Transit intends to use it to maintain just the 48 buses for their Stride and I-405 BRT) Apparently, in response to being allowed to locate the facility in Bothell, Sound Transit agreed to a Transfer Development Rights (TDR) to Bothell. They’ll have no control over what Bothell does with the 225,000 SF in TDR and an additional 171,000 SF because Sound Transit declaired “it was surplus and does not have a transit use.”
The above “Business Item” was detailed in response to a $10-11million offer to Sound Transit to buy lots in Surrey Downs near East Main station. Board member Balducci objected saying property should be used to provide “affordable housing” despite Surrey Downs covenants. The decision was made to delay the decision for two months of further study. The June 27th Board response to the “Business Item” was apparently Sound Transit was no longer offering to sell the property. That without any discussion about the offer to buy the “surplus property” the Board decided to Table Resolution No. R2024-09 it indefinitely.
The bottom line is the Sound Transit Board’s approach to “Surplus Property” has gone from detailing how the OMFE will be used, though it’s not clear what they received for it or when it will be done, to giving it away at BNN with no control as to how it will be used, to holding on to it near East Main station because a board member objected to it not be used for “affordable housing” in Surrey Downs.
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