July 14, 2025

A match made in Bellevue: proposal weds 321 units with office building

Rendering by Clark Barnes [enlarge]

The new apartment plan, looking northwest ...

By now, we've gotten accustomed to plans for replacing obsolete Class B office buildings with townhouses. That's the grim reality of the post-pandemic market, with a glut of offices and a paucity of housing.

But here comes a Bellevue proposal, filed last week, to accommodate both an older office building and a new multifamily neighbor. They could coexist happily together in wedded bliss.

A little south of East Main Station, at 11400 S.E. Eighth St., is the Gateway One building. That 40-year-old structure is just north of the Bellfield Office Park. It sold last year for $35 million to Felton Properties of Portland. The four-story building is in the middle of the over 9-acre property. (Sturtevant Creek runs through the east side, making it unbuildable.)

To the west, on the corner of 112th Avenue Northeast, Trammell Crow Residential and architect Clark Barnes are proposing an eight-story, 321-unit apartment building. It would replace some but not all of the surface parking. If the project proceeds, it would presumably carry TCR's Alexan brand.

Photo via CBRE [enlarge]

... and the old Gateway One office building to be preserved.

Whether there's to be a redrawn parcel and land sale, or a joint venture between TCR and Felton, remains to be seen. The proposed apartment building would have an S-shaped footprint, with two courtyards. It would total around 201,000 square feet.

Clark Barnes indicates that the project would employ the city's 20-year multifamily tax exemption program, making about 50 units affordable during that term. The affordability threshold would be up to 80% of area median income.

One structured parking level, with a second partly underground, would have 284 stalls. Surface parking would add another 41. The east office building would thus lose some but not all of its parking. (It also has some structured parking.)

For the offices, those 111,746 square feet are represented by CBRE; various small businesses are based there. A new putting green was recently added, on top of tenant amenities also including Dilettante Mocha Cafe, atrium lobby and a gym.

If there's to be a JV with Felton, office tenants could possibly park in the apartment building. The site is about a 10-minute walk north to the light-rail station, and, significantly, about the same distance east to the Wilburton Park & Ride. It's a surprisingly TOD location, and not every potential tenant would necessarily need a car.

Family-run Felton has a branch office in Bellevue, with a small national portfolio that seems to be entirely offices and industrial. A little farther north on 112th, it also owns the Hidden Valley Office Park. Townhouses might eventually be the play there.

TCR has plenty of experience on the Eastside. It's nearing completion on 350 units in Woodinville (part of the larger mixed-use Harvest development), and it recently opened the 246-unit Charles in downtown Redmond, near that light-rail station.

One lingering question mark is TCR's 390-unit plan in Eastgate, once slated to rise within the Sunset North office park; there's not been much permit activity there for the past year or so. Nor has there been a land sale. It's possible that TCR has opted instead for a more TOD office/addition site, near East Main Station and Mercer Slough.