Burien hodgepodge making way for a new Town Square

BURIEN — The first thing you notice is the diversity.

Elmer's Pub sits between a taqueria and a brightly colored Salvadoran-Mexican pupuseria, which is across the street from Hon's Hair Design, which is beside A.A.A. Polynesian Deli & Store, which is behind Han's German Sausage & Deli. Around the corner is Pho My Han Vietnamese Restaurant, which is alongside the Middle Eastern Sahara Market, which is down the street from Rudy's & Sally's Kitchenette.

Contemplating the hodgepodge that is downtown Burien, Denise Ferguson smiles quizzically, as if she's not sure what to make of it.

"Yeah, it's a mix. Definitely a mix," says Ferguson, owner of Fireweed Bead on the main drag.

The second thing you notice, or ask, is where's Starbucks? The large, familiar chains are missing from the one-story flat-roof storefronts in Burien's core — they're lined up in the newer shopping centers instead. But not for long.

The biggest thing to transform downtown Burien since the Southcenter mall opened in nearby Tukwila in 1968 is now under construction.

While Southcenter pulled shoppers away from Burien, leaving the town "shabby" and "tattered" for a generation, says Ferguson, the new Burien Town Square aims to revitalize it by creating a cohesive community focus and a pedestrian-friendly feel.

The $150 million, 10-acre redevelopment plan includes a plaza, retail stores and restaurants and more than 400 townhouses and condo units. The centerpiece will be a new city hall and a 40,000-square-foot library made of glass and stone.

Ferguson would like to see a big bookstore and a hardware store and more upscale restaurants. Dani Kirkland, the retail broker for Town Square, says many national retailers including Starbucks have shown interest in the project.

"We've been getting a lot of offers," says Kirkland. "The response has been incredible."

Groundbreaking was in October, and the city expects the first phase to open in 2007 and 2008, with the final construction wrapping up in three or four years.

"I can't wait," says Ferguson. "Burien's come a long way since I first came here five years ago, and it can only get better."

Burien, which covers 7.3 square miles, has seen its population increase by a third in the past 30 years to an estimated 31,830. Much of the growth has been from immigrants representing some 58 languages. Streets surrounding the center of town consist of neatly kept one- and two-story apartment complexes, as well as modest single-family homes. Along the western edge of town, the main thoroughfare tacks north and south down a forested bluff, occasionally revealing homes on generous lots with views of Puget Sound and the Olympic mountains.

Ferguson is trying to sell her home in Des Moines, five miles south, and buy in Burien. She likes that "B-Town," as she calls it, is conveniently located near Sea-Tac International Airport and "an easy commute" to downtown Seattle.

The median price of a home in the area southwest of Seattle that includes Burien rose 7.5 percent over the past year through November to $287,500, according to figures compiled by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. "Prices are good now," she says, "but they might not stay that way because of the really cool town square."

Information in this article, originally published January 6, 2007, was corrected January 11, 2007. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that plans for Burien Town Square include a multiplex cinema and 300 housing units at a total cost of $130 million. The development plan does not include a cinema, but will have more than 400 housing units at a total project cost of $150 million.