The city of Lake Stevens' dream civic campus is taking a big step toward reality.
The city recently signed an agreement with a Seattle-based landowner to buy nearly 22 acres in the northeastern part of the city for about $3.3 million.
The sale is scheduled to close April 30, city administrator Jan Berg said. The city began negotiating with Mastro Properties in September and the two reached an agreement at the end of January, she said.
The purchase is an essential part of the city's plan to build a civic campus with a new city hall on Grade Road just north of downtown. The idea, as currently envisioned, includes a library, a fire district headquarters, a fire station, shops, homes and open space.
The latest estimate for the city and fire district portions runs into the neighborhood of $25 million.
The city plans to pay for the property with real-estate excise tax funds and then approve long-term bond sales that would eventually fill that hole, Berg said.
Sno-Isle Libraries have agreed to cover a portion of the purchase price if a new library is approved, officials with the city and library district said. The city and the district are still negotiating the amount.
Lake Stevens Fire District 8 also could pitch in, Berg said, but has yet to commit to building on the property.
Michael Mastro Sr., owner of Mastro Properties, said his company has owned the property for more than 10 years and he hoped to get more for it.
"That's life," he said. "We did accept the offer and we're happy to complete the transaction."
The city already owns several acres next to the Mastro property and could eventually acquire more to bring the total up to 44 acres.
The city hasn't determined how it will pay for the project itself. Options mentioned have included selling property, leasing to buy and issuing bonds.
There's no timetable for getting the new City Hall built, though the city would like to see it happen "as soon as possible," Berg said.
The city's current cramped City Hall at 1812 Main St. was converted from a post office in the 1960s. Meanwhile, the city's population has nearly doubled in two years, from 7,185 in 2005 to 13,350 last April, according to state estimates. Most of the growth came through annexations of neighborhoods to the city, with more eventually planned. The city has been hiring staff to try to keep up.
The library just down the street from City Hall was built in the 1970s and also is considered drastically undersized.
The city recently voted to ask residents to approve a direct tax to Sno-Isle Libraries for library service, as opposed to the city paying a fee to the district. If this measure is approved in May it would set the stage for an election in February 2009 to approve a new library.
The campus site will be designed so either City Hall, the library or fire administration office could be built before the others are ready, Berg said.
When City Hall and the library move, it's hoped that area near the lakeshore can be redeveloped to help build the growing city's economy.
