Town Center taking shape

Bill Trimm gauges the progress of Mill Creek's Town Center as he looks out the window at LA Fitness, watching mothers stroll their babies along the sidewalks from the residential section to the retail.

"It's changing the community," said Trimm, the city's community-development director.

The city sees progress in sales-tax revenue, which increased by $150,000 due to Town Center in 2005, the first full year its Central Market grocery was open.

"When everything else is open, we will probably see another $150,000 increase," said Joanne Gregory, Mill Creek's finance director.

Developers are seeing 90 percent occupancy rates — for buildings not yet constructed.

With phase 2 done and phase 1 nearly complete, most visible progress now can be seen in phase 3 of pedestrian-friendly Town Center, where workers recently tilted a 60-foot-tall pre-constructed wall into place.

Phase 3, in the southwest section, will include 128,200 square feet of retail, office and residential space. Construction started in late 2004, and Pier 1 Imports should open in the first building this month.

"That will be our first tenant in the phase 3," said Dan Eernissee, the project manager for Wakefield Properties, a Bellevue company that owns the land in phase 3.

The next business in phase 3 is Boston Pizza, set to open in June.

Workers, meanwhile, are in the final stages of a 250-stall parking garage, which will accommodate Town Center customers as well as residents of an adjacent 36-unit condominium project, Mira Vida.

The condos will target what Eernissee called "move-down buyers," people in their 50s or 60s who are looking for a slower pace or maybe want a second home in Mill Creek near friends and family.

Designers plan one-level units with high-end finishes and an average size of 1,200 square feet. Prices will be set and sales will begin after construction, Eernissee said.

The Everett Clinic will occupy part of a separate three-story building in phase 3, along with the Clay Pit, an Indian-cuisine restaurant; a Mongolian grill; a taekwondo academy; and a pharmacy related to the Everett Clinic.

Other businesses in the phase 3 are to include Lil Lads 'n' Lasses, a children's clothing shop; Windermere Real Estate, which is planning a high-tech presentation center; Columbia Funding, a mortgage company; and a psychiatrist group. Another building will house a health-food store called Granolas and a branch of People's Bank. The final building will house Cosi restaurant.

There are tenants for 90 percent of the commercial part of phase 3.

Work on the last part of phase 1 began last month with site preparation for 72 stalls of underground and surface parking for Creekside Village, said Red Jacobsen, Creekside Village's owner. The five-building plan will be the last part of phase 1.

Jacobsen said he plans a different design from the rest of Town Center — modern Tuscan.

Creekside Village's centerpiece will be The Forum, an 8,000-square-foot entertainment complex that will feature monthly community events, such as a battle of the jazz bands, drum-line faceoffs and concerts.

The remaining buildings will house retail businesses on the first floor and offices on the second floor.

Jacobsen did not want to reveal the tenants yet but said there will be a major Italian restaurant, a couple of bistro-style restaurants and a pastry-style bakery. All but 2,000 square feet has been leased, he said.

Located on the north side of Town Center, phase 1 will include 184,121 square feet of retail and office space.

Phase 2, in the southeast corner, was actually the first phase completed and included 113,284 square feet of retail space, including the Central Market. Of the eight constructed buildings in phase 2, Eernissee said, occupancy is 80 percent.

The city's plans for Town Center include a plan for signage, to help people find it, and the creation of an adjacent urban-development center.

Business stakeholders plan to organize the Town Center Business Association.

The timing is right, Eernissee said, to create a team of business owners. More tenants occupy buildings now than there are tenants arriving. And more of the existing tenants have stabilized their businesses so they can start thinking about cooperative marketing strategies, maybe a five-kilometer run or a festival, he said.

"It's a destination now," Trimm said. "There's something to do in Mill Creek."

Diane Rodgers: snohomishcounty@seattletimes.com