It’s the job of an economic development manager to sound optimistic about his city’s prospects, even during a long economic downturn.

But Dick Loman, Burien’s economic development guy, insists he has solid reasons to be enthusiastic about the city’s future.

He believes the stalled Burien Town Square condo and retail space logjam will be cleared by the end of the year and sales will begin.

Also, in October the long-vacant BBC Dodge lot will be used for parking displaced from the Burien Transit Center as construction gets underway on a six-story garage.

One hundred parking spaces will become available at the former car lot, located at 1st Avenue South and South 148th Street.

“Not only will it help the BBC Dodge owners get a little cash flow but Burien is very fortunate to provide some temporary but significant construction jobs,” Loman declared. “It’s a win-win for everyone.”
A trustee sale by the F.D.I.C. on Oct. 29 will determine who owns the Town Square project, according to Loman. Once the owner is set, asking prices can come down to reflect current market prices.

Loman earlier estimated the current market value has dropped about 30 percent from the original prices.
“There is very strong interest from real estate companies and once people know the prices, sales can move ahead,” Loman said.

There are pending leases for about half of the retail spaces, according to Loman. Only six of the 124 condominiums had been sold before Corus Bank, the original loan lender, failed last year.

The F.D.I.C. took over from Corus and has been slow in resolving the situation, Loman noted.

With a completed building and just 20,000-square-feet of space to sell or lease, Burien is very fortunate that the project was not overbuilt, Oman added. The second phase of condo development was canceled when the economy soured.

Construction on the transit garage was set to begin Oct. 2 but final preparations at BBC Dodge will delay that briefly, Loman said.

Buses will stop at both BBC Dodge and the transit center, located at Southwest 150th Street and 4th Avenue Southwest, so riders will not have to walk to the transit center to board buses.
A formal ribbon cutting is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 23.

The gap between the actual start of construction and the starting ceremony is because of scheduling difficulties in finding a common date for important officials to gather.
“It’s always a challenge to get the people together,” Loman noted.

Total cost of the construction is about $20.5 million with Sound Transit contributing $14.73 million as part of the ST2 plan.
Alliance Property Group and the Wasatch Co. will build the 505-stall garage at the center’s northeast corner. General contractor is Pankow Construction.
The garage will include 50 spaces with electric car plug-ins. It will be one of the first public facilities in the country to offer plug-ins, according to Loman.

Five of the stories will be above ground with one story below the surface. Construction should take about a year.

Developers of a proposed multi-screen cinema on the southwest corner of Southwest 150th Street and 4th Avenue Southwest plan to work with Sound Transit to provide parking in the facility for theater patrons.

The garage is the first phase of a planned transit-oriented development. During a second phase, Burien officials envision building 100 affordable multi-family units with adjoining retail and office space.