Developer proposes 150-unit senior housing in Arlington

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 23, 2019

ARLINGTON — It would be among the tallest buildings in Arlington.

A developer hopes to build a four-story 150-unit apartment complex of affordable senior housing along Highway 9.

A public hearing is set for Aug. 5 to consider the project known as the Reserve at Arlington.

The housing would be built on four acres behind the Bartell Drugs pharmacy and across the highway from a Safeway at 204th Street.

The applicant is Reserve at Arlington Partners, which is part of AVS Holdings, a California developer. It’s also behind the 312-unit multi-family development known as The Villas at Arlington. That project is under construction between the 18500 and 18600 blocks of Smokey Point Boulevard. It’s also described as affordable housing where units will be available to those earning no more than 60 percent of the Area Median Income. The Villas is being built in 16 separate, three-story, garden-style apartment buildings spread across 15 acres.

The developments would mean substantial growth in Arlington, which has a population of 19,740.

The Reserve at Arlington would be built on vacant property with access off of 204th Street and would include 151 parking stalls.

No access would be allowed off Highway 9. Plans call for a buffer from the highway that would include trees, hedges and shrubs.

The proposal includes an asphalt walking trail, which would become part of a public trail system that would extend along Portage Creek as neighboring properties are developed.

“This essentially would be the beginning of it,” said Josh Grandlienard, the Arlington city planner.

The goal, which likely will take many years, is to connect the Portage Creek trail with the popular Centennial Trail “and the rest of our trail network,” Grandlienard said.

The Aug. 5 public hearing is set for 3 p.m. and will be before the city’s hearing examiner in city council chambers, 110 E. Third St.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.