LAKE STEVENS — A property on which the city had planned to build a new civic center may be developed into assisted-living apartments.
Last year, city leaders made plans to surplus unneeded properties. Among them was a 22-acre parcel with Grade Road on the west and Hartford Drive to the south. Leaders once envisioned the property as the home of a new city center, including City Hall and a library.
When the city’s leadership changed at the start of 2016, with a new mayor and administrator, those plans changed, too. Now, Sno-Isle Libraries is seeking voter approval to pay for a new library on Chapel Hill and the city is planning for a police station there, as well. City Hall may move to Chapel Hill or stay somewhere in the old downtown area. The Grade Road property no longer is in the mix.
The city is working with Lake Stevens Senior Housing LLC on a purchase agreement for the Grade Road property. The terms are under negotiation, community development director Russ Wright said.
The company and city also are putting together a written agreement that lays out the terms for future development. A public hearing about the agreement is scheduled during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Lake Stevens Senior Housing is proposing a three-stage project. The first step, which could be under construction later this year, would be 120 assisted living and 50 memory care apartments, according to a city staff report. In 2018, the developer would aim to add an office building that would stand three stories tall with a retail area on the ground floor and medical offices upstairs. The third phase of construction would take place over the next decade or so and add up to 150 apartments in a three-story complex.
“The city would be excited to welcome the Lake Stevens assisted living facility there,” Wright said. “We’ve heard for the last couple of years that there’s a great deal of interest in having a facility like this in Lake Stevens.”
The Grade Road property falls just outside of the planning area for the city’s downtown subarea plan, which is being drafted now. The next public meeting about the downtown plan is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Lake Stevens Community Center. The topic is downtown land use.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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