Commercial retail, which would likely include a grocery store, is headed for the Issaquah Highlands at last.
Port Blakely Communities, the Highlands master developer, struck a deal with a $3-billion national builder, Regency Centers, to develop 14 acres of land.
However, Blakely isn’t rushing to celebrate until the deal is finalized in a few months.
“There is still a do-diligence period here,” cautioned Rene Ancinas, the Blakely president and CEO.
Port Blakely’s last retail deal, called High Street, flopped with the economy in 2008. Blakely had been so confident that the retail district would succeed, it moved ahead with building new roads and laying utilities anyway. The lots remain barren to date.
The Regency announcement was a big link in a long chain of good news for Port Blakely this year. Developers announced new housing developments, others scheduled to finish major work this summer, and Swedish Hospital has plans to open this week.
This new growth shows how viable projects are in the Issaquah Highlands, especially in the face of an unrecovered economy, Ancinas said.
Some residents have come with criticism that the Issaquah Highlands is getting more housing and less retail than it originally bargained for.
“It’s a bit of a misperception,” about what was promised, he said.
It’s important for Port Blakely to be flexible, he added. A big lesson learned during the High Street project was that developers should take advantage of what a market “can do today.”
If the deal goes through, Regency would build a 175,000 square foot, neighborhood-styled retail center along High Street and Park Drive.
Regency is known for its grocery-anchored shopping centers, which means a grocery store would likely be a part of the project.
Blakely already has a deal with a movie theatre company, and it now depends on whether Regency decides on building the space.
More structured parking won’t be coming to the Highlands in the near future, because of how expensive it is, Ancinas said.
Details about what the project would look like are far from decided, he added. “Until you have something concrete, it’s really hard for people to envision what it’s going to turn into.”
