Bayan Trails senior housing development gets nod from Olympia

A proposed senior housing development called Bayan Trails is set to move forward on 20 acres of wooded property on the eastern edge of Olympia.

The Sueno family and its Golden Alon Development Co. received land use approval June 5 from Olympia Hearing Examiner Mark Scheibmeir. The project calls for four senior apartment buildings with 167 units, as well as 10 townhome-style buildings with 70 units. Construction will take place in six phases over 10 years on two parcels: 607 and 709 Sleater-Kinney Road NE, across from North Thurston High School.

The project attracted some opposition from residents in the San Mar Villas neighborhood, located to the south of the Bayan Trails property. Some of their concerns included building heights and extra traffic from a proposed street that would connect the two neighborhoods.

However, the hearing examiner ruled that no road connection is required, noting that “f a street connection is not imposed, a neighborhood connector trail must be constructed to provide a paved connection to the existing adjacent street.”

The project's design was modified so that the buildings next to the neighborhood step down in height from three stories to two stories to one story, according to Carolyn Sueno Lee of Golden Alon Development. She added that construction is slated to begin sometime in 2016.

“We wanted to be good neighbors and make it amenable to everyone,” she told The Olympian.

This story was originally published June 18, 2015 at 8:22 AM with the headline "Bayan Trails senior housing development gets nod from Olympia."