Renton approves rezoning for Boeing to allow urban waterfront center

By J. Martin McOmber
Seattle Times business reporter

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The Renton City Council yesterday approved sweeping zoning changes for the 280-acre Boeing plant, clearing the way for the company to eventually redevelop the property that gave birth to the modern jet age into stores, condos and offices and biotech labs.

The changes cap more than a year's effort by the city to brace for life after Boeing. The company — which has dominated Renton and its economy for more than half a century — is consolidating its sprawling plant, and many observers expect it to close the facility entirely in the next 10 or 15 years.

It was a parting victory for outgoing Mayor Jesse Tanner, who said the deal will allow development of a new urban center on the Lake Washington waterfront that will redefine Renton's role in the region.

"It just means a whole bright prospect for the future," he said. When Boeing left the Space Center in Kent, he added, the company sold the property "to the first guys with checks in their hand, and we didn't want that to happen here."

The city also approved a plan to spend approximately $33 million building roads, sewers and other utilities to support redevelopment. In exchange, the city will have greater control of the type of development that occurs on the property.

Boeing assembles the 737 and 757 in Renton. The company recently announced plans to close the 757 line because of declining orders. While work on the 737 will continue, Renton is not in the running for the jetmaker's next generation of plane, the proposed 7E7.

Boeing initially will redevelop about 50 acres east of Logan Avenue North. A company spokesman declined to say whether the company has started marketing the property or when development might start.

But the rough plan sent to the city includes several "big box" and medium-sized retailers anchoring a shopping area that would include smaller stores along Park Avenue North. It also includes a possible parking garage and some office and residential development.

Boeing figures the proposed retail development would create 1,132 jobs and add up to $1.5 million a year of tax revenue.

The mostly service-industry jobs provided by retail can't match the higher-paid work of assembling airplanes. But Tanner said the effects on the city's economy would be worse if the land remained industrial.

"When they do leave, we have base zoning for the highest and best uses under that entire property that will keep some of these secondary, trashy operations from coming into the city," he said.

Few developers expect Boeing will have a hard time finding a retail developer for the first 50 acres. But many question whether Renton's vision of a new urban center eventually blooming on the remaining Boeing property west of Logan Avenue — where new zoning will encourage a mix of taller and denser commercial and residential development — will come to pass.

Despite the magnitude of the change, the new zoning sparked surprisingly little debate, with only a handful of residents attending public hearings. Alex Pietsch, the city's economic-development director, said most of the public has supported the effort.

"When we look back at the history of the city, we will see this as a watershed event," he said.

J. Martin McOmber: 206-464-2022 or mmcomber@seattletimes.com

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