On Wednesday, Sept. 5, Bill Ellis, Economic Development Manager for the City of Kent, did a presentation on local economic development, with an emphasis on the “Meet Me on Meeker Project.
Ellis spoke at the Kent Chamber of Commerce’s September Membership Luncheon.
His talking points included:
- Why Meeker?
- What are Complete Streets?
- Case Examples from other cities
- Public Outreach & Responses
- 10 public meetings held, reaching at least 150 people
- 245 online surveys collected
- 34 acres in development; potential for another 22 acres (Naden, Madison, Kmart, (
- 3 brownfields assessment at $35k value ($12k leveraged from private sources) and now remediated
- 33 new colorful LEDs and improvements to overpass with $25,000 in contributions from service clubs and general public
- $250,000 grant dollars received from the state of Washington for Complete Streets
- Other developments
New Apartment Developments on Meeker Street
- Total Private Development: 29 total bldgs (23 Marquee, 6 GRE)
- Total Units: 857
- 12,000 sf retail space
- 29 units of flex space
- Rents at 50% above average for Kent, 857 households X $72K median HH income equates to approximately $65 million
- If local businesses secured only 4% of the spending represented by these new households, $2.5 million could be captured by local businesses
- 1,500 individuals at $9,000 discretionary income each would be $18,511,200 in spending potential for Meeker corridor
- 2,500 linear feet of enhanced bikeway and community promenade space under construction
- $200,000,000 approximate investment along Meeker by both Goodman and FNW directly into construction of their developments
- $1,231,098.62 Traffic Impact Fees
- $ 628,880.56 Stormwater Fees
- $1,859,979.18 new improvement tax revenue
Here are some screenshots from Ellis’ PowerPoint (download his PowerPoint here as a PDF file.:
Watch an edited (for time), 27-minute video of Eills below: