Sound Transit is working with the City of Seattle to develop land adjacent to Mount Baker Station for new affordable housing options and other uses. This transformational opportunity fulfills a longstanding goal to create a more vibrant area around the Link light rail station.
Sound Transit owns approximately two acres of land near the former University of Washington laundry site just to the west of the station. We used this property for construction staging while building light rail and have more recently used it for vehicle storage.
The site’s location, behind the UW laundry and without direct access to the station, made it a tough site for redevelopment. But that changed last June when UW transferred three parcels of land next to the station, including the laundry site itself, to the City of Seattle. The City is planning to develop these parcels for affordable housing, early learning education/research and open space.
The City and Sound Transit are working in partnership with a consultant team and community stakeholders to develop a preferred site plan, street network, open space plan, and green stormwater features (such as rain gardens) and urban design recommendations.
Community feedback will inform how the new development looks and feels. Visit the City of Seattle’s online survey by March 3 to share your feedback on goals and priorities for the sites. The survey is available in English, Amharic, Cambodian (Khmer), Lao, Oromo, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya and Vietnamese.
In late March, we’ll present three site alternatives to the community for feedback and hold an online Q&A session. We’ll release a final preferred plan and recommendations in May.
Questions? Contact Sound Transit Community Engagement Specialist Melanie Mayock at (206) 689-4877 or melanie.mayock@soundtransit.org.
Learn more about Sound Transit’s Transit Oriented Development program here.