Going Big in '15 - '16

With additional announcements being released this week regarding another major construction project in the Angle Lake area, it is looking like 2015-16 are going to be very active years for significant growth in the neighborhood!

Projects announced earlier included two hotel complexes next to Angle Lake and a major project adjacent to the $383.2 million Sound Transit Light Rail Station.  These projects include the 140 room Marriott Extended Stay “Beacon” style hotel being constructed adjacent to Angle Lake Park; Seattle-based Ariel Development to build a $25 Million Hyatt Place Hotel on the bare lot referred to as the ‘Hughes Property’;  and Wright Runstad’s plan to build a multi-structure campus consisting of over one million square feet of mixed use on the current SeaTac Park and Fly lot west of the proposed station which may eventually become the chosen site for the new FAA Regional Offices.

And now, city of SeaTac officials have announced Monday that AVS Communities will be building “The Reserve at SeaTac”, a 289-unit senior-living apartment complex near the Angle Lake light-rail station. Construction of the apartment project will be sited on a former car sales lot at 19707 International Blvd. S., is scheduled to begin early next year and be done in the summer of 2016.

The Reserve at Seatac Senior Housing

This is the sort of transit-oriented development (TOD) that city and regional officials have been planning since light-rail service to South King County arrived five years ago in the depths of the recession. Despite upzoning property to allow taller, denser development, not much TOD building has occurred in SeaTac until now. 

Newport Beach, Calif.-based AVS's project will go up three blocks from the light-rail station. AVS President Christopher Santoro said in a press release that "being in the middle of an exciting new transit district and providing a catalyst for other development helps with our goal of community building."

AVS builds "amenity rich, affordable housing options" for seniors, according to the company, which has been developing projects in on the West Coast and Missouri for more than 20 years. In Washington, the company has properties in Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Everett, Spokane, Silverdale and Tacoma.

"With the plans by Wright Runstad and new hotel projects in the area, this location is proving to become what we always knew would be an attractive investment decision for all types of real estate development," said SeaTac City Manager Todd Cutts.

The Angle Lake Station will be the southern terminus of the Puget Sound region light rail until 2023. The system currently is being expanded east to the Overlake area of Redmond and north to Lynnwood. The Angle Lake Station is scheduled to open in 2016 and will have a plaza, a 1,050-stall parking garage and some commercial space.

Sound Transit has released a 3-D animation that shows how trains will operate on the 1.6-mile elevated guideway between the airport and the Angle Lake Station.