Bellevue Business: Kelsey Creek Redevelopment Incentives Before Council on Monday

The planned redevelopment of Kelsey Creek Shopping Center could move one step closer to fruition Monday night if the City Council takes action on an agreement with developers to reduce certain impact fees.

The city of Bellevue will hold a public hearing Monday at 8 p.m. in Bellevue City Hall, to hear community input on a proposed development agreement that would provide financial incentives to the owners of Kelsey Creek Center to redevelop the shopping center, which is located at 15015 Main St., north of Lake Hills Green Belt Park.

The center today has several offices for businesses and health-related services, several restaurants, including Tuna House, Szechuan Chef and Starbucks; several small retail businesses, including Guerrero's, George's Wine Shoppe and a Washington State Liquor Store, and a few other businesses. It also is the location of a 106,000 square-foot building where a K-Mart closed more than a decade ago.

The agreement is designed to create an incentive for remodeling the center and securing tenants by mid-June 2012, says city staff member Kate Berens.

In exchange for agreeing to the proposed timeline, the developer, Franklin-West LLC, would receive a reduction in impact fees of up to a total maximum reduction of $454,580. The amount of the reduction would depend on how much of the vacant space is occupied by the predefined date. Public funds would be used to cover the amount of the reduction.

This type of agreement is allowed by state law and has been used in connection with other projects in Bellevue, she says.

The public will have the opportunity to comment on the proposal at the meeting Monday night, and city staff plans to ask the council to take action on the agreement the same evening, she says.

The developer could not be reached for comment for this article, but city documents describe the project as including renovating a 106,000-square-foot building that had been occupied by K-Mart but has been empty since 2000. The city says the developer has identified and been approved to use of half of that building for a health club tenant. Franklin West also plans to construct two additional buildings on the property, and a separately owned building is slated to be redeveloped as a Key Bank branch.

Last year, the city changed a zoning rule that would have required Franklin West to “daylight,” or uncover, a portion of Kelsey Creek that today runs under the shopping center in a covered culvert, because doing so would have hampered the developer’s ability to provide enough parking at the center.

The city has completed and approved a design review of the project, which is anticipated to get underway this spring.