Thinking big for the future of Bel-Red

An aggressive revamp proposed for the Bel-Red Corridor could bring an additional 4.5 million square feet of commercial space and 5,000 housing units over the next 25 years.

A Bellevue city steering committee has recommended a preliminary plan for the 900-acre corridor, a stretch of warehouses, retail space and office parks between Bellevue-Redmond Road and Highway 520.

Apartments, stores and offices would be built near two proposed light-rail stations along a new thoroughfare, Northeast 16th Street. An arts district and several new trails and open spaces also would be built.

City officials began studying the corridor two years ago and say it could become a dynamic urban neighborhood that helps connects downtown Bellevue and the Overlake area.

The steering committee briefed the City Council on the project Tuesday night but must still submit a final development plan in September. The council could sign off on all or part of the design, but would probably not make any zoning changes until early next year.

The committee's preliminary plan includes:

• Two clusters of mixed-use development around light-rail stations at 122nd and 130th avenues Northeast. At 122nd, development would include housing but would focus on office space; at 130th, construction would include housing and service-oriented businesses, with a pedestrian-oriented retail street. Clusters also could be built near stations at Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue, just outside the corridor; and in the Overlake area of Redmond.

• Extension or widening of several streets to increase mobility, including Northeast 16th and 10th streets and 116th, 120th, 124th and 136th avenues Northeast.

• An arts district, with studio and performance space, built around 136th Avenue Northeast, near the Pacific Northwest Ballet school.

• More trails and parkland, including near the area's many streams.

The plan assumes that voters will approve an Eastside light-rail line as part of a "Roads & Transit" ballot measure this fall. If the measure fails, Bellevue city officials will have to rework the plan and may try to get another kind of transit, such as a rapid bus line, into the Bel-Red Corridor.

Even if the city made no zoning changes in the area, the corridor still would see a lot more activity, planners say. With current zoning, about 1 million square feet of commercial space is expected over the next 25 years.

If more dense zoning is approved, major construction would have to be completed in phases and only after new roads and utilities are built, Mayor Grant Degginger said.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com