January 22, 2025

SRM now planning Bellevue children's museum, with 46 affordable units on top

Rendering by Urbal Architecture [enlarge]

Looking northwest, an April opening is planned for the Nuovo apartments (left). The new building would rise closer to 118th and the freeway.

Just west of Interstate 405 in Bellevue is a two-part affordable housing project from SRM Development. The site, immediately north of the large new orange Public Storage building, is a short walk north to the Wilburton Park & Ride.

Phase I, to the west, is nearing completion at 991 118th Ave. S.E. That's to have six stories and 135 units, closer to Mercer Slough. Preleasing begins next month for an April opening.

Closer to 118th and the freeway, the east site now has a half-built structure that was effectively abandoned by past owner and developer Puget Sound Hospitality. That was to be a 150-room Holiday Inn Express.

Instead, the city of Bellevue is now considering a revised permit application for Phase II to develop a children's museum with 46 affordable units on top. Urbal Architecture is designing the six-story project at 995 118th, for which the city of Bellevue is now weighing a modification to the prior rezoning in 2022. That allowed housing in the formerly commercial area.

The new zoning measure before the city would also allow the museum, to be run by KidsQuest, which is now based in downtown Bellevue. The new museum location would have 40,000 square feet on three levels, plus an 8,000-square-foot outdoor sculpture/play area.

New to the east project is underground parking, with 110 stalls, plus another 67 surface stalls. The top three residential floors would have 46 large apartments, suitable for families, with two to three bedrooms. Rents would be affordable to households earning in a range from 40% to 80% of area median income.

Residents would have a 2,000-square-foot terrace on the fourth floor, plus other amenities. Urbal calls the Phase II east project Altaire; it's not yet in design review. Size above grade is estimated at some 130,000 square feet.

For the possible rezoning, the public comment period ends Jan. 30. A public presentation of the project will follow on Feb. 5, in a virtual meeting. The city says a SEPA determination of non-significance is expected.

The half-built east hotel is about two levels above grade, with work having stalled in 2020. What's to become of it? Demolition, then a fresh start with excavation for the Phase II parking. There's no declared schedule, and SRM says a start in late 2026 is the blue-sky goal. There's still plenty of design work and money wrangling ahead.

Back in 2015, the nonprofit KidsQuest Children's Museum took over a private doll museum at 1116 108th Ave. N.E. It then paid $4.9 million for the corner property, and moved from its old digs in Factoria, where it originally opened in 2005.

Today, its half-acre corner at Northeast 12th Street has zoning that goes well above the present two-story building, which dates to 1992. The county assesses the land at over $13 million. So if the SRM plan on 118th proceeds, likely with a condominium arrangement with KidsQuest, a land sale on 108th will follow.

Meanwhile, at SRM's Phase I west building on 118th, still dubbed Nuovo, rents are to be affordable to households earning in a range from 80% to 100% of AMI. About 170 surface and structured parking stalls are planned.

Baldwin General Contracting, of Oregon, is builder; and Dale Sweeney Architects is the designer. Funding sources include the Washington State Housing Finance Commission and Microsoft's Affordable Housing Initiative. The Downtown Action to Save Housing, or DASH, was previously announced as a partner. Baldwin values the project at $36 million.