Building the roads for “the Landing”

Well, on Monday the City Council will take up the subject of approving the construction bid for the roads at the Landing (the new shopping center located on the surplus Boeing property). This is one of the subjects Mr. Peter Buck, the attorney for South Center Mall, picked on us about last Monday night.

We have a good plan, but perhaps a little more homework to do before we are ready for a vote. Council Member Denis Law has kept this vital concern on the front burner, and I shared my take on it with the Mayor’s executive assistant today. He has agreed to work on it. Specifically, Denis and I think that Council Members and the public need to be provided with a financial summary that demonstrates that two-thirds of the anticipated tax revenues from the project will pay for the roads we are going to construct, consistent with the development agreement between the city and the developer. The financial analysis does not have to identify specific businesses; it can use average predicted sales revenues on a per-square-foot basis for retail business, restaurants, and health clubs. This analysis will give us a basis for going ahead with the road construction.

As a second decision, at a later date, we need to determine if we will participate in construction of a parking garage in order to increase the density of the project and add an entertainment center (with a movie theater). This decision will be based on a second analysis, that shows that the additonal tax revenues resulting from a more intense version of the Landing project will provide enough additional revenues to fund further public infrastructure (like a garage).

So, we in fact have a two part decision to make, and we need two financial summaries to make these decisions. In keeping with Mr. Buck’s request, we should prepare these in a way that the council and public get the data necessary for a decision, but we don’t get data that is not our business (such as private business information).

It sounds like the financial arrangement will pencil out for the taxpayers, as it well should. Everyone who lives in Renton knows there is pent up demand for more shopping and restaurants in town. And whenever our residents pay state sales tax, over ten percent of the tax gets turned over to the city where the purchase takes place. This amount of money going to Renton instead of Tukwilla, Bellevue or Issaquah should easily cover some new roads.

Now it’s Friday evening, and time for some family activities.