Seattle developer Tarragon plans to start construction in January on a 154-unit apartment complex at the Kent Station shopping center.
The company hopes complete the apartment complex by spring 2016, said Kristen Link, Tarragon development manager, in an Oct. 2 interview.
“We’re working with the city on permitting,” Link said. “We’re looking to start construction in January 2015 but until the permits are approved that’s an approximate.”
City staff is conducting a downtown design review for the Kent Station Apartments, said Matt Gilbert, city principal planner. He said the review focuses on the aesthetic elements of the project. Once staff approves those, Tarragon will submit the detailed construction plans for review.
Goodman Real Estate just opened The Platform Apartments this month at the corner of West Smith Street and Fourth Avenue North, just south of Kent Station. Crews will build the Kent Station Apartments on a 1.3 acre lot along Fourth Avenue on the west side of the shopping center’s property, across the street from the Maleng Regional Justice Center.
“Proposals for new housing in downtown Kent are very exciting,” Gilbert said. “Each one confirms that downtown is a place where people want to live. By investing in amenities like Kent Station, Showare Center, Town Square Plaza and the Sounder garage, the city has worked very hard to make downtown an attractive place for Kent’s current and future residents.”
The apartments will include a mix of studio, one bedroom and two bedroom units. The empty site had been used for overflow parking. Crews started preparing the site this month for the building.
“We’ve been looking at the market for quite awhile since 2006 when we first started on Kent Station,” Link said. “The market was not right then. Now the market is the right timing with construction costs and rents and we can finish the Kent Station mixed project.”
Link said she expects the apartments to be a good fit with The Platform Apartments that opened this month across the street from Kent Station.
“With The Platform there it brings more community and a different style of living to downtown,” she said.
The construction of 150 to 200 residential units was part of the planned unit development for Kent Station agreed upon between Tarragon and the city, said Fred Satterstrom, city planning services director. Tarragon finished the retail phases but has yet to build any residential housing at Kent Station.
“We’re really excited about the market next to Kent Station and the Sounder rail there,” Link said. “The urban setting makes it an awesome place to develop.”
The Sounder commuter rail station is just a block east of Kent Station.
Amenities at the new complex are expected to include a rooftop deck, two large outdoor courtyards, garden plots, a barbecue area, fire pits, a fitness center, community lounge, bike room, lobby and dog run.
City officials have tried for years to bring more people downtown.
“More housing means more downtown activity, especially in the evening hours,” Gilbert said. “Projects like this will attract new investment and even more reasons for people to visit or live downtown.”
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