[ 05 ]
Burning desire to serve
BELLEVUEREPORTER.COM
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BELLEVUE
REPORTER FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015
Interim Fire Chief Mark Risen is taking on the position permanently
Business [ 09 ] Expansion strategy
Commission approves I-405 express tolls WSDOT says rideshare site to aid drivers facing new carpooling requirements BY BRANDON MACZ BELLEVUE REPORTER
Sunwest Bank has set up its Washington base at One Bellevue Center downtown
Education [14 ] Giving back hope
High school student hopes to be flush with donations for Africa bathroom project
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Inside this Issue
The Washington State Transportation Commission adopted a new rate structure for tolling express lanes on Interstate 405 between Bellevue and Lynwood on March 18, declining appeals from Eastside residents and one commissioner to change a controversial policy for carpooling that starts later this year. The WSTC took public comment from a crowd of more than 100 Eastside residents for about an hour and discussed the new rate structure for about 20 minutes in executive session last Wednesday at Kirkland City Hall. The rates and corresponding policies were approved unanimously. A two-lane express toll lane system both ways from Northeast Sixth Street in Bellevue to State Route 522
Photos by Brandon Macz, Bellevue Reporter
(Right) An I-405 motorist named Tony was brought out by WSDOT in Bellevue Monday to demonstrate installing a Flex Pass (Above) needed for express lanes.
is expected to add capacity on I-405 when it comes on line , as is a one-lane system both ways between SR-522 and I-5 in Lynwood. But in order to cover operation costs, the state transportation department reports a three-occupancy carpooling system must replace the typical two-occupant requirement needed for high-occupancy vehicle lanes. Vehicles with two or more SEE TOLLS, 11
Affordable senior housing Lincoln Square expansion includes W Hotel coming to Crossroads Mall BY BRANDON MACZ
BELLEVUE REPORTER
SHAG constructing 6-story, 185-unit apartment community with retail BY BRANDON MACZ BELLEVUE REPORTER
The Senior Housing Assistance Group plans to construct an affordable rental apartment community on the northeast corner of the Crossroad Mall that will include 1,600 square feet of retail that caters to residents. “I think it’s a really exciting opportunity and, quite frankly, it’s a model for great opportunities in the senior housing arena in particular,” said Jay Wolford, SHAG executive director. “We have long wanted to be able to provide affordable housing on the Eastside.”
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Kemper Freeman used Lincoln Square’s new studio showcase room Monday to announce a W Hotel will be a significant feature of the Lincoln Square expansion when it opens in 2017. “It was a lot of lobbying — a lot of selling — that really brought him around to being a hip W follower,” said Carla Murray, vice president of Northwest operations for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, which operates W Hotels and the Westin at Lincoln Square. “That made the people back at my headquarters very happy.” “I’m on the outer edge of who stays there, at 73 (years old),” Freeman later remarked of W Hotels’ young, techy clientele. The luxury hotel will have 245
guestrooms in 14 stories of the first tower adjacent to Lincoln Square, and sit on top of three levels of retail, restaurants and theaters, Freeman said, with 2,200 parking stalls in six levels of underground parking below that. Upscale apartments will occupy the upper levels above the W Bellevue, Freeman said, adding 10 percent of those units are already preleased. The parking structure is expected to be completed in time for a June construction start for the W Hotel in order to open in spring 2017. Kemper Freeman Company will own the hotel, Starwood will operate it and the two will share the profits as negotiated under a long-term contract, said Anthony Ingham, vice president of W Hotels Worldwide in North America. SEE W HOTEL, 9
Premier Retirement Living The Gardens at Town Square 933 111th Avenue NE Bellevue, WA 98004
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