Sound Transit Celebrates Transit-Oriented Development Project Groundbreaking
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
Sound Transit, BRIDGE Housing, and partners celebrated the groundbreaking on February 27, 2025 at the Spring District Station TOD site.
Courtesy of Sound Transit
BELLEVUE, Wash. - Sound Transit celebrated the groundbreaking of a transit-oriented development project in Bellevue.
According to the release, BRIDGE’s Housing project will include 234 new homes near the Spring District Station. The site was transferred by Sound Transit and the City of Bellevue late last year and is located on land that was once part of a seven-acre site next to the OMF East facility. Once construction on said land is finished, Sound Transit does not have a need for it. Sound Transit and Bellevue spent time working to integrate the facility into the city’s plans. This project comes as Marymoor Village and Downtown Redmond stations gear up to open. It is scheduled to be completed in late 2026.
At the ceremony, King County Councilmember and Sound Transit Board Vice Chair Claudia Balducci said, “This site is a testament to creativity, flexibility, and commitment to a vision. . . Thanks to the commitment from all the partners, we were able to site a necessary piece of maintenance infrastructure while still following through on our vision of the Spring District as a vibrant transit-oriented neighborhood. I’m thrilled that this new affordable housing will bring people of all backgrounds and incomes together to enjoy both everything the Spring District has to offer and access to opportunity across our region through quick and convenient transit on light rail.”
Both Sound Transit and the City of Bellevue worked with A Regional Coalition for Housing (ARCH) on a request for proposals (RFP) back in 2019. BRIDGE Housing was able to select 234 homes to be developed across two buildings. These include “355 bedrooms across studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes” that are affordable to households that earn less than 60% AMI.
Sound Transit states the project was awarded a predevelopment grant along with low-cost financing from Amazon’s Housing Fund. Reportedly, Amazon gave $100 million in support. Additionally, public funds from the City of Bellevue, ARCH, WA Housing Trust Fund, CHIP, and King County DHCS were also awarded. These all support the affordable housing development.
“The groundbreaking of this beautiful new community embodies BRIDGE Housing’s commitment to tackling the affordable housing crisis head-on in areas of high need like Bellevue and throughout the West Coast,” said BRIDGE Housing President and CEO Ken Lombard. “We are grateful to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with dedicated partners at the city, county and state levels, along with business allies like Amazon, to help address this ongoing and urgent challenge.”
Sound Transit states that it “strives to be part of the housing solution by offering opportunities for development and affordable housing near our stations. Over 25 projects – ranging from townhouses to 300+ unit apartment buildings – have been completed, are being built, or are planned on Sound Transit’s surplus land.”
