Bellevue approves plan to transform shopping center into 900-unit complex

Redeveloping a shopping center in downtown Bellevue into new housing and shops is one step closer after a master development plan was approved for Wallace Properties.

The plan would renovate a 4.2-acre shopping center built in the 1970s and 1980s and transform it into a mixed-use site with four residential buildings totaling roughly 900 housing units, according to the city’s report obtained by The Puget Sound Business Journal.

The shopping center is located at 1100 Bellevue Way N.E. on the northern edge of downtown Bellevue, and two blocks north of Bellevue Square.

Wallace Properties gets green light for major Bellevue development

Wallace Properties first applied for the project in 2024, with the developer stating that a tough financing environment had been a challenge.

“Capital dollars for new development projects have been frozen for the last few years, but are finally starting to thaw,” CEO Kevin Wallace told The Puget Sound Business Journal in an email. “We’ll be looking to bring on an equity partner for Bellevue North in January of next year and start the construction loan conversations in the summer of 2027.”

Wallace noted that heightened job growth in the area has led to continued demands for new apartment units. The developer is currently working alongside the city on design reviews and anticipates breaking ground in the next “couple of years.”

On March 25, city officials concluded that the project would not require an environmental impact study.

Wallace Properties to redevelop 4.2-acre site near Bellevue Square in two phases

The first of two phases in the development will focus on the western half of the block, including a 28-story tower with 308 housing units, and a seven-story building with 158 apartment units, according to The Puget Sound Business Journal.

The second phase is on the east side of the lot and consists of two eight-story residential buildings. One of which will have 245 housing units, and the other will have 184. Each phase includes a total of 40,000 square feet of ground-level retail space and 983 underground parking stalls.

Plans are currently being updated by the company to include more affordable and market-rate apartments on the east side of the project. This push for affordable housing is part of new incentives for low-cost housing that the City of Bellevue passed in March.

Next month, Wallace Properties plans to issue a request for proposals for a general contractor for pre-construction work on the mid-rise apartment section in the first phase of the project.

Son to redevelop father’s first large-scale development project

The Bellevue North Shopping Center was the first large-scale development by Wallace Properties founder Bob Wallace. The shopping center is currently home to a Domino’s Pizza, BevMo, and Panera, among others.

“My dad basically taught himself how to be a developer there. The family’s held it ever since, and now I get the opportunity to rethink it, redevelop it,” Wallace told The Puget Sound Business Journal in July 2024.

The deadline to appeal the decision is April 8. The location’s master development plan approval lasts for 10 years, which would expire on March 25, 2036.

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