October 21, 2024

Chateau Ste. Michelle shifts to retail, housing, entertainment and hospitality

Photo via Chateau Ste. Michelle [enlarge]

On the east side of the property, the 48-year-old tasting room will be preserved. Housing is planned to the west.

In Woodinville, the venerable Chateau Ste. Michelle was sold to a private equity firm in 2021. Wine production there then ceased, though the chateau-style tasting room remains open.

The following year, CBRE put the 118-acre property at 14111 N.E. 145th St. on the market, but evidently found no buyers.

Now, working with architect GGLO, the ownership is adding detail to a possible redevelopment plan, which first emerged in February. It depends in part on City Council approval of a zoning change from tourist industrial to tourist business, to permit a greater variety of uses on the east side of the currently gravel-surfaced Eastrail.

That's the familiar main Chateau Ste. Michelle complex, with about 48 acres, most of which would be preserved. There, the owner seeks city approval for a 120-room hotel; a new outdoor performance venue (amphitheater); new and improved driveways and sidewalks; and more retail, wine and food buildings to total around 156,000 square feet.

The west side of Eastrail is mostly sloping and unimproved scrubland for now. There, a possible 90 units of single family housing is being pitched, possibly to include townhouses. That's now zoned R-4, with up to four units per acre. No zoning changes are being requested there.

None of the current plan would exceed the area's 45-foot height cap. GGLO says total development would use less than 20% of the allowable building area. As to that remaining 80%, mostly undeveloped to the west, Chateau Ste. Michelle could take another bite out of that apple in future years.

No permit applications have been filed. That process would presumably follow City Council approval of the zoning tweaks. The anticipated timeline is to complete the permit process next year, then to break ground in 2026.

Owner Sycamore Partners brought in a new CEO, Shawn Conway, for Chateau Ste. Michelle last year. He said in a statement, “We're thrilled to share details about the new experiences we believe will evolve Chateau Ste. Michelle as a modern, multi-faceted winery destination that can be enjoyed year-round. It's time to expand on Ste. Michelle's storied history and create a new chapter, where we continue to craft the finest wines from Washington, and entertain and delight guests from our local community and around the world.”

Adding housing and retail to the Woodinville wine district is already being done at the nearby Harvest development, with its four cranes swinging overhead. That's east of Chateau Ste. Michelle, near the east shore of the Sammamish River. Wine will be sold there, not made; and that, too, seems to be Chateau Ste. Michelle's future — not as a winery, but as a wine destination.

At Chateau Ste. Michelle, much of the east ground coverage would be surface parking, with some 1,322 new stalls to accommodate shoppers and concert-goers. The amphitheater is expected to accommodate 4,300 seated patrons and up to 5,800 sprawled on the lawn.

There's no current mention of a hotel flag or housing partner. Chateau Ste. Michelle began as a brand in 1967, then owned by American Wine Growers; the latter has local company roots extending back to the early 1930s — after the repeal of Prohibition. AWG took the Chateau Ste. Michelle name in the early 1970s. There are now dozens of labels (brands) in its wine portfolio.