Construction could start this summer on nearly 500 apartments as well as restaurant and retail space on what is now the city of Kent’s Riverbend Golf Complex par 3 course.
“This is the site of the current par 3, which after a long and difficult debate, the (City Council) decision was made in order to reinvest in the rest of the golf enterprise to sell the par 3 and that’s become the Riverbend Gateway project,” said Ben Wolters, city economic and community development director, in a report Tuesday night to the council about the project.
Auburn-based FNW Inc./Landmark Development Group and the city are expected to close on the sale of the property within the next few weeks. Wolters said a public hearing about the sale and development agreement is expected to be on the March 21 or April 4 council agenda. If that all goes as planned, construction could start in the summer, Wolters said.
The city will still have its 18-hole course across West Meeker Street from the par 3 course as well as the driving range that sits south of Meeker Street. The council approved the sale of the property in 2014 to help eliminate the city’s enterprise golf fund debt of about $2.6 million and allow for about $6 million in capital improvements to the 18-hole course as a way to draw more players to boost revenue. The Riverbend Golf Complex operates at a deficit of about $300,000 per year.
The mixed-use project will feature two primary buildings about five-stories high with apartments and bottom-floor retail, Wolters said. The rest of the project will include smaller buildings with about 16 units per complex, with many facing south toward the Green River and Mount Rainier.
The apartments will include one-, two- and three-bedroom units and be targeted to attract young professionals and families at market-rate prices.
A feature of the development will be a bicycle and pedestrian path through the middle of the complex that connects Meeker Street to the Green River Trail.
“This is going to create a more open and new way for folks to connect with the Green River Trail and interact with this new development and new destination (public) plaza,” Wolters said. “That was in response to one of the requirements that the city council had to ensure that this project would have some openness and public access available and really take advantage of the amenity of the trail. The developers were very much in agreement with that and it met their vision for this project.”
Wolters said the project design near the plaza will be done in an effort to attract restaurants to open at the site with river and mountain views.
“It’s anticipated restaurants will want to open here,” Wolters said. “Buildings are being designed to be as attractive as possible to the restaurant-retail industry. That means very high clearance for large window areas, outdoor seating and ventilation systems that can accommodate a restaurant with grills and things like that, so a lot of purposeful design to really enhance the success of this project.”
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