Efforts to revitalize Lynnwood and create a pedestrian-friendly downtown called City Center are coming along more slowly than some of those involved in the early planning process would like.
“Everyone’s just waiting,” said Jean Hale, CEO of the South Snohomish County Chamber of Commerce. “The unknowns have to be resolved before someone can do development.”
Unknowns, those involved in the process say, include how much developers might expect to pay in fees to offset the impacts of redevelopment, whether there’s a market for commercial leasing, and whether the city or private interests make the first big step forward.
The plan foresees mixed-use, high-density development, new streets, parks and transit access for about 300 acres of central Lynnwood over the next 10-20 years. Creating City Center would accommodate anticipated growth — the Puget Sound Regional Council estimates the city will absorb 5,400 new residents by 2020. It also protects neighborhoods by concentrating that growth, proponents say.
So far, however, developers have been hesitant to move forward.
Lindsay Echelbarger, a Lynnwood real estate developer, said he isn’t surprised that the city’s largest redevelopment project in its history has been slow to get going.
“The city was so slow off the mark in the beginning,” he said. “I think the city is supposed to act as a catalyst to spark things off.”
He said last-minute changes left a bad taste in the mouths of some developers who were involved in the early planning process from 2002 to 2005. Now, with the economy in a rut, the business community is in somewhat of a wait-and-see mode, he said.
“I wish the city could be more proactive,” he said. “Right now, I’m not sure the development community’s ready to move forward because of financing problems.”
David Kleitsch, the city’s economic development director, said groundwork for City Center is moving forward, though perhaps not in the way people expect.
“We’re still looking for that first development to happen,” he said, adding that City Center is one of the most complex redevelopment projects around because of its size and the large number of property owners.
The city missed the upswing in the business cycle that saw Bellevue and Seattle approve multiple construction projects by late 2006. Many of those projects are complete or nearing completion.
“If we can get this done and ready for the next cycle, that will be a great thing,” Kleitsch said.
Traffic planning is one of the keys stalling progress and Kleitsch said the city’s six-months behind schedule on completing its analyses and ordinances for City Center.
“Really, what’s been driving the schedule on the City Center has been getting the engineering, the analysis, if you will, on traffic,” Kleitsch said.
That analysis is important for two reasons, he said. First, it indicates a commitment not to make traffic any worse and secondly the city can evaluate costs as it comes up with a planned action, which expedites permitting by giving developers certainty, he said.
City Council President Loren Simmonds, who co-chaired the City Center Oversight Committee that met from 2001 to 2005, said there are many reasons for the project’s slow progress but the economy and sluggish leadership from former mayor Mike McKinnon are two of them.
“I don’t care what you’re trying to build, trying to get funding for anything is kind of dicey,” he said. “Quite candidly, as far as McKinnon’s leadership on this thing, I think he was quite tepid. He didn’t really provide any impetus.”
Add to that the fact that the city’s been focused heavily on upcoming annexations.
“That’s absolutely the 900-pound gorilla that’s eating up the lion’s share of staff time,” Simmonds said.
Oversight committee members, Simmonds said, discussed the need for a “City Center champion,” someone who’s job was solely to focus on that project.
“We would be further down the road today if the same impetus was put toward the City Center as was put toward the rec center,” Simmonds said.
And Simmonds agrees with Echelbarger that the city should take the first step to get the ball rolling.
“The reality is the city has been told from virtually day one that if the city wants this thing to fly…it has to make a significant statement and that significant statement normally takes the form of making a significant financial stake in the project,” he said.
Kleitsch said extensive office vacancies are a problem.
“We have worked with owners to bring vacancy rates down,” he said. “We are moving forward, doing periodic updates and making sure people see we have not stopped on this.”
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