According to a release, the Performing Arts Center Eastside (PACE) has announced that all pre-construction documents and activities have been filed with the City of Bellevue. This concludes the 36-month design and planning phase of the project that would be located in Downtown Bellevue at the corner of NE 10th Street and 106th Avenue NE.

PACE has raised nearly $35 million of the $160 million in capital needed. According to John Haynes, PACE executive director and CEO, they will need to complete funding and financing in order to break ground in 14 months. Once the project has broken ground, construction will take 24 months to complete. Following construction, another 6 months will be required to install, test, tune, and commission theatrical systems within the building. According to these timelines, PACE could be on schedule to open in the first half of 2014.

PACE’s plan would allow for a 5-story, 135,000 square-foot performance venue. The Concert Hall is planned to seat 2,000 people and is also flexible for smaller, intimate events for as little as 250 people. Once complete, PACE hopes to attract musicians, dancers, actors, and entertainers to the Eastside.

Having HSBC, the world’s largest international bank, come to Bellevue is yet another sign that the Bellevue economy is continuing to grow in our currently questionable national economy.

According to their site, Conner Homes started building homes in 1959 and have built nearly 5,000 to date.

The property that was sold is located at 846 108th Ave N.E. (Google Street View).
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Update:  According to a release Longwell Co., plans to redevelop the half-acre site into a apartment project.  No word yet on when the timing of this would occur.

Last week the large sign was anchored to the very top of the building and carefully placed on the east side of it. The sign is white and is lit up at night.

During the hustle and bustle of the holidays, a gun shop quietly slipped into Downtown Bellevue. It’s located on the north side of NE 8th St., in a strip mall with stores including Thai Grill, Bellevue Nails, What the Pho, Money Tree, and a few others. The store is on the same city block as Washington Square’s Condominium Towers.

A gun shop doesn’t quite fit in with newly opened stores nearby on NE 8th, such as Neiman Marcus, or new neighborhood condos and apartments within a block’s radius of the shop. At DTB, we don’t profess to be policy specialists, but it seems odd that the City of Bellevue would allow a gun shop right in the core of Downtown Bellevue, given the City’s other strict regulations. Of additional concern is the gun shop’s close proximity to area homes, throughout this rapidly developing urban neighborhood.

Additionally, it seems peculiar that developer Wasatch Development Partners, who is the landlord/owner of “Washington Square Condominiums” would consent to a gun shop opening just down the street from where they are trying to sell homes. This recent development surely will not entice future buyers.

What do you think about the gun shop opening in Downtown Bellevue? Sound off in the comments section and our poll on the homepage.

The application filed with the city indicates that the developer would be building on the corner of NE 8th and 106th Ave., across the street from what is now Chase bank.

The article confirmed with the developer that project is under review, but wouldn’t say much more about the proposed 9-story project that would have a 200-300 room hotel, 220,000 – 310,000 square-foot office building, and 30,000 of retail space. Additionally the project would accommodate 600 – 700 underground parking spaces.

The preliminary application for the project is for late September of 2010.

Wasatch Development Partners who own the property have been looking for buyers dating back to October of 2008. This is one of the first signs of new growth since the economy has taken a downward turn in Q3 and Q4 of 2008.

Touchstone is a 20+ year developer in the Puget Sound area. Their recent projects include: 9th & Stewart, 1st and Stewart Hotel, Kirkland Marriott Courtyard Hotel, and West 8th Office building.

The project began in early 2008 and had early whispers of potential tenants of Expedia or Microsoft. Neither these, nor any other tenants have panned out, now pushing Bentall Capital to pause the project; it is now about 13 months from being finished.

Those living and working in the area will be happy to hear that according to the report the developer plans to finish the sidewalks, street trees, a plaza, fountains, flagpoles, benches, and a sculpture. Currently the sidewalks are closed, and it has become a hassle to get around near the construction site, not to mention its lack of beauty.

In addition, the city has given the developer permission to rent out the 600 spaces within the parking garage that is almost complete.

This is yet another victim of the down economy, but it’s better to see developers be smart about halting projects, rather than finishing them and leaving them frighteningly vacant. Bentall Capital says that construction could be halted for 2 or 3 years.

Downtown Bellevue, while not as dramatic in its vacancies, increased slightly, from 12.1% to 12.7%. The average lease rates are also somewhat lower in Downtown Bellevue, from a year ago. They have dropped $.52 per square foot, now leasing at $38.11 per square foot. In the same time period, downtown Seattle average lease-rates dropped more than $1, coming in at $33.23 per average square foot.

While it’s not great news that leasing is down, causing vacancies to increase, relative to other cities in the nation, as well as even our own neighboring downtown Seattle, we have been able to hold steady throughout this recession.

Office Vacancy Rates

(Blue = Downtown Bellevue, Gray= Downtown Seattle)

Average Office Rates (Avg Sq per year)
(Blue = Downtown Bellevue, Gray= Downtown Seattle)

From the beginning it was clear that Giraffe HTJ, with its obnoxious distracting strobe light flashing, was not going to be in business for long.  If you visited either retailer it was clear that they were not doing much business.

In addition to these 2 spaces, there is still an additional location on Bellevue Way that has never been rented out, making up a total of 3 currently empty spaces. For some time now Cookies In Bloom has had a sign up on their 4th St. retail space indicating that they will open soon.

These are prime retail spaces in Downtown Bellevue, but this is a good reminder that it’s a tough economy and that even a good location won’t fix all your problems.