City of Kent looks to attract manufacturing campus to Naden property

Light manufacturing companies could be built at the vacant, city-owned Naden property in Kent.

City leaders and staff will soon find out what kind of interest developers have in trying to find manufacturers to build on the nearly 5.7 acres, next to a proposed hotel, a project that remains on hold with the decline in the lodging industry due to COVID-19.

The city posted to its website a Naden Avenue Manufacturing Campus request for qualifications Aug. 21 to see which developers might apply to take on the project. Developers have until Sept. 21 to respond.

“We have an opportunity to look at this as an asset,” said Bill Ellis, city economic development manager, in a report at the Aug. 11 City Council’s Committee of the Whole meeting.

Ellis said city staff had held off on request for qualifications due to COVID-19, but decided it was time to make a push to find developers because industrial speculative development remains while retail and office space developments stay depressed and are unlikely to take off.

This is something I strongly support,” Councilmember Bill Boyce said. “This is the right direction to be headed.”

Council President Toni Troutner agreed.

“It’s exciting to talk about another phase to move forward,” Troutner said.

The council approved a zoning code amendment in 2019 to allow light manufacturing near downtown in an effort to bring more jobs and revenue to vacant sites, including the Naden property just north of Willis Street and east of Highway 167.

Robotics testing and industrial research are examples of the type of businesses that will be allowed under the new ordinance, according to city staff. Freight-intensive uses such as packaging, wholesale trading and distribution are not permitted. City staff pointed out at the time of the zoning change that advanced manufacturing has changed significantly over the past several decades and the current zoning code had outdated restrictions on where to locate manufacturing facilities. Many specialty or advanced manufacturing operations do not produce the kind of noise, truck traffic or pollution often associated with manufacturing of the past.

“We want to get a development team on board with the city to pursue this,” Ellis said. “When we post request for qualifications, the purpose is akin to a job interview. The hotel was a narrow project. What we are doing here is looking for a development team that once selected will explore tenants that make sense with the public benefit of jobs near downtown.”

Staff pointed out in a packet to the council that city officials worked with developers to build the ShoWare Center, Kent Station shopping center downtown and the Ethos Apartments on the former par 3 golf course. Those properties provide opportunities to live and play.

“But we haven’t used property as a way to bring work,” Ellis said.

The city could potentially sell the 5.7 acres for about $6.9 million, Ellis said. He based that price on the offer of $2.6 million the city has from Boise, Idaho-based Braintree Hospitality to build a 136-room Hilton Garden Inn on 2.2 acres at the southern end of the Naden property. That deal between the city and Braintree has yet to close.

“We are not asking for a proposed development,” Ellis said. “We are looking for a partner in a future proposal. We want to bring in a developer because we don’t have the funds and resources to develop concepts or do infrastructure.”

The city began to purchase the Naden properties in 2002 with plans for an aquatic center. But city leaders later abandoned that plan because of the high costs and then agreed to partner with the YMCA to build a fitness facility on the East Hill that opened in 2019. Kent bought the properties for $7.2 million using $5.8 million in bonds and $1.4 million from other city funds, according to city documents.

A couple of council members asked about design standards and how to tie the Interurban Trail into a future project. Ellis replied that would be the type of details city leaders could discuss further once a developer is brought on.

“We offer the land and when it’s under our control, we can incentivize them to provide those things,” Ellis said.

Ellis said right now he’s focused on one primary goal.

“My directive is to draw employment to downtown,” he said. “We are looking for the best developer with the most experience at doing public/private partnerships. At that point, we can have discussion and objectives, and leverage the trail and whether a developer sees that as a cost or benefit. We can signal something we want to include.”