As downtown Redmond continues to grow into the city’s vision of an urban center, more multi-use buildings are being constructed to make way for the planned population growth.
But as new buildings go up, sometimes, old ones must come down. And this is the case for the old Nokomis building at 16210 N.E. 80th St.
OneRedmond (formerly the Greater Redmond Chamber of Commerce), a public-private partnership focused on economic development in the city, owns the property but the building is currently in the process of being sold to Natural & Built Environments (NBE), a Kirkland-based development company committed to sustainability. According to the company’s website, NBE invests in “creating a transformation of existing and new properties to new levels of sustainability from solar, to wind power, green roofs, rain gardens, salmon-friendly streets, access to public transportation, flex cars, dual flush toilets, regional materials, how to ventilate living spaces with fresh air to reduce the need for air conditioning and more.”
Robert Pantley, the company’s owner and CEO, said he became interested in the property because he saw it as an opportunity to create a living street. He said living streets are typically landscaped, have areas for seating and are more focused on people rather than vehicles.
“It’s more of a park-like setting,” he explained.
The building he envisions for the space — which is being tentatively called 162Ten — will be five floors with an elevator and a rooftop garden. Pantley said there will be an art walk on the pedestrian level and a coffee lounge on the ground floor as well as a meeting room — possibly named the Nokomis Community Room — that people will be able to use for free.
Bart Phillips, CEO of OneRedmond, said Pantley’s proposed project aligns with OneRedmond’s goals to activate the street. He added that they hope to see features of Pantley’s vision of a living street elsewhere throughout the city.
Both Phillips and Pantley recognize the old Nokomis building’s history in the city and said there are plans to maintain some historic entities of the old building with the new one.
Pantley added that they plan to reuse everything they can from the old building, even if it isn’t for the 162Ten project. For example, he said they plan to save the building’s windows so the city can use them somewhere else in town.
And while Pantley and Phillips have high hopes for the proposed 162Ten, Alexa Munoz has some concerns. As president of the Redmond Nokomis Club, she said the building, which once housed the city’s first library, has a lot of history.
Munoz said the building was constructed in 1933 by the women’s club, which was significant because this was during the Great Depression and during a time when women did not hold a lot of power in society.
“The town did not really support these women,” she said about that time.
Munoz said the women in the club — whose mission is to “promote and support educational programs and projects, and to address social needs in our community with commitment, empathy and strength,” according to its website — wanted the building to be used by the public.
“This was a building that was built by women,” she said, comparing it to other buildings in town, which were built by men. “It was built for the community.”
Munoz said it is one of the only buildings left in town that was built in the 1930s, which is why she is concerned about it being torn down. She said would like to see more citizen involvement in the process.
Although NBE does not own the property yet, a site plan entitlement application for the 162Ten project has been submitted to the city and currently, people can submit comments to the city Planning Department’s Development Services Center. The comment period for this application expires at 5 p.m. on Feb. 13. Then the city will follow up with issuing an environmental review after the comment period ends.
