The Spring District is a transit-oriented development and neighborhood that is under construction in Bellevue, Washington. The 16-block, development is centered around the Spring District station on the East Link Extension, a light rail line scheduled to open in early 2024. It is located in the Bel-Red area between Downtown Bellevue and Redmond, currently used for light industry, roughly bounded on the west by 120th Avenue NE and the Eastside Rail Corridor rail trail, on the north by a King County Metro bus base, on the east by 124th Avenue NE, and on the south by NE 12th Street.
The Spring District is being developed by Wright Runstad & Company in a joint venture with Shorenstein Properties. NBBJ is the project's master plan architect, though individual buildings developed by Security Properties and AMLI Residential are being designed by GGLO. Plans for the neighborhood were drawn up in the late 2000s and allowed after a 2009 upzone of the Bel-Red corridor. Demolition of a former distribution center on the site began in September 2013. Construction of the first phase, consisting of two apartment buildings, began in June 2015 and finished in 2017. The full development is anticipated to be completed by 2028, adding of housing, office space and retail to the area.
Two major office tenants have confirmed their intent to occupy space in the Spring District: Meta (formerly Facebook) and the Global Innovation Exchange, an educational institute formed from a partnership between the University of Washington, Microsoft and Tsinghua University. In 2016, the Puget Sound Business Journal ranked the $2.3 billion project as the second-largest construction project in the Puget Sound region, behind the East Link light rail extension.
History
Background
The Bel-Red area (named for its location along Bel-Red Road between the city centers of Bellevue and Redmond) was originally developed in the 1960s for light industry, such as warehouses, as well as some pockets of commercial and office development. The area accounts for more than a quarter of Bellevue's industrial land.
In 2005, with businesses moving out of the area, the city government began a planning study that reexamined existing zoning in the Bel-Red area, with considerations to future residential units and retail lots, in an attempt to direct growth. The Bel-Red area was selected in part due to plans for a light rail line through the area on the way to the Microsoft campus in Overlake near Redmond. The plan for light rail was approved by voters in 2008 as part of Sound Transit's East Link Extension and finalized in 2011 with two stops in the Bel-Red area at 120th Avenue and 130th Avenue. The Bellevue City Council adopted a rezone of the Bel-Red area in 2009, allowing for buildings up to 13 stories tall, approximately , as well as mixed-use development incorporating residential units and retail.
Spring District plans
In December 2007, Seattle-based real estate developer Wright Runstad unveiled plans for a transit-oriented urban village named the "Spring District" to be located in the Bel-Red industrial area. The firm had, together with Shorenstein Properties, bought a lot in the Bel-Red area in May 2007 for $68 million; the land was formerly owned by Safeway, who had a distribution center for its supermarkets at the site. The first phase of the project was to be completed in 2010, pending zoning changes approved by the city, and replace existing warehouses and light industry with 1,000 residences and of offices along with of open space.
A master plan for the Spring District was unveiled by NBBJ in 2008, taking inspiration from the Pearl District in Portland, Oregon, and was approved by the City of Bellevue in 2012.
In March 2013, it was announced that Security Properties would develop the first phase of the Spring District, beginning with a five apartment buildings with 316 units. A second developer, AMLI Residential, announced its intention to purchase a parcel in the Spring District for $13.3 million; AMLI built a 204-unit apartment building on its site that opened in 2020.