Downtown Puyallup parking lot could become 4-story development near senior center
The Puyallup City Council has unanimously approved the purchase agreement for a developer to convert a parking lot downtown to a mixed-use area.
The lot at 330 Third St. SW was previously the city’s Administrative Office Building, The News Tribune reported. It was torn down after the City Hall was built in early 2009. It has about 100 spaces and is across from the Puyallup Police Department and next to the Puyallup Activity Center.
The city is selling the parking lot for $1.4 million, city economic development director Meredith Neal said during the council meeting Oct. 26. The plans are for a mixed-use development area with about 60 condominium units for purchase.
The building is expected to be 65 feet tall with one floor dedicated for parking and three floors dedicated for the condominium units, Neal said.
Neal said the developer, McBride Cohen Management Group, LLC, is based in Pierce County and that Point Ruston is one of their other projects.
City spokesperson Eric Johnson told The News Tribune approving the purchase agreement is a key milestone and a step forward to selling the parking lot and bringing more housing to downtown.
Johnson said the developer must go through an application process, form a site plan and accomplish other steps, which means nothing will be built for years.
Councilmember Dean Johnson said during the council meeting that redeveloping the parking lot may attract other developers to Puyallup.
“These may not fit all price brackets, even including mine, but it will fit some,” Johnson said about the condos.
Seniors who frequent the activity center have raised concerns about plans for the site. They use the parking lot, and worried there wouldn’t be enough parking spaces if it’s redeveloped, The News Tribune reported.
Results from a city survey showed about 60 people were concerned about not having enough parking for seniors, The News Tribune reported. The survey was distributed to 1,500 people that use the activity center.
Eric Johnson said the city negotiated with the developer to have 20 parking stalls reserved for seniors that visit the activity center. The city also negotiated to have some angled parking stalls reserved for them on Third Street Southwest, he said.
“If you’re a person that uses the … center, you would have to apply to get a permit to use one of those spaces,” Johnson said. “The rest of the area is going to be parking reserved for residents of the condominium or whatever gets developed there.”
Neal said the parking stalls will be placed on the northeast corner of the parking lot, which is the closest spot to the activity center. It will be reserved for activity center users during the center’s operation hours and would be available for the public outside those hours, she said.
This story was originally published October 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
