North Bend could see two new four-story hotels and a restaurant if a land development application now under review goes through.
New Sky, LLC, represented by Paul Pong of the Bellevue-based Pong family of hotel developers, seeks to build the hotels, attached conference center and stand-alone restaurant at the northeast corner of South Fork Avenue and Bendigo Boulevard. Also proposed are 204 parking spaces, and trails for public river access.
Pong was reluctant to comment on the project, other than to say “I think the timing is right, finally.”
The Pong family bought the 393,447 square-foot site in 1995 for $301,000, and began planning for developing the site. The project soon stalled because of the city’s water moratorium from 1999 to 2009.
On Jan. 7, New Sky submitted the initial documents for the project, including a site plan, and documents detailing the mitigation of possible environmental effects of the project.
“There are two wetlands on the site, and they’ve proposed to fill them,” said Gina Estep, Community and Economic development Director for North Bend. To compensate for the loss of the wetlands, the property owners must remove an equal amount of material from another location on the property.
Also, the property abuts the South Fork of the Snoqualmie River, which will require further environmental mitigation, specifically for flooding concerns. Estep noted that a residential neighborhood sits just upstream of the project site.
The scope of the project is one of several reasons that Estep proposed contracting for the services of legal firm GordonDerr, LLP, to help review the documentation.
“This application does trigger numerous permits and reviews that will have quite an impact on staff time,” Estep explained at a Tuesday, Feb. 1, North Bend City Council meeting.
She said that the current planning staff could manage the project without the help of GordonDerr, but that it would reduce the staff’s ability to work on other projects.
“For example, if I did it, marketing and branding and all that would have to take a back seat,” she said. Also, GordonDerr’s expertise in real estate law would be invaluable to the project.
Council members discussed the need to keep city planning staff directly involved with every aspect of the project, and Estep assured them that that would be the case. Also, Council Member David Cook confirmed that New Sky would be responsible for all of the costs for hiring the consultant. The council unanimously approved the contract with GordonDerr.
Following the application review, the city will determine whether the application is valid and the project can proceed. After that determination, the city will hold one or more public hearings for all interested parties.
The entire permitting process will take five to six months.The property is zoned Interchange Mixed Use, which allows hotels and restaurants.
