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Vuecrest Community Association

Meeting: Proposed 7-story apartment building on NE 10th

Jonathan Kagle

Mon, Apr 23, 2018 7:23 PM

Dear Neighbors,

There is a proposal to build a new seven-story, 102-unit apartment building near the east entrance of Vuecrest on NE 10th Street. This location currently holds a small, brown-shingled medical/optical office, and is immediately east of the apartment building that is nearing completion.

At the request of the Vuecrest Board, the City of Bellevue is holding a public meeting to share details of the project proposal, and to hear our feedback. This meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 8th at 6:00pm in Bellevue City Hall, Room 1E-108. The Vuecrest Board encourages neighbors to attend and participate in this meeting.

Here is more information on the project proposal, based on plan reviews and meetings with the city's planning department:

The apartment building will be seven stories tall, plus a rooftop deck. The ground floor will house retail businesses; the upper floors will contain 102 apartments; the basement will have 111 parking stalls.
In comparison, the newly-named "Lux Apartments" next door is five stories tall, has 137 apartments, 190 parking stalls, and no retail.
The lot for this development is 0.36 acres, which is slightly larger than the average Vuecrest lot, and many lots in Vuecrest are bigger (my home is on 0.38 acre). The property does not include the parking lot next to it.
According to the plans, the rooftop deck features an outdoor kitchen, 9-foot-tall wood trellises, raised planters, a fire pit and TV area, and a "Cinema Screen".
The "Cinema Screen" faces the Vuecrest neighborhood and measures 32 feet in length (assuming a 16x9 aspect ratio, the screen would be 18 feet tall). I refer to this feature as "The Vuecrest Drive-In", as the movie screen will be visible from many homes on Vineyard Crest and Hilltop.
There is no provision for Uber/Lyft pickup or short-term delivery vehicles. They will have a loading dock with a locked garage door, but it is too small for even a full-sized U-Haul, and I expect will be too cumbersome for Amazon Fresh.
Their traffic study proposal claims that the apartment/retail complex will have an insignificant increase in peak-hour trips when compared to the current use as a medical office building, and therefore doesn't require "concurrency testing" of traffic impact.
Target date for final COB approval is May 24, 2018.

If you are unable to attend the meeting and would like to see the plans and related documents, you can view them at City Hall by contacting the Land Use Planner overseeing this development, Mark Brennan at mcbrennan@bellevewa.gov mailto:mcbrennan@bellevewa.gov (425-452-2973).

  Regards,

    -Jonathan

Jonathan Kagle
Vice President
Vuecrest Community Association
www.vuecrest.net

P.S. I have heard that PDC/Fortin Group is in the process of selling their properties (QFC+Bartell+PDC office building+Le Chateau apartments+parking lots). I will share more information as soon as I get it.

Figure 1: Front view (white outline on left represents apartment building under construction at corner of 10th and 100th). Note trellis is shown in rendering, but not other features (e.g. Drive-In Movie screen).
[cid:image003.jpg@01D3DAFD.D06ECDE0]

Figure 2: The view from the ramp leaving QFC, towards 10th.
[cid:image005.jpg@01D3DAFD.D06ECDE0]

Figure 3: The super-tight path of a small-sized moving van (the two largest U-Hauls are 32' and 34' long). Remember that these are apartments, not condos, so end-of-month turnover may be significant.
[cid:image009.jpg@01D3DAFD.D06ECDE0]

Dear Neighbors, There is a proposal to build a new seven-story, 102-unit apartment building near the east entrance of Vuecrest on NE 10th Street. This location currently holds a small, brown-shingled medical/optical office, and is immediately east of the apartment building that is nearing completion. At the request of the Vuecrest Board, the City of Bellevue is holding a public meeting to share details of the project proposal, and to hear our feedback. This meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 8th at 6:00pm in Bellevue City Hall, Room 1E-108. The Vuecrest Board encourages neighbors to attend and participate in this meeting. Here is more information on the project proposal, based on plan reviews and meetings with the city's planning department: * The apartment building will be seven stories tall, plus a rooftop deck. The ground floor will house retail businesses; the upper floors will contain 102 apartments; the basement will have 111 parking stalls. * In comparison, the newly-named "Lux Apartments" next door is five stories tall, has 137 apartments, 190 parking stalls, and no retail. * The lot for this development is 0.36 acres, which is slightly larger than the average Vuecrest lot, and many lots in Vuecrest are bigger (my home is on 0.38 acre). The property does not include the parking lot next to it. * According to the plans, the rooftop deck features an outdoor kitchen, 9-foot-tall wood trellises, raised planters, a fire pit and TV area, and a "Cinema Screen". * The "Cinema Screen" faces the Vuecrest neighborhood and measures 32 feet in length (assuming a 16x9 aspect ratio, the screen would be 18 feet tall). I refer to this feature as "The Vuecrest Drive-In", as the movie screen will be visible from many homes on Vineyard Crest and Hilltop. * There is no provision for Uber/Lyft pickup or short-term delivery vehicles. They will have a loading dock with a locked garage door, but it is too small for even a full-sized U-Haul, and I expect will be too cumbersome for Amazon Fresh. * Their traffic study proposal claims that the apartment/retail complex will have an insignificant increase in peak-hour trips when compared to the current use as a medical office building, and therefore doesn't require "concurrency testing" of traffic impact. * Target date for final COB approval is May 24, 2018. If you are unable to attend the meeting and would like to see the plans and related documents, you can view them at City Hall by contacting the Land Use Planner overseeing this development, Mark Brennan at mcbrennan@bellevewa.gov<mailto:mcbrennan@bellevewa.gov> (425-452-2973). Regards, -Jonathan Jonathan Kagle Vice President Vuecrest Community Association www.vuecrest.net P.S. I have heard that PDC/Fortin Group is in the process of selling their properties (QFC+Bartell+PDC office building+Le Chateau apartments+parking lots). I will share more information as soon as I get it. Figure 1: Front view (white outline on left represents apartment building under construction at corner of 10th and 100th). Note trellis is shown in rendering, but not other features (e.g. Drive-In Movie screen). [cid:image003.jpg@01D3DAFD.D06ECDE0] Figure 2: The view from the ramp leaving QFC, towards 10th. [cid:image005.jpg@01D3DAFD.D06ECDE0] Figure 3: The super-tight path of a small-sized moving van (the two largest U-Hauls are 32' and 34' long). Remember that these are apartments, not condos, so end-of-month turnover may be significant. [cid:image009.jpg@01D3DAFD.D06ECDE0]