August 25, 2025

Lynnwood plans expanded event center, new hotel and up to 550 units

Photo by Zervas [enlarge]

The center today, on the southeast corner of the 13-acre site ...

Now 20 years old, the Lynnwood Event Center has about 55,000 square feet — and has served the city well. But 20 years is 20 years, and now there's a new light-rail station within walking distance to the south. And, on the future line to Everett, Lynnwood will then add a second station to the north. The city is growing fast, with hundreds of new and planned apartments in its upzoned City Center area.

And, since before the pandemic, the city has been contemplating an expansion of the event center, at 3711 196th St. S.W. The plan, now dubbed The District, has also expanded in ambition and scale. Since the property offers about 13 acres (mostly parking), an entire mixed-use campus is now the goal.

Anchored to the south by the expansion (to roughly double the old in size), there could also be a 412-room hotel (next door), a large structured parking garage with ground-floor retail, a new public plaza and lawn, then finally two north midrise apartment buildings with up to 550 units — with an affordability component. (Both buildings could have some retail, too.) Total project size isn't yet estimated. The possible price tag is around $600 million.

Public presentations began last year for the master plan, and the city has begun drafting a development agreement with its separate public facilities district (PFD), which owns the 13-acre property. The city recently noted that it expects to issue a mitigated SEPA determination of non-significance for the project. The public comment period ends Sept. 4.

Graphic via Freiheit Architects [enlarge]

... and, with west at the top of this map, the possible layout for its expansion and other development.

Numbers and particulars will inevitably change. If the hotel doesn't work, says the city, more apartment could be swapped in — pushing the units to 800 or so.

Also, unsurprisingly, there's past soil contamination from a dry cleaner and an auto shop. So the state Department of Ecology will have to approve the environmental remediation.

The city's planning effort has thus far included Freiheit Architects, Coughlin Porter Lundeen, Landau Associates (environmental consultant), landscape architect Fora, Heffron Transportation, GeoEngineers, Salish Restoration Associates (arborist), law firm Van Ness Feldman and JLL.

The PFD acquired most of the old Alderwood Village Shopping Center in 2002. It still has several businesses based there. Among them are Kona Kitchen, Olympus Spa, Silver Platters and a U.S. Post Office. Those buildings, eventually to be removed, date from the 1960s to '80s. The current event center replaced a Cadillac dealership and multiplex.

Separate development agreements with private parties will come in future years. The city says it's now in phase one (planning), of five, in a long process. The general construction schedule is first the expansion and parking garage/retail, utilities and driveways and central lawn. Then the hotel and apartments would follow. A 15-year timeline is mentioned.

The city estimates the expansion/development effort would create 500 permanent jobs (after construction), and an annual boost of $3 million in tax revenue and $12 million in overall business activity. The city expects to invest $270 million on its own, presumably via bond financing; then private partners would contribute a possible $320 million to the hotel and housing developments. For the latter, there's no mention yet of any requests for proposals.

As to the existing event center, which hosts conventions, concerts and the like, Oak View Group is the operator. Zervas Architects designed the center, and the general contractor was Howard S. Wright (a Balfour Beatty Company). The site itself has something of an upside down L-shape, wrapping around the separately owned Best Western Alderwood and two line retail buildings on 36th Avenue West.