Mercer Islanders will not be able to miss the shoreline development proposed in Renton across from Clarke Beach.
A proposed project that will house over a thousand people and include buildings of the same size as the Seahawks practice facility on the shores of Lake Washington is in the works just a half mile due east from Clarke Beach across the East Channel and the living room windows of thousands of Island residents.
A draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) has been published for what is called the “Quendall Terminals mixed-used development.” The Quendall Terminals site is the location of a former creosote manufacturing facility and has been contaminated with coal tar, pitch, creosote and other hazardous chemicals. The development sits atop a designated Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site and will undergo cleanup and remediation prior to redevelopment.
The 21.5-acre project is in Renton on the shore of Lake Washington. The land is zoned for commercial, office and residential uses. The property is less than one-half mile directly east of Clarke Beach Park at 7700 East Mercer Way on Mercer Island. It is near the Barbee Mill site, which was also a Superfund site and has been redeveloped.
It will be no small undertaking.
The Draft EIS states: “The proposed development would represent a continuation of urban development along the Lake Washington shoreline. The proposed building height and bulk would be generally similar to surrounding uses (i.e. the Seahawks Headquarters and Training Facility and the planned Hawk’s Landing Hotel) and greater than other uses in the area (i.e. the Barbee Mill residential development).”
The finished multi-use, nine-building project will include between 1,100 to 1,300 new residents living in the residential buildings and up to 1,050 employees of the businesses also located on site. The project will include several multi-story buildings up to 80 feet in height and between 95,000 to 209,000 square feet in size.
What could be significant to residents and recreational opportunities on Mercer Island is the light and glare that could be generated by the development. The DEIS states: “The proposed redevelopment would add new sources of light and glare, and would produce shadows at the site. New light sources would be similar to existing sources at the Barbee Mill development and Seahawks Headquarters and Training Facility; however, the general lighting levels on the site would be higher.”
Copies are available for review at Renton City Hall, customer service counter, sixth floor, 1055 S. Grady Way, and on the City of Renton’s Web site at rentonwa.gov.
