Developer plans 283 apartments on Kent’s West Hill

A developer plans to build 283 apartments on Kent’s West Hill at the northeast corner of Veterans Drive and Military Road South.

Dallas-based Trammell Crow Residential, with offices in Seattle and 12 other cities across the nation, plans to call the complex Alexan Gateway. It would be constructed just west of the Grandview Apartments, 3900 Veterans Drive.

The proposal submitted to the city of Kent includes three separate four-story buildings with associated parking and landscaping, according to city documents. The 6.6 acres is comprised of seven parcels. Three existing single-family residences will be demolished.

Under the city code environmental policy, city staff recommends that the applicant provide a vapor intrusion study to the city for review and approval because the southeast corner of the site was the former Kent Highlands Landfill. Vapor barriers may be needed to mitigate any impacts. The applicant must implement the barriers prior to receiving a building permit.

The developer also must pay a sewer impact fee of about $425 per unit to the city prior to the issuing of a building permit.

A construction timeline has not been released.

Trammell Crow has built nearly 275,000 premier multifamily residences over 40 years, according to the company website. It claims the residences provide vibrant and amenity-rich communities.

The developer built Circa Green Lake in 2009 in Seattle and opened Alexan 100 last year in Seattle. The company opened Alexan Marymoor last year in Redmond and is building Alexan Central Park in Redmond with a scheduled opening of April 2020.

Alexan Gateway would be the third major apartment complex development in Kent in the last year. The other two developments are:

• A construction crew started work in the spring at the southwest corner of 64th Avenue South and West Meeker Street where Seattle-based Goodman Real Estate is building 308 apartments.

• Developers broke ground last year on a new 24-building, 20-acre mixed-use project featuring nearly 500 apartments known as Marquee on Meeker, 2030 W. Meeker St. Auburn-based Landmark Development Group and HAL Real Estate are constructing the project on the former Riverbend par 3 golf course property along the Green River they bought from the city of Kent for $10.5 million.

New school on West Hill

Construction plans are already underway on the West Hill just north of the proposed apartment complex as crews demolish the former Kent Mountain View Academy site this summer to make room for a new elementary school at 22420 Military Road South. The new school is expected to open in 2021.

Kent Mountain View Academy will share space with the Kent Phoenix Academy on the East Hill until the district finishes renovation of the former Panther Lake Elementary School, on the southwest corner of 108th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 208th Street, to house both campuses in 2021.