If you thought, “Lynnwood? Isn’t that a town waaay up north of Seattle?” You’d be in for a surprise these days!
Lynnwood’s building a City Center. The city is rolling out plans for the development of two large apartment complexes and a hotel (beginning already this year), right at the intersection of 196th and I-5. This is a hot spot because it will also welcome Light Rail in the not too distant future. Work on the Light Rail begins in 2018 and will have a transit center around the 200th SW block. One of the structures is to be a 300 unit senior housing project, while the other is to be “affordable workforce housing,” whatever that is going to cost.
All of this development is creating a “walkable downtown core” – meaning shorter blocks, wider sidewalks, taller buildings, and so forth. With the new flurry of improvements, 196th is also going to be widened. The long-promised Costco is going to open just north of Alderwood Mall.
A section of 198th SW is slated to become a “main street-style” area. There are rumours of a tentatively planned new park too.
Some of the height boundaries are being upzoned to 30 stories, while a 35 FOOT height limit would be set for buildings that are adjacent to residential structures. (Do you see a canyon in the making here, folks?) If a 30-story building WERE constructed in the new hood, that would turn out to be the highest building in Snohomish County.
What is the purpose of all this construction? Frankly? Lynnwood is positioning itself to be an affordable housing target as they are located midway between Seattle and Everett. They seem to think that within the next 20 years, they will see a growth of 35-55,000 households. Wanna bet it’ll happen sooner than 20 years?
