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This letter was mailed to neighboring residents of the project site. The information meeting is also available to anyone in the community.
February 13, 2025
Dear Resident:
We are writing to provide an update on the construction project happening at 7810 SE 27th St. (former Tully’s Property). This project involves the demolition of the existing building and constructs a new parking facility at the site of the former Tully’s Coffee shop building. The facility will include 35 new parking stalls, bike racks and lockers, sidewalks, illumination, and landscaping.
Construction of the Town Center Parking Project is tentatively expected to begin the week of February 24, 2025, as the contractor will begin mobilization and setting up construction control methods. The City’s contractor, OMA Construction, Inc., will begin full construction operations soon after. Construction is anticipated to be completed by the end of June 2025. During this time, no parking will be allowed in the existing Tully’s lot or in the Sunset Highway cul-de-sac.
We understand that any construction near your home or business may raise questions and concerns. As we prepare for work to begin, we want to ensure you have the information you need and the opportunity to have your questions addressed.
We have scheduled an informational meeting on February 24th at 3:30 PM on site at 7810 SE 27th St (former Tully’s building). Members of the project team will be present to share project details, discuss potential impacts, and answer any questions you may have. If you are not able to attend this meeting, this information will also be posted to the City’s website, which is linked below, or you can reach out to Customer Service for assistance.
In addition to the meeting, a project page has been created on the City’s website, where you can find regular updates, key milestones, and important details throughout the construction process: https://letstalk.mercergov.org/town-center-parking-project.
We encourage you to visit this page to stay informed.
If you have any immediate questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the City’s Customer Service Team at 206-275-7600 or email at customerservice@mercerisland.gov.
Sincerely,
Ian Powell
Street Engineer
Direct: 206.275.7813
E-Mail: ian.powell@mercerisland.gov
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This project involves the demolition of the existing building and foundation and removal of all existing pavement and sidewalks. This also includes capping and abandoning existing building utility services. Followers of this project will recall that the former Tully’s Coffee shop building has been in poor condition for several years, stripped of all furnishings and inoperable, used only for storage in recent years.
The project will regrade the site, construct 35 parking stalls, construct new pavement and sidewalks, construct a new surface water treatment system, improve the site’s illumination, provide infrastructure for future electric vehicle charging capability, and install new plantings along with a new irrigation system.
Later this year, the City Council will review operations policies related to the new commuter parking lot. This discussion is tentatively planned for March 2025, when the City Council will also continue discussions about the new Town Center parking regulations.
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The project team has nearly completed the design of the Town Center Long-Term Regional Transit Commuter Parking Project and are excited to share the next steps with the community.
The final design includes the development of a surface parking lot to deliver convenient commuter parking in addition to bike lockers, bike racks, and other amenities for commuters. The Commuter Parking Project site consists of three different parcels acquired and assembled over multiple years - including the former Tully’s Property - for the purpose of providing long-term regional transit commuter parking.
The design integrates several transit-oriented development features that support transit ridership and a pedestrian-oriented downtown. These design features include a widened sidewalk along SE 27th street and a new direct pedestrian pathway between downtown, the regional I-90 trail, and the light rail station, and improved lighting between downtown and the light rail station. Additionally, this design supports community use for community events that currently use this space, such as the annual Mercer Island Art UnCorked event. These events will benefit from the improved pedestrian environment and regional accessibility by light rail. These improvements are necessary to continue investing in the vision for Mercer Island’s Town Center as a walkable, pedestrian–oriented retail, commercial, and housing hub for the community, with accessibility by transit for regional employment and other opportunities.
Specific effort was taken to develop a design that maximizes the use of space while supporting the adjacent Greta Hackett Outdoor Sculpture Gallery. While the park’s layout will change as part of this project, there will be an overall increase in park and green space and the project will result in a net reduction in hardscapes and impervious surfaces- see the greenspace diagram here.
The project will be going out to bid in the coming weeks, with construction expected to begin in Q1 of 2025 and concluding in the summer of 2025.
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City staff has been working with the architecture firm Northwest Studio to continue planning for the construction of the commuter parking area. Work includes incorporating feedback from City Council into conceptual designs, continuing the design process, preparing an engineer’s cost estimate, and drafting parking regulations and an enforcement policy.
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At the February 20 regular meeting, the City Council approved the site concept for the Town Center Long-Term Regional Transit Commuter Parking Project and directed the City Manager to proceed with design.
