Municipal Facility Planning

The City of Mercer Island is planning to acquire a 22,000 square-foot commercial office building located at 9655 SE 36th Street. The City has proposed acquiring the building for $9.06 million through eminent domain, a legal process necessary to facilitate the creation of two distinct parcels.

Combined with the new Public Safety & Maintenance Facility, currently under design, these buildings will serve as the new home for the departments currently housed in the aging Public Works Building and other departments displaced due to the permanent closure of City Hall.

Pending approval of the acquisition, the City expects to take ownership of the property by Fall 2025. Before opening the building for City use, a number of improvement projects are needed to ensure the space is ready to support the staff and the community. The commercial building will eventually serve as the permanent location for the Community Planning and Development Department, the Public Works Capital Projects and Engineering teams, and the Youth and Family Services Department.

The acquisition will be funded primarily with existing cash-on-hand and a smaller portion through outside financing. No new taxes or revenues will be needed. The available funds are the result of years of conservative budgeting, cautious revenue forecasting and disciplined spending.

The property sits on a single legal parcel that contains two buildings. City operational needs only require the acquisition of the 9655 building on the southern portion of the parcel. The building on the northern portion of the parcel is not being acquired and will continue to house Mercer Island Pediatrics and other businesses. Due to legal restrictions on subdividing the parcel, the City determined, and the seller agreed, that the best method for completing the transaction is through an eminent domain process. Both parties are cooperating to facilitate that approach.

The City Council adopted the eminent domain ordinance during its regular meeting on July 1, 2025 (AB 6726).

You can find additional information on the potential building acquisition in the City’s press release linked here(External link) and on this Let’s Talk Page.

During the June 3, 2025 City Council meeting, the Design Team presented the schematic design and updated cost estimate of the Public Safety and Maintenance Facility, highlighting how the proposed design aligns with core objectives and supports public safety and maintenance operations (AB 6701). See the presentation deck linked here for additional information. The Design Team also reported on the outcomes of the retention of an independent peer-review group to conduct a value methodology-based review (aka value engineering) aimed at optimizing the PSM Facility design. Many of the value engineering team’s recommendations were incorporated into the schematic design to reduce overall project costs and enhance operational efficiency.

The Design Team has prepared an updated cost estimate based on the complete schematic design, the value engineering process, and the design choices by the staff team and City Council. The total estimated project budget is $103,902,076. This cost estimate will serve as the basis for the bond the City Council is considering presenting to the voters during the November 2025 election.

The Design Team will return to City Council during the June 17, 2025 City Council meeting to answer questions raised by City Council during the June 3rd meeting and to seek final Council approval of the PSM schematic design.

During the May 6, 2025 City Council meeting, the PSM Design Team presented follow-up analysis on the design alternatives for the Public Safety and Maintenance Facility (PSM), originally presented to the City Council at the February 4, 2025 Council meeting. These design alternatives included roof-mounted solar panels, rainwater harvesting, and water storage systems. Staff sought City Council direction on whether to include these design alternatives in the draft PSM schematic design that will be presented to the City Council for approval in June. Additionally, the Design Team is presented an initial strategy on facility structural systems but did not request City Council direction at this time.

See agenda bill and presentation and the meeting recording linked here. These materials include information on the cost-benefit analysis of the various design alternatives.

The City Council directed the PSM Design Team to include the rainwater harvesting and water storage systems in the PSM schematic design.

During the April 15, 2025 City Council meeting, the PSM Design Team presented an updated site layout that will move the PSM Building (main administrative building) and the Operations Building north on the site. This strategy recommendation resulted from feedback from the City Council, and meetings with Police, Public Works, Emergency Operations, and IT/GIS staff in recent week.

See agenda materials and presentation linked here and the meeting recording linked here.

This proposed revision to the site layout will reduce construction costs, increase operational effectiveness, and leave room for potential future operational capacity to ensure that this facility is positioned to serve the city over the next 50-plus years.

City Council approved the new site layout and general alignment of the major amenities, recognizing that the design phase is still in the early stages and some refinement will be necessary as the design work continues.

Additionally, the proposed PSM Facility layout includes the placement of the Operations Building on top of the property line between the existing City Hall and Public Works parcels. The Design Team recommends a boundary line adjustment to move the parcel line north closer to SE 36th St (see graphic linked here). Both parcels comprising the current City Hall Campus have the correct comprehensive plan land use designation, which is “Public Facility.” The zoning, however, is different and this was identified for resolution as part of the PSM Facility development process.

The City Manager is recommending the new south parcel created by the boundary line adjustment be re-zoned to “Public Institution” (PI), consistent with other public facilities on Mercer Island. The north parcel is recommended to remain as CO to preserve flexibility for its future use.

The City Manager received formal direction to add this item to the work plan. The City Manager will work with staff and legal counsel to set this item for review in late 2025 or early 2026. The re-zone work will need to be complete before permits are submitted for the project (mid to late 2026).

During the March 4, 2025 City Council meeting, the PSM Design Team presented a progress update on the Public Safety and Maintenance Facilities (PSM) Design in addition to addressing questions from the prior City Council meeting. See agenda materials and presentation linked here and the meeting recording linked here. The Design Team presented information on the following thematic areas:

• Planning for Potential Future Operational Capacity needs at the PSM Facility
• Functions and Uses of the Operations Building and Yard
• Alternative Construction Delivery Methods.

City staff and City Council discussed if the main PSM Building be pulled forward (north) to expand the capacity of the secure areas (parking and maintenance yard) behind the main PSM Building. Staff said this was an idea worth investigating further and committed to coming back with additional information at a future Council meeting.

The Police Department has been significantly impacted by the closure of City Hall, which housed the police precinct. The City explored a number of alternatives for the Police Department, landing on leasing modular buildings. The lead time on these buildings was over a year. The Department initially relocated to the Mercer Island Community & Event Center and then over the summer moved to the Luther Burbank Building. The modular buildings opened for use in the fall of 2024.