July 21, 2025

Following office demo, 278 Bellevue units planned

Image via Lee & Associates [enlarge]

If the plan proceeds, Alliance will join the parade of other developers along 116th.

More old office buildings appear doomed, this time in Wilburton, a little east of Interstate 405.

The Bellevue Medical Imaging building, at 1400 116th Ave. N.E. , dates to 1967. It last traded in 2002 to the radiologist who runs the practice. The corner property, on the bend of Northeast 12th Street, isn't publicly listed.

Next door to the east, Troy Gessel of Lee & Associates is selling another small old medical office building, unpriced, on behalf of a separate owner. Both structures have a likely date with the wrecking ball. Both owners may now share the same broker.

Photo via Bellevue Medical Imaging Facebook [enlarge]

The Bellevue Medical Imaging building. Will MRIs give way to multifamily?

Last week came the inevitable redevelopment plan, from frequent collaborators Urbal Architecture and Alliance Residential. It calls for an eight-story, 278-unit apartment building with a kind of lollipop-shaped footprint. The irregular assemblage, spanning about 1.4 acres, has a crescent shape. It's slightly west of Lake Bellevue and Eastrail.

Urbal indicates about 290 parking stalls — mostly on two underground levels, plus some structured spaces. A west-facing retail bay on 116th could have about 1,947 square feet. Bike parking and other amenities are proposed.

Units look to range from a 450-square-foot studio up to a three-bed with 1,260 square feet. The project isn't yet in design review. Fazio Associates is the landscape architect.

Photo via Lee & Associates [enlarge]

Lee & Associates is separately selling the east neighbor.

The east building, at 11711 N.E. 12th St., sold four years ago for $9.2 million to a local investor. That's about $328 per square foot for the land, a figure likely to rise given the location. The city of Bellevue recently upzoned most of Wilburton, and the potential Alliance assemblage is about a nine-minute walk south to Wilburton Station and the Whole Foods next door.

If the two land sales happen and the plan proceeds, Alliance will join the parade of other developers along 116th, including KG Investment, Trammell Crow and Kauri Investments. All are banking on the 2 Line finally connecting to Seattle next year. More developers, sales and demolition jobs will surely follow.

The biggest prize on that stretch of 116th is the nearly 6-acre Design Market property, immediately north of the Whole Foods. Home to Kasala and other furniture and home decor stores, it last traded in 2001 to Bellevue's own Legacy Cos., run by the Ellison family. Four buildings date to 1982. The county values the land at over $32 million.

Meanwhile, over on the west side of the freeway, near East Main Station, Alliance and Urbal have a very advanced plan at 200 112th Ave. N.E. A land sale from Columbia Pacific Advisors awaits, before that nine-story, 304-unit project can break ground.