Tumwater awaits Toyota dealership
Tumwater has moved one step closer to bringing its first major auto retailer to the city.
The Tumwater City Council has unanimously approved a development agreement that will pave the way for a Toyota dealership on 27 acres at the northwest corner of Israel Road and Interstate 5.
BJR Holdings, which owns Toyota of Olympia, will relocate from the Olympia Auto Mall to the Tumwater site in 2016, according to a listing with Sterling Real Estate Group. The listing also shows that the Toyota property at the auto mall, 2225 Carriage Drive SW, is on the market.
Toyota of Olympia general manager Joe McCorkle confirmed that the new dealership expects to break ground in January and open by the end of 2016.
“I think we have a great project here that will help Tumwater in many ways,” Mayor Pete Kmet said this week.
The agreement with Tumwater establishes ground rules for the development. The plan calls for several “pocket parks,” coupled with trails that run along the site’s perimeter. Along with being required to create landscaped buffers between the dealership and residential areas, the auto dealer also faces strict lighting requirements and must dim its lights after 10 p.m.
In addition, about 2.5 acres on the property’s forested southern edge will go to the city. Tyee Road will be extended through the property, while a roundabout is tentatively slated for the intersection at Israel Road. The revised agreement also removes a previous requirement to include 40 residential units or a park on the property.
Perry Shea, president and engineer with SCJ Alliance, which is working on the site plan, told the council that the development can help alleviate traffic on nearby Trosper and Littlerock roads. He noted that the site will use rain gardens and an underground filtration system to treat stormwater.
“While the development is an amazing development in what it will bring to the economy and the community of Tumwater,” Shea said, “we also have a lot of elements and amenities and assets created by this project.”
Tumwater’s economic gain will be Olympia’s loss. Toyota of Olympia will generate about $70,500 in property taxes this year at its current location, according to the Thurston County Assessor’s Office. Almost half of that money goes to the Olympia School District.
Renee Sunde, the city of Olympia’s economic development director, said Olympia will look for a new tenant for the Toyota property.
“Obviously, the auto mall and other auto-related uses around Olympia are a significant contributor to our sales tax revenue,” Sunde said. “We would love to see Toyota stay in Olympia, but our desire is to support their success.”
This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Tumwater awaits Toyota dealership."