Kent hopes to attract new FAA offices to Riverbend par 3 property

Kent city officials hope to attract a new Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Northwest Region Headquarters to the city-owned Riverbend par 3 golf course property.

The Kent City Council voted 5-1 on Tuesday to approve the conditional sale of the 18.5-acre site to a partnership led by the Texas-based Trammell Crow Company, one of the nation’s leading commercial real estate developers and investors. The sale price will be disclosed after the proposal submission deadline to GSA, slated for Feb. 6, according to a city media release.

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), which will pick a site for a 300,000-square-foot facility to handle approximately 1,600 employees, expects to announce a decision in March. The new offices are scheduled to open in August 2017.

Trammell Crow will submit the proposal to GSA. The company would own the property and lease the building to the federal government for use by the FAA. The FAA plans to leave its current SeaTac and Renton locations that do not meet criteria for the larger facility.

The council voted in April to try to sell the course to a developer to help bail out the financially struggling golf complex, which also features an 18-hole course, driving range and merchandise shop. Riverbend faces a $2.6 million debt, capital investments of at least $6 million and operating deficits of about $300,000 per year.

“When we made the difficult decision to sell (the par 3) last year, our goal was to maximize the proceeds, both from the sale and from the tax revenue and economic benefits the site would generate,” said Councilman Dennis Higgins in a media release. “This deal is a grand slam in both regards. If Kent is selected, the city will receive property tax revenue, permit fees, and best of all, there will be 1,600 well-paid employees in our city every day, shopping and eating in Kent, enjoying all the assets our great city has to offer.

“According to our consultants, build-to-suit corporate office space is the highest and best use for this site. This proposed development fits the bill perfectly.”

Councilwoman Deborah Ranniger voted against the sale.

“This is something I’ve been struggling with mightily,” Ranniger said prior to the vote. “I feel in my heart of hearts I’m selling a little bit of the soul of Kent. When I look at the design it will be surrounded by a fence because it’s a FAA facility and there will be lots of parking (approximately 1,200 spots) at the Gateway to Kent. My feeling is we are losing something big. I cannot bring myself to support this.”

Early last year, the city hired Jones Lang LaSalle, a commercial real estate services firm, to study the marketability of the property after the council asked staff to explore a possible sale.

Mayor Suzette Cooke says the prospect is a potential game-changer for Kent’s economy.

“It’s a rare opportunity to bring such a high-caliber, stable employer to our city and to this marquee gateway property,” Cooke said in the media release.

Economic Development Director Ben Wolters says this project is part of a highly competitive process which required confidentiality leading up to the council vote.

“Because of what’s at stake, competition for the FAA is fierce,” Wolters said. “Trammell Crow Company needed this sale to demonstrate they’d be able to move forward with construction should the Kent site be selected. We’re fortunate to work with Trammell Crow Company, which has a record of success delivering quality projects. They won the competition to build the FAA headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas. Their expertise and credibility is unmatched.”

The FAA started looking for a new site several years ago. Kent as well as the cities of Renton, Tukwila, Des Moines and SeaTac submitted potential locations. But cutbacks by Congress put the search for new location on hold. The project now has received full funding. But the FAA also extended its radius for potential sites within 10 miles of the current Renton offices. That brought in even more cities to go after the new headquarters.

“To be clear, this is a conditional sale, which will only occur if Kent is selected,” Wolters said. “It’s an extremely competitive process. If the GSA doesn’t choose this site, the sale will be null and void. Then the city will immediately begin marketing the site to attract other developers.”

A GSA spokeswoman said she couldn’t talk about how many proposals and from which cities were submitted.

“GSA is still reviewing the proposals received in response to the Request for Lease Proposal issued last year,” said Sally Mayberry, GSA public affairs manager, in an email to the Kent Reporter. “Due to federal regulations, we can’t share the list of those sites that have submitted as an expression of interest because that information is procurement sensitive.”

If Kent is selected, the city and Trammell Crow Company have committed to a design for the project.

“The building conforms to and fits in with the natural contours of the site,” Wolters said. “It would be set back from both the Green River and the trail. The trail won’t be impacted, in fact, it will be enhanced with a new connection and trailhead open to the public.”

As part of the purchase price, Trammell Crow Company has agreed to contribute $500,000 towards construction of a new 3-acre park and trailhead adjacent to its building, creating public access to the trail that doesn’t exist today.

Higgins says the opportunity perfectly aligns with the City Council’s vision for the site – to attract a quality project that also meets the goals of the golf complex.

“All along, the question has been not whether to keep the par 3, but rather whether to keep golf in Kent at all,” Higgins said. “If the city were to subsidize golf, which we could, we would have to cut some other area. Is the best use of general fund money to subsidize golf, or is it to grow our police department?

“Do we shut down other much more utilized parks facilities in order to preserve the par 3 for a much smaller number of users? These are the questions we faced, and early last year we made the decision to proceed with a possible sale.”

Parks director Jeff Watling says the sale proceeds would be used to eliminate the golf fund debt, and allow for much needed capital improvements throughout the golf complex, including creating a training facility that would adjoin the driving range.

“The sale would also re-size and position the golf complex to be more financially sustainable,” Watling said. “This work would allow Riverbend to remain an all-ages and all-abilities municipal golf facility, poised to be a very popular public golf course for the next 20-plus years.”

Like any other new development, the project will be subject to permitting review requirements, including traffic impact fees and mitigation measures identified in the environmental impact process.

“The proximity to State Route 516 is part of what makes this site so attractive,” said Public Works Director Tim LaPorte. “A traffic impact study will identify prudent measures to mitigate any traffic impacts beyond those that will be addressed through traffic impact fees paid by the developer.”