May 23, 2022

414 Bellevue units planned for John L. Scott HQ

Image from Wallace Properties [enlarge]

The two apartment buildings will replace this old office building west of I-405.

Back in 2007, John L. Scott Real Estate paid $11 million for the old office building that bears its name at 11040 Main St. That's west of Interstate 405 and just up the hill from the future East Main Station, where light rail service will begin in early 2024 or sooner.

Now John L. Scott, Wallace Properties and VIA Architecture have filed plans to redevelop with two apartment buildings. Owing to the property's split zoning, the seven-story south building on Main would have 124 units over 15,000 square feet of offices — about half the size of the existing 43-year-old building. The residential brokerage, now in its third generation of leadership, might occupy that space or not — depending on whether it later sells the project to a developer.

The taller north building would have 23 stories and about 290 units. The pair would share a mostly underground parking garage, with some 400 stalls. The new development would also have a few surface stalls along the entry drive on Main.

Wallace Properties has in the past brokered space in the current old three-story building, and Wallace applied in February for the master development permit on John L. Scott's behalf. VIA's plan only recently followed, last week, and hasn't yet entered design review.

The owner declined to comment on the plan.

The midblock property spans nearly 1.7 acres, and is directly west of the large pit now being shored by Alliance Residential for its big three-building Broadstone Bellevue Gateway project on the corner of 112th Avenue Northeast. (That also replaced an old office building.)

Alliance hopes to finish its project by late next year. The John L. Scott project would unlikely start any sooner, and a development partner might emerge during the permit process. Or the brokerage could sell and relocate.

The building purchase came a year before voters approved Sound Transit 2, which included the East Link to Bellevue and Redmond. Planning for that route, if not the exact station locations, was certainly known before the sale.

Scottish immigrant John L. Scott founded his namesake brokerage in 1931. The firm is today led by grandson J. Lennox Scott. It has around 100 offices with over 3,000 agents in our state, Oregon, Idaho and California. Last year, it closed about $20 billion in deals.

Wallace meanwhile has big plans for its 3-acre property on 112th, nearby. Those two towers could have 802,000 square feet of offices — plus retail, restaurants and underground parking.