On Wednesday, Sept. 5, Bill Ellis, Economic Development Manager for the City of Kent, did a presentation on local economic development, with an emphasis on the “Meet Me on Meeker Project.

Ellis spoke at the Kent Chamber of Commerce’s September Membership Luncheon.

His talking points included:

Why Meeker?
What are Complete Streets?
Case Examples from other cities
Public Outreach & Responses
10 public meetings held, reaching at least 150 people
245 online surveys collected
34 acres in development; potential for another 22 acres (Naden, Madison, Kmart, (
3 brownfields assessment at $35k value ($12k leveraged from private sources) and now remediated
33 new colorful LEDs and improvements to overpass with $25,000 in contributions from service clubs and general public
$250,000 grant dollars received from the state of Washington for Complete Streets
Other developments

New Apartment Developments on Meeker Street

Total Private Development: 29 total bldgs (23 Marquee, 6 GRE)
Total Units: 857
12,000 sf retail space
29 units of flex space
Rents at 50% above average for Kent, 857 households X $72K median HH income equates to approximately $65 million
If local businesses secured only 4% of the spending represented by these new households, $2.5 million could be captured by local businesses
1,500 individuals at $9,000 discretionary income each would be $18,511,200 in spending potential for Meeker corridor
2,500 linear feet of enhanced bikeway and community promenade space under construction
$200,000,000 approximate investment along Meeker by both Goodman and FNW directly into construction of their developments
$1,231,098.62 Traffic Impact Fees
$ 628,880.56 Stormwater Fees
$1,859,979.18 new improvement tax revenue