BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF MERCER ISLAND, WA

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1 BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF MERCER ISLAND, WA AB 4604 February 7, 2011 Regular Business TOWN CENTER TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT FEASIBILITY STUDY SCOPE OF WORK Proposed Council Action: Appropriate funding for the development of a Town Center Transit Oriented Development Feasibility Study. DEPARTMENT OF COUNCIL LIAISON EXHIBITS City Manager (James Mason) n/a 1. BP Squared: Scope of Work APPROVED BY CITY MANAGER AMOUNT OF EXPENDITURE $ 30,000 AMOUNT BUDGETED $ 0 APPROPRIATION REQUIRED $ 30,000 SUMMARY As part of the 2010 Work Plan, the City Council provided direction for the City to investigate Town Center partnership opportunities. Over the past year staff has identified potential sites for transit oriented development (TOD) and engaged the property owners to assess owner interest. Three development and construction consultants were also interviewed to identify a company to represent the City in preliminary discussions with property owners and to conduct a project feasibility study. At the January 2011 Planning Session, Council discussed that Sound Transit continues to be willing to mitigate the impact that the reconfiguration of I-90 for East Link will have on our Mercer Island by providing funds to support the development of additional transit parking in the Town Center. Sound Transit has requested that the City outline a development proposal and cost estimates by late spring In order to develop the project framework the City Manager provided his recommendation to retain an owner s representative. He introduced Ben Pariser of BP Squared, development and construction consultants. Mr. Pariser s scope of work proposes to assess the feasibility of TOD on 3-5 privately owned parcels within the Town Center. The scope of work is included as. Upon approval of the agreement, BP Squared will complete the analysis within nine weeks at a cost of $30,000. The funding will be appropriated from the expenditure savings from the 2010 General Fund. The Finance Director will include a budget adjustment for the consultant services as a part of the 4 th Quarter 2010 Financial Status Report at the March 21 City Council meeting. BACKGROUND Mercer Island is connected to Seattle to the west and Bellevue to the east by the I-90 corridor, which carries more than 125,000 vehicles per day including mass transit. In the past fifteen years the City has defined Page 1

2 policy initiatives and has made significant investments in infrastructure and public improvements within its 100-acre Town Center. Mercer Island s land use policy and investments addressing the Town Center have resulted in significant private sector vertical development. There has been an increase of approximately 1,500 residential units, the addition of a 450-space park and ride commuter parking lot and a variety of private businesses and public amenities. Sound Transit is currently developing the East Link light rail corridor that will connect Seattle, Mercer Island, Bellevue and Redmond. As a result there will be an operational light rail station in Mercer Island s Town Center in Today there are more than 5,000 commuters which travel through Mercer Island through connector and express bus service. The addition of light rail is projected to add 2,500 trips per day through Mercer Island during peak commute times. Currently more than 50% of the capacity in the Town Center Park and Ride lot is being utilized by off-island commuters which limit the available spaces for Island residents interested in using this facility. The City has recognized a need to provide commuter parking that will serve Mercer Island residents. There are several privately owned properties within the Town Center that are available for development and are within close proximity of I-90 and the future East Link light rail station. BP squared will develop a planning document to help the City and Sound Transit formulate the cost for future construction of a parking facility. The resulting plan will also provide a template for a public-private partnership that hopefully will result in a TOD project addressing transit parking as well as a mix of housing, retail, office and/or commercial development. PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES The purpose of his project will be for the City of Mercer Island to develop a conceptual development plan and detailed financial plan for the redevelopment of a vacant/underutilized parcel in the Town Center for TOD. The City has identified 3-5 parcels and has begun preliminary discussions with the private property owners. The consultant will review the sites, engage the owners, develop feasibility analysis on each site and outline the steps necessary to develop sustainable, transit-oriented development that incorporates transit parking and a mix of other uses. The final document will provide an outline of the costs and framework for development that the City will present to Sound Transit as the basis for a request for assistance in the development of a transit parking facility. RECOMMENDATION Deputy City Manager MOVE TO: Alternative: Direct the City Manager to enter into a consultant services agreement with BP Squared for a Town Center, Transit Oriented Development feasibility study and appropriate $30,000 from the 2010 General Fund expenditure savings. Do not undertake consultant study. Consequence: Allow the market to react on its own. Do not attempt to stimulate a public private partnership TOD project. Page 2