The site concept includes the development of a surface parking lot to deliver commuter parking, and will include approximately 40 parking stalls, in addition to bike lockers, bike racks, and other amenities. The Commuter Parking Project site consists of three different parcels - including the former Tully’s Property - acquired and assembled over multiple years for the purpose of providing long-term regional transit commuter parking.
This parking configuration maximizes use of space, while minimizing impact to the adjacent Greta Hackett Sculpture Gallery. There will be no net loss of green space and the project will result in a net reduction in hardscapes and impervious surfaces.
Staff are proceeding with design and updated cost estimates as directed by the Council. Project bidding is anticipated in Q3/Q4 of 2024, with construction to immediately follow.
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In 2017, the City entered into a settlement agreement with Sound Transit to offset local impacts of the East Link light rail project. As part of this agreement, $4.41 million was dedicated for long term regional transit commuter parking projects near the new Light Rail Station in Town Center.
At the February 20 regular meeting, the City Council will review a recommendation and preferred site concept for a commuter parking project(External link) in the Town Center, presented by City Manager Jessi Bon. The Commuter Parking Project site consists of three different parcels, including the former Tully’s Property, acquired and assembled over multiple years for the purpose of providing long-term regional transit commuter parking.
You can attend the February 20 council meeting(External link) in-person or virtually to watch the discussion.
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The City entered into a Settlement Agreement with Sound Transit on October 17, 2017 which provides $10.05 million toward projects to offset the impacts of the East Link light rail project. Included amongst those projects is $4.41 million to fund long-term regional transit commuter parking projects near the new Light Rail Station in Town Center. Upon execution of the Settlement Agreement, the City began working on plans to acquire and develop long-term regional transit commuter parking.
Section 6 of the Sound Transit Settlement Agreement describes the 49/51 percent cost-share model related to the commuter parking project. Specifically, the Settlement Agreement will cover 49% of the costs for the commuter parking project and the City will cover 51%. The City’s 51% portion of the project contribution is intended to be achieved through a property match. Property Assemblage The Commuter Parking Project site consists of three different parcels acquired and assembled over multiple years to provide commuter parking in Town Center. The parcels include:
- The “former Tully’s Site,” acquired in 2019, which includes the former coffee shop building and the associated parking lot.
- Parcel A-1, which is owned by the City under a turnback agreement with the Washington State Department of Transportation from 2000. This parcel includes a portion of Sunset Highway and the cul-de-sac to the north of the former Tully’s property.
- Parcel A-2, acquired in 2021, which is north of and immediately adjacent to Parcel A-1 and is part of what is known as the Greta Hackett Outdoor Sculpture Gallery in Aubrey Davis Park.
The total property assemblage is just over 31,000 square feet and represents an important gateway to Town Center.
At its meeting on June 5, 2018, the City Council authorized the City Manager to execute a Purchase and Sale Agreement to acquire the former Tully’s property, located at 7810 SE 27th Street, with the intent of combining this property with Parcel A-1 for the purpose of providing commuter parking. The former Tully’s property acquisition was completed in 2019 with a final purchase price of $2 million dollars. REET 1 funds were used for the acquisition. The City also purchased Parcel A-2 in December 2021 for $668,000 using REET 1 funds (see AB 5996).
As part of the due diligence period and prior to finalizing the purchase of the former Tully’s Property, the City conducted an environmental site investigation due to the known soil contamination on the property. This due diligence period included an investigation to determine the vertical and horizontal extent of the contamination and to engage in negotiations with the former owner (ARC) responsible for the contamination from the former gas station on the property (BP/ARCO). A settlement agreement was executed in November 2019 between the City and ARC formalizing ARC’s responsibility to reimburse the City for costs related to site contamination investigation and cleanup. This includes 90% of costs arising from environmental investigation and assessment; 85% of costs arising from remediation of soil gas and groundwater contamination; and 100% of costs from excavation and disposal of contaminated soil at the former Tully’s Property and 75% of these costs at the A-1 parcel.
The former Tully’s Coffee shop building and the associated parking lot are in poor condition. The parking lot does not meet City code and the building is stripped and inoperable. Most components of the building have failed or are at the end of their useful life. The building is currently used as transitional storage due to the City Hall closure – staff are working on cleaning out and fully abandoning the building. The building was under consideration for use as a satellite City facility, but the building is sited poorly and prevents efficient use of the property. Additionally, estimated costs to repair the building exceed the cost of replacement.
