By Joseph Thompson, HearldNet
LYNNWOOD — One of the biggest developments coming to Lynnwood is set to open in 2024 — kind of.
New images and a video rendering released last week offer an updated glimpse into Northline Village, a 17-acre development across the street from the incoming Link light rail station, which begins service in 2024. The project includes 1,370 housing units, seven-story office buildings and retail space for restaurants, cafes, a movie theater, gym and grocery store.
There’s no scheduled start date for construction, but builders need to break ground by 2022 to open “phase one” alongside light rail, said Jamas Gwilliam, vice president of development for Merlone Geier Partners, a West Coast developer leading the project.
What “phase one” means is still unclear, Gwilliam said.
“It depends on the market demand for the different product types we’re offering,” he said. “It could include any combination (of residential, office or retail space).”
Those contracts are getting squared away now so companies hoping to move in can offer input on design, Gwilliam said.
Next comes housing units and retail.
Merlone Geier Partners is handling leases for shops and restaurants.
Several multi-family housing groups are in the mix to manage the dwellings, but none have been chosen, Gwilliam said.
When the city council approved the development agreement for Northline Village in December, Councilmember George Hurst said the city ought to require some low- to moderate-income housing.
The deal doesn’t do that, but Merlone Geier still could include affordable housing, Gwilliam said.
Northline Village could be the second project to use the city’s multi-family housing tax exemption, following Kinect@Lynnwood, a 239-unit development set to open in 2022.
To qualify for the tax break, at least 20% of units must be for low- to moderate-income households. For Northline Village, that’d be 274.
“We’re still really early in that process,” Gwilliam said. “There will be the opportunity to use the (tax exemption) program. We’re seeing that being widely used in other developments we’ve worked on. We are not at all suggesting that there won’t be affordable housing at this project.”
Low income means anyone earning less than 80% of the median household income. Moderate income refers to individuals or families making between 80% and 115% of the median household income.
In Snohomish County, the median household income is $87,000.