3 squared DEVELOPMfNT & CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANTS January 24, 20 II Mr. Rich Conrad City Manager City of Mercer Island 9611 SE 36'h Street Mercer Island, W A Re: Town Center Feasibility Dear Mr. Conrad, BP Squared is pleased to present this Town Center Feasibility proposal for The City of Mercer Island. BACKGROUND Sound Transit's voter-approved project, East-Link, will expand light rail from downtown Seattle to the Eastside with a station serving Mercer Island. The route of East-Link will be approximately 17 mi les from downtown Seattle to Mercer Island and then onto South Bellevue and Redmond. East Link will cross Lake Washington in the center 'express lanes' ofl-90. Currently, the 1-90 corridor is being prepared for East-Link by constructing new HOV lanes across the lake on the outer roadways. This work will add 24-hour HOV service for eastbound and westbound traffic in each direction while maintaining the present number of vehicle lanes. In 2008, the Mercer Island Park and Ride was updated from a surface parking facility to a two story structure. This upgrade increased the parking stalls from approximately 250 to 450 stalls. A prior study suggested that 40 percent of the users are Mercer Island residents and that the number of boarders is two to three times the number of parking spaces, which suggests that a large number of transit riders are walking to the transit stop, being dropped off, or parking elsewhere on the Island. Sound Transit has designated that the East-Link transit station for Mercer Island will be located between 77'h and 80'h Ave. SE and will serve both eastbound and westbound commuters. The demand for commuter parking, boarding's from pedestrian and drop-off traffic, and park-onstreet commuters is expected to increase substantially once the express lanes of 1-90 have been converted to the East-Link light rail. In order to mitigate these impacts, Sound Transit has expressed their willingness to provide funds for additional commuter parking near the Mercer Island transit station " Avenue, Suite 2206 Seattle, WA pariser@bpsqd.com AB 4604 Page 3

4 SCOPE OF WORK The purpose of this analysis will be to determine the feasibility for a future Transit Oriented Development (TOO) at 3-5 designated sites close to the Mercer Island transit station and the Town Center. BP Squared will conduct this analysis in the following stages: 1. Discovery and Background - a. Review all available information from the City of Mercer Island pertaining to the designated sites as well as neighboring properties. b. Review existing right of way agreements, easements and developer agreements impacting designated sites. c. Quantify existing street parking within an industry standard radius of the transit station. 2. Ownership Investigation - a. Perform a detailed assessment of each designated property beginning with interviewing the property owner and/or representative. b. Analysis of existing tenant leases. c. Determine the possibility of outright purchase or possible joint venture of the property while defining applicable terms and conditions. 3. Property Evaluation - Including but not limited to: a. Site location including proximity to downtown amenities b. Soil limitations and extent and presence of groundwater c. Environmentallimitations d. Existing structures e. Critical areas ordinance f. Site dimension and estimated parking stall yield g. Impact to downtown revitalization h. Retail availability 1. Affordable housing J. Developer Incentive k. Potential for civic use 4. Cost Estimation - a. Provide market costs to develop and construct underground and/or surface parking on a 'per stall' basis. b. Prices will include hard and soft costs associated with build-out. 5. Recommendationsa. To be based upon the pros and cons for each designated property *This analysis may be used to assist the City of Mercer Island and Sound Transit to formulate an appropriate earmark for future construction. Since this TOO may not be constructed for 5-10 years, it is acknowledged that the final location may not be one that is identified in this feasibility report " Avenue, Suite 2206 Seattle, WA ' pariser@bpsqd.com AB 4604 Page 4

5 TlMEFRAME Upon execution, BP Squared will commence work immediately as outlined above in the Scope of Work. It is estimated that this analysis will be completed within 9 weeks. COSTS The total lump sum cost is $30,000'(Thirty Thousand Dollars). DELIVERABLES BP Squared will provide the feasibility analysis in _ written and bound copies as well as an electronic version in PDF format. TERMS AND CONDITIONS Please acknowledge your acceptance of this work by signing and returning a copy of this letter agreement. Any changes to this agreement must be made in writing and mutually agreed. The offer to perform these services is good to February 21, 20 II. BP Squared will provide the City of Mercer Island progress reports at the conclusion of each stage in the Scope of Work, not to exceed 2 weeks. Payment for services will be due as follows: I. $10, due within 30 days of engagement. 2. $10, due 30 days from the first payment. 3. $10, due upon the project completion and receipt of deliver abies. It is the desire of BP Squared to outperform your expectations. I appreciate this opportunity to submit this proposal and look forward to working with the City of Mercer Island. If there are any questions or concerns regarding this proposal, please do not hesitate to call. Thank you, ACCEPTED AND AGREED TO BY: Benjamin S. Pariser Founding Principal BP Squared, LLC The City of Mercer Island Mr. Rich Conrad, City Manager Date 14205'" Avenue, Suite 2206 Seattle, WA pariser@bpsqd.com AB 4604 Page 5