Kent says it’s the best site for new FAA headquarters

The pieces are falling into place for Kent’s bid to bring a major federal facility to town.

On March 1, the city signed off on a letter of intent to the feds, throwing its hat in the ring for a new Federal Aviation Administration regional headquarters.

Projected at 519,000 square feet, the proposed office and warehouse would bring about 2,000 workers under one roof, taking them from FAA offices in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. About 1,600 workers would relocate from FAA headquarters in Renton, and the remaining 400 would come from other parts of the FAA’s northwest region.

Kent is competing for the site along with the cities of Renton, Tukwila, Des Moines and SeaTac.

The city, working in league with a developer and a construction firm, is offering a 15.5-acre site in the valley, taking in a parcel known as the Naden property, which it had originally acquired for a future aquatic center. If the FAA project comes through, the city would look for an alternate site for the new pool.

The Naden site is south of West Meeker Street, north of Willis Street and east of Naden Avenue, south of Meeker. Its western boundary is Highway 167, and its eastern boundary is comprised of railroad tracks.

“(The parcel) we’re proposing is about 15.5 acres – the city owns 10 acres, and the balance made up of adjacent private property and a right of way from Puget Sound Energy,” said Ben Wolters, Kent’s economic and community-development director.

Wolters explained that while some of the property is in private hands at this time, it would be purchased if the project were to become reality for Kent. PSE would retain its right-of-way ownership, with most of that property going toward parking stalls.

“The private properties would have to be bought, but we have confidence that would happen,” he said.

And while such a facility would generate tax and lease dollars to Kent, Wolters noted it’s the local business climate that would get the biggest benefit.

“Really, the big value is it would bring 2,000 employees to our downtown and give a boost to our restaurants and stores, and all the ancillary services,” Wolters said.”It would also really put downtown Kent further on the map as a potential corporate location in attracting additional businesses.

“It would demonstrate to the market place that downtown is an attractive place to relocate.”

When asked what he felt made Kent a contender for the facility, Wolters pointed to two key factors: the site’s proximity to retail and transportation services, as well as Kent’s development team, made up of city staff and two heavy hitters in the real estate industry.

The FAA wants the building closely placed near restaurants, light rail and other services that its workers would need. And Kent, with its downtown shops, retail and commuter rail station, more than delivers on those counts, Wolters said.

“We believe the strength of our bid is that we have a large site that is located in very close proximity to urban amenities and within walking distance of Kent Station and historic downtown Kent, and to entertainment venues, such as the Showare Center,” Wolters said, noting the site also is close to fitness facilities like the Kent Commons and LA Fitness (located on Washington Avenue in the former King County Journal press plant.)

Those kinds of businesses, he said, “make for a very attractive environment for workers.”

The site also would be located within easy access to highways 167 and 516, and Interstate 5, as well as the SeaTac Airport.

Kent’s other strength comes from the companies with whom it’s partnered to court the FAA: Hines Development, one of the world’s largest developers; and M.A. Mortenson, a nationally recognized construction firm and builder of the ShoWare Center.

Houston, Texas-based Hines, which has a branch office in Seattle, has worked on more than 700 projects and is involved in more than $13 billion in real estate developments. Wolters said the firm has developed roughly 1 million square feet in federal projects.

Locally, the company is responsible for the design of the Fifth Avenue Plaza building and the IDX Tower, both in downtown Seattle.

“It’s really a testament to the strength of the site that they believe our site would be a strong competitor in the process,” Wolters said of Hines. “They were willing to pursue that (the Kent bid) exclusively.”

Mortenson is based out of Minneapolis and has a western regional office in Bellevue. It most recently was involved in the renovation of the Seattle Courthouse, in addition to its award-winning work on the ShoWare Center. The company also has extensive background in federal projects.

Wolters sees the collaboration of the two on this project as a major feather in Kent’s cap.

“The development team will help us distinguish ourselves from the field,” he said.

While the FAA will make its final decision by December, a lot of things will be happening before then.

Sometime within the next month, the feds will evaluate and rank the five competing sites.

Based upon that ranking, the cities will choose to either commit the dollars to go into the next round of proposal development, or drop out of the running. In May, the feds (working through the General Services Administration) will make site visits, and by August, the contenders will submit their proposals.

Wolters wasn’t certain when construction would begin, but it would have to be completed and ready for staff to move in by 2014.