LYNNWOOD — Two major projects — up to 500 apartments in a commercial and residential development and another 240-unit apartment complex — could be built on surplus properties of the Edmonds School District.
Plans are being developed for about 240 apartments on the school district’s former bus barn property. The 9.17-acre site at 2927 Alderwood Mall Blvd. is adjacent to both Alderwood mall and I-5.
The school board recently approved an agreement by Wolff Enterprises to purchase the land for $10.5 million.
The company is meeting with city of Lynnwood officials on plans for the site. Construction could begin next year, said Rob O’Dea, a company spokesman.
“It’s a great location, and it’s a great place to build wonderful homes,” he said.
The company’s headquarters is in Scottsdale, Arizona, but was founded in Spokane, O’Dea said.
The school district bought the property in the 1950s and it is undergoing a site cleanup. Soil on a portion of the property was contaminated with petroleum products and hydraulic fluid near what was formerly the bus maintenance area.
The soil has been removed. The state Department of Ecology is requiring groundwater monitoring there for a year. The monitoring wells are scheduled to be installed in December, said school district spokeswoman Debbie Joyce Jakala.
The school district opened a new bus barn and maintenance facility in August on 52nd Avenue W in Lynnwood. The $30.3 million project was paid for with the district’s 2014 bond.
The second project involves an agreement between the school district and Wakefield Properties LLC for a ground lease on a portion of the former Lynnwood High School property.
The 13.52-acre site is at 3001 184th St. SW, near the Lynnwood Costco.
Plans submitted to the school district say the development will have up to 330,000 square feet of retail and commercial space and up to 500 apartments.
The Bellevue company could not be reached for comment.
Wakefield is the same developer who completed the Mill Creek Town Center project, Jakala said.
The agreement with the school district calls for a ground lease expected to be $1.3 million annually once the entire site is developed and occupied, she said.
The lease agreement was approved by the school board Nov. 14. A description of the proposed project was included in the lease agreement.
During construction, the company will pay the school district $708,000 a year. Those payments are scheduled to begin no later than June 2019.
The companies involved in both developments still have the option to step away from the agreements, Jakala said.
By law, money from the purchase or lease of the properties must be used for construction projects, such as the renovation of schools, Jakala said.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.
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