Developers Tarragon and Legacy Partners met with the Tukwila City Council Aug. 18 to present their proposals for the Tukwila Village project.

The council's vision for Tukwila Village at South 144th Street and Tukwila International Boulevard is to create a place where residents and others can gather together to enjoy public events. The development would include a new King County Library facility, and Tukwila Police Resource Center.

There will also be residential space for people of varying incomes, along with retail and. possibly, office space.

Both developers have done projects in the state. Tarragon is headquartered in Seattle and designed Kent Station multiuse project in 2001. Legacy Partners is headquartered in California but has been active in the Puget Sound region since 1973.

Kirsten Jenson, who represented Tarragon at the meeting, told the lawmakers that Tarragon's idea for the project is to create a "mixed-used neighborhood development."

In Tarragon's plan, the new library will be 10,000 square feet and the new police resource center will be 2,200 square feet. Currently the resource center is located on the boulevard and is not easily accessible.

Tarragon also wants to incorporate landscaping to make the area inviting.

"Landscaping that would create rooms," Jenson described.

A public plaza would be the focal point of the village and would be hospitable to concerts and other shows, and as Jenson suggested, maybe host the annual Tukwila Days festival.

Legacy Partners works in accordance with the Low Income Housing Institute and Collins Woerman. They are responsible for the building of Riverpark in Redmond and Bellevue Tower.

"High quality projects that withstand the test of time," said Chris Martin, a representative of the company when describing the philosophy of Legacy Partners.

They, too, want to create a welcoming, community-gathering place. Including a library and a new facility for the police resource center is a requirement in the bid.

Bringing back the Tukwila Farmer's Market was one idea suggested by Legacy Partner representatives. They said they would include an indoor community commons for rainy days but also an outdoor plaza for events such as concerts or the farmers market.

Housing facilities for people with varying incomes is included in their design.

Council members are expected to discuss the two proposals and decide between the two developers on Sept. 8.

For more information on Tukwila Village, visit the Web site at http://www.ci.tukwila.wa.us/tukwilavillage.html.