Developer pitches 478 waterfront apartments for Olympia’s West Bay
A Pierce County developer with ties to the area is proposing to develop a mixed-use, waterfront project for West Bay in Olympia.
The project, called West Bay Yards, would occupy about seven acres of land once home to Hardel Plywood, a business that burned to the ground 24 years ago. The proposed development site is just north of a vacant building once used by a business called Reliable Steel. It, too, has been damaged by fire.
Other than the development of a nearby park, little has happened in the area.
“Nothing happens without any economic impetus to get things going,” said Troy Nichols, a spokesman for the project. “And if we are ever to have a fixed and functioning West Bay, this is hopefully that first step.”
In addition to Nichols, the law firm Phillips Burgess is handling the legal end of the proposal and Ron Thomas is the architect. All three were involved with Views on Fifth, the mixed-use project on the downtown isthmus that overlooks both Capitol Lake and Budd Bay.
The Milestone Companies, operating as the West Bay Development Group, propose to develop 478 market-rate apartments and more than 20,000 square feet of commercial space that would come together in phases over a five-year period. The total investment would be $200 million, which also includes the purchase price of the property.
The sale has yet to close, Nichols said.
Milestone currently is developing a townhome project in Lacey on 37th Avenue Southeast.
The West Bay project, according to a news release, will “include significant public access amenities and will also complete shoreline restoration along the property boundary.”
However, for the project to move forward, Olympia City Council will have to approve a development agreement. The project is tentatively set to come before the council on Dec. 8, said Leonard Bauer, deputy director of the city’s community planning and development department.
A public hearing is part of that process, he said.
Development agreements lock in expectations and typically are used for multi-phase projects. The city of Olympia took the same approach to help redevelop the former Bailey Motor Inn site on Martin Way. The affordable housing development known as Merritt Manor emerged from that process in the first phase, Bauer said. A second-phase project is still to be determined.
This story was originally published November 9, 2020 at 11:33 AM.
