LYNNWOOD — A huge project called Lynnwood Place that would bring a mix of stores and apartments across the street from Alderwood mall has received the green light.
The development is envisioned to construct 990,000 square feet of shops and homes at the long-vacant 40 acres once home to Lynnwood High School.
Costco is planned to be the anchor tenant, and Texas-based developer Cypress Equities also wants to build several mid-rise apartment buildings with retail stores, restaurants and offices located on the street level.
On Feb. 25, the Lynnwood City Council unanimously approved zoning changes to the city’s comprehensive plan to shift the property from public to mixed use. The council also rezoned the property to commercial-residential zoning.
The changes were made contingent on the developer submitting detailed plans the council can agree to, said Lynnwood’s community development director Paul Krauss.
“It’s is a big step forward, especially when you consider the applications were first submitted six years ago,” Krauss said. “Costco and Cypress are very excited to move forward as they become more confident that the project will proceed.”
Krauss estimated that the City Council will see engineering plans from the developer in four to six months. Details that would be considered include architecture, landscaping, entrances and more, along with review of the development’s environmental impact statement.
After completion, Lynnwood Place would rival the size of the mall at 1.3 million square feet. Costco would take up 160,000 square feet on the north 15 acres of the property.
The development proposal includes the construction of a four-lane bypass road that would wrap around Lynnwood Place and connect Alderwood Mall Parkway with 184th Street SW on the north and west sides of the property.
The development has been in the works since about 2007 when the Edmonds School District Board of Directors began working on a development agreement with Cypress Equities. The economic recession of 2008 caused a hiatus in the process, Krauss said.
The former high school site has been vacant since 2009, when students moved into the new Lynnwood High School building on North Road. The voter-approved bond issue that built the new high school also included language that allows the school district to lease the site of the former school building. Lease income will go into the district’s capital fund.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com.
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