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Park Avenue will soon extend over this railroad track to connect the Landing to Southport’s office campus (in distance), Hyatt Hotel, and Bristol apartments. This improvement will also reduce congestion at Coulon Park’s south entrance.
After 20 years in planning and negotiations, physical construction can finally begin on the much-needed extension of Park Avenue to Southport. The final necessary document, an easement with BNSF Railroad, was approved by Renton City Council at the December 5 council meeting.
This railroad easement at long last clears the way for the beautiful and direct extension of Park Avenue that will be key to full occupancy and future expansion of the Class A Southport Office complex, owned by SECO development. The new road section will also make access easier to the popular Hyatt Regency Hotel and the Bristol Apartments, and relieve some traffic congestion at Coulon Park.
The current access for all of Southport is down this two-lane driveway, which meanders to an intersection on Lake Washington Boulevard that is shared with Coulon Park. The new Southport gateway on Park Ave will have much higher capacity.
Construction is scheduled to begin next month, and will be a welcome sight for SECO Founder and CEO Michael Christ, who had done everything he could to make this happen. This included waiting patiently for conclusion of the complex discussions between the city, Puget Sound Energy, the Boeing Company, and BNSF Railroad. SECO has plans for a beautiful gateway and boulevard entrance for Southport that is fitting for the spectacular high-end complex. “This extension of Park was part of the original vision for this property, four Mayors ago.” Mr. Christ reminded me, which I recall like it was yesterday. (Renton Mayors Pavone, Law, Keolker-Wheeler, and Tanner all worked on it). He added “With the new EastRail trail north of our property connecting bikes and pedestrians to cities on the east side of Lake Washington, this new connection provides a critical link to the south. We’re going to have new sidewalks between the Landing and Southport, and we’ll also be improving the east-west connectivity across our site as part of this project. This connection will help bring prosperity to Renton.” After working this project with him for 20 years as a Council member, I agree with his assessment.
This picture is an engineer’s view of the work to be done, but does not adequately illustrate the beauty of the new gateway road in its final form. SECO president Michael Crist has continued to put design care and artistry into their finished developments, and this key entryway will not be an exception.
The extension of Park Avenue will cost around $9,000,000 with the vast majority of the funding provided by SECO. The roadbed will be graded so that the road will gently rise to achieve the same elevation as the railroad, and there will be a protected at-grade crossing. The city will own the road infrastructure through the railroad crossing, and SECO will build and own the rest. The city’s share of the funds will be recovered fairly quickly from new tax revenues received as a result of the improvement.
Mr. Christ gave generous compliments all around. “I’m appreciative of the other stakeholders and adjacent property owners for making this possible. I’m thankful to Mayor Pavone for catching the ball and getting it across the goal line, and I’m thankful to all the other elected officials past and present that made this happen. And I’m very grateful to (Renton Planning Director) Chip Vincent and his outstanding team and the great job they have done on this project.”
Residents have reported seeing lights on in his office towers and Mr. Christ confirmed the good news. “Wizards of the Coast is working on its tenant improvements, and will be occupying their new space soon.” The new workers, who make the mega-popular games Magic the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons, will bring a nice round of new customers to businesses at the Landing.
A dragon sculpted during the first “RenCon,” a Renton Comic Book Convention, awaits the arrival of the trend-setting game creators from “Wizards of the Coast” at Southport’s office complex.
(Here are further details on the final document. The final agreement between Renton and BNSF is here. The presentation to Council on December 5, 2022 is here.)
I’m Glad this is happening. Getting those offices filled will be great for the city and neighborhood.
I’m still grumpy Logan goes to one lane as it’s becoming quite the bottleneck. Sometime City staff really doesn’t know what they’re doing.
Thanks! I fought hard along with my council colleague Marcie Palmer to make Logan into two lanes both directions. I remember another council member or two also tried to help, but I don’t remember who. We thought we had it agreed with the property owners on both sides of the street and the city designers, and then learned later, after it was too late, that it had been reduced back to one lane each way. Ugh! We still talk about it when we see each other.
