Like Burien's Town Square, Tukwila's planned mixed-use neighborhood center has fallen victim to the current economic downtown.

The Tukwila Village project is on hold.

The project was approved by the City Council in 2008, and the developer, Tarragon, was chosen.

"The timeline for the original vision in which library, retail, plaza and residential were all built at the same time anticipated completing our legal agreements with Tarragon in 2010," said Derek Speck, Tukwila's economic development administrator.

Up until the May update, Tarragon still expressed great interest in the project, however they then decided to delay the design until the bond market and the economy improved.

"It was my prediction," wrote Speck in an email, "that Tarragon would complete design in 2012 and the first phase of construction in 2015."

Since May, Speck said, Tukwila staffers have met with Tarragon to see what the next steps in development would be, and all possible options were considered, including simply building the library alone.

After much consideration, however, Tarragon decided this was not the deal they wanted to be involved in.

"They had to rethink their business model," said Speck.

Tarragon, in its original business model, was more involved in industrial construction rather than residential or retail construction and given the current status of the economy, they decided it would be more in their best interest to return to that model for now.

The alternative developer, Legacy Partners, decided they were no longer interested in the project for similar reasons.

The troubles facing Tukwila Village are somewhat similar to that of Burien Town Square. While there a number of differences, Speck said one could compare the two.

"First off Burien Town Square has been built," said Speck.

What is similar, said Speck, is what is happening in the real estate market.

"The financial services sector and banks are still gummed up," he said.

There is a real "cash crunch" and there is almost no money out there from lenders for projects like this. This is where Burien Town Square is having issues, because their lender is having financial trouble.

Also, according to Speck, the number of people who are unemployed or have a job but are not spending money has affected the economy.

Speck noted there is current no demand for new construction. In fact, some existing buildings remain empty.

Also similar to the Burien Town Square project, one element that may be constructed at Tukwila Village is a new library.

"The King County Library System has stood with us throughout these discussion and they remain open and interested," Speck said.
"They have started their process to hire an architect to look at the Tukwila Village site and determine the optimal locations if they were to move forward and construct the library as a stand alone building."

August 9 is the date tentatively scheduled foe the City Council to discuss the construction of a library. The council must approve the proposed location and construction of the library before it is built.

For further detail on Tukwila Village, go to www.ci.tukwila.wa.us/tukwilavillage.html.