Mercerdale Hillside Townhomes Project Seeks Height Variance

Mercer Island city planners are conducting a final review on construction plans to build 18 townhomes next to a cluster of condominiums and multi-family units above the Farmers Life Insurance building and Mercerdale Park.
 
Property owners Robert Beckes and Kathy Wangen have hired Milbrandt Architects and developer Conner Homes to build a cluster of six attached and semi-attached town home buildings on 1.2 acres of steep hillside at 2960 and 2970 76th Ave. SE. The three story homes will be offered in a variety of floor plans and elevation configurations that hug the hillside, ranging in size from 1,800 to 2,400 square-feet.


Beckes, owner of Mercer Island-based luxury home builder Beckes Homes, and Wangen purchased the properties in 2006. The duo tried to sell the property in late 2008 for $4.4 million as a development opportunity, according to the Mercer Island Reporter, but the Great Recession and an accompanying fall in local real estate prices apparently quashed that idea.

According to Conner Homes Chief Operating Officer Alan Boeker, the townhomes are intended to appeal to "young families with preschoolers and empty nesters".

Due in part to the rugged topography of the hillside, which drops over 50 feet from top to bottom with a 20 percent grade, Beckes and Conner Homes are seeking a permit to exceed the maximum height of 36 feet for five of the six buildings, with ranges from an additional seven feet to an additional 15 feet.

The project makes an effort to preserve a pedestrian trail that connects 76th Ave. SE to Bicentennial Park and SE 32nd Street and the rest of the Town Center neighborhood, and includes a resident courtyard and generous landscaping. But the Design Commission and city planners identified the severe grade of the hill, a specified landscaping plan and stormwater improvements as some of the challenges that must be solved.

The project was studied by the Mercer Island Design Commission on June 26 and submitted to the city for design review on July 31. Additional information on the height variance was submitted on Sept. 5, according to city records.

The City expects to issue a SEPA Determination of Non-Significance (DNS) for the project. A public comment period on the design revue and variance remains open until Tuesday, Sept. 23.