MILL CREEK – A new retail development similar to the Mill Creek Town Center might be headed for the northeast corner of the city.
On a strip of land along 132nd Street SE, east of 35th Avenue SE and west of Seattle Hill Road, city leaders envision a mix of businesses and housing, integrated with surrounding neighborhoods.
A new road may be built through the site – where a Wal-Mart is being planned – possibly with traffic signals on 132nd Street SE and Seattle Hill Road.
Storefronts at Eastgate Way would face inward toward the road, like at Town Center, Mill Creek Mayor Donna Michelson said.
“I love the Town Center concept, so if it could be patterned after the Town Center with an interspersing of mixed-use. I’d love to see that,” Michelson said. “We know what we want to see out there, and we know what we don’t want to see.”
Before anything can happen, the city must amend its comprehensive plan and add a zoning that allows for mixed-use growth. This could be done by the end of the year, Community Development Director Bill Trimm said. The site is currently zoned for commercial business.
City officials plan to hold neighborhood meetings this summer to talk with area residents about how they’d like to see the land developed.
The planned Wal-Mart store, which is still in its environmental review process, would be built on the west end of the center.
Anything else that would be built on the site is anyone’s guess, Councilman Mike Todd said.
He envisions upscale stores, but perhaps not as high-end as what shoppers would find at the Town Center.
“I think five years from now, we’ll look at that thing and say, ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool,’” Todd said.
Councilman Terry Ryan said the development would expand the city’s commercial tax base, much like the Town Center has done.
Ryan said he’d like the city to attract a movie theater to the new development. He also would rather see a Target be built instead of a Wal-Mart, he said.
“If a Wal-Mart is built there, it would certainly attract different retailers than if it were not a Wal-Mart,” Ryan said.
Michelson said the city would look for businesses that would fit in well with surrounding neighborhoods.
“We want it to look more like Mill Creek,” she said. “We don’t want it to look like a strip mall.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
