Park Pointe foreclosed, paving way for Highlands TDR
Published 6:14 pm Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Seattle bank Regal Financial foreclosed on the 140-acre Park Pointe property March 5, ending a nearly two-decade long effort by Canadian-owned developers Wellington Park Pointe LLC to create a residential development on Tiger Mountain.
Federal bankruptcy judge Karen Overstreet dismissed bankruptcy claims by developers Wellington Park Pointe LLC March 3 after a last-minute deal between the two parties failed to materialize. The land was repossessed by Regal after a foreclosure auction on the steps of the county courthouse failed to draw any bids above the $10.8 million asking price. According to court documents, the bank and three other lenders represented by Regal were owed nearly $12 million.
Regal and the City of Issaquah are hoping to move forward with a Transfer of Development (TDR) rights from the Park Pointe property and create city park land there. City officials submitted plans to amend the county Urban Growth Boundary in a county 2010 Comprehensive Plan update to allow a proposed Park Pointe TDR to allow development on 35 acres of Issaquah Highlands land to the south-west of Central Park, an area presently outside the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB).
In the deal, Park Pointe would be preserved as city park land – Port Blakely would buy the development rights on the Park Pointe property. The amendments are expected to be approved later this spring.