I suspect Zwicker probably helped.
I also remember not seeing the landscaping and pathway blocked by a fence. Sure, Boeing made it pleasant, but only for themselves.
Boeing trivia for the area: After 9/11, they placed their bomb checking and disposal area next to houses in North Renton. I found that you’re not supposed to store explosives close to housing. People tend to not like their families all blown up to bits.
If you’re expecting bombs, you need a place to store them.
After complaining to the feds, they moved it right at the intersection where this new road is going.
I really don’t think they moved because of the law however, as they could very well argue that they weren’t exactly storing explosives all the time. Exigent circumstances bla bla bla
I suspect they moved because they knew someone was about to make their crappy idea public.
I don’t imagine that “Let’s protect Boeing from bombs by putting the risk on the Renton public!” would be suitable for marketing.
Eventually, the security theater died down, and I don’t see it around.
We must actively consider the people who will be most affected by this road, especially our low-income BIPOC neighbors.
This is not just about concrete and asphalt; it’s about the lives and livelihoods of the people in this community. If we keep allowing roads like this to be built, Renton will only benefit the rich and powerful.
We must stand together and fight for a Renton that works for everyone, not just the select few.
Wizards of the Coast is an extraordinary employer that has made a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. https://company.wizards.com/en/diversity-equity-inclusion
They also had one of the first employer on-site daycare centers in Renton in their facility to support working parents.
Their mission is absolutely commendable, and they make our world a happier, friendlier and more connected planet. In their words:
“We create entertainment that inspires creativity, sparks passion, forges friendships, and fosters communities around the globe.”
We’re very blessed to have such a wonderful company in Renton, and they are going to be an outstanding fit in this new Southport office campus. The Park Avenue extension will help their employees get in and out of their offices, and the sidewalks will allow them to walk to restaurants and shopping at the Landing.
Why do you nutters have to bring race into everything. Can’t we have nice things?
I honor the Coast Salish Elders and all Indigenous people, recognizing the history of their oppression and ongoing displacement.
We must protect the cultural heritage of the Muckleshoot tribe, who have a rich history connected to this land. We can preserve this heritage for future generations.
Acquiring this land from this developer will support the tribe’s economic growth by allowing them to build a casino, bringing in revenue and jobs.
It’s important for Renton to support the sovereignty of Indigenous communities and their right to self-determination. Acquiring this land will strengthen our relationship with the tribe.
AC are you a bot?
Let’s talk about the cray-cray Seattle far-leftists taking a piss on Renton.
On second thought…let’s wait a bit closer to the election….
I highly encourage reasonable progressives, democrats, centrists, and non-trump republicans to run for City Council. There’s some trash to take out.
This seems like a nice step in the right direction towards making Renton a more walkable city!
If we could get Park avenue to have decent sidewalks you could get to the waterfront from DTR. As it stands now, it feels like your walking next to a freeway.
Thanks for bringing this up “My name.” I agree better sidewalks on Park would be an overdue improvement. This has been talked about by city planners for quite a while, in often in the same conversations as the extension of Park Avenue. This extension of Park to Southport really elevates, and even improves the naming of, Park Avenue, as it will run from Liberty Park to Coulon Park after this extension is complete. It is a perfect time to make the street more walkable with wider, less obstructed sidewalks. I know there is not a lot of excess width to work with, but it seems like it should be possible to get a foot or two of additional width along the whole thing, with even larger widths through the commercial area where there are bigger building set-backs. Thanks for the great comment.
Letting Park have “parking” would calm the traffic down. There’s a few key intersections that need two lanes, but the majority of it could be one lane in each direction. With a parked car between the sidewalk and the moving cars, it’s much nicer for pedestrians.
All it would cost is some paint and signs.