New downtown Redmond food cart lot, apartments planned
Downtown Redmond could look a little different next year.
City officials want to create a district where people want to come downtown and stay there all day and night.
The city’s urban renewal program manager called it an “18-to-24-hour environment.” Part of achieving that goal includes developing the downtown area so people want to stick around town longer.
“We want to create activities for people that go beyond the 9 to 5 for people to come and have entertainment to live downtown, to play downtown, as well as to shop and dine,” Chuck Arnold said Monday. “So you’re really trying to create that longer-term environment throughout the day and into the evening, where people can celebrate a district.”
Part of the city’s plan to create that environment is to demolish the old City Hall building and put a new apartment building in its place.
“Thirty-plus units of market-rate housing, to have a building that will orient and be facing the park and have a park right off its front doorstep,” Arnold said. “The idea is, again, that 18- to 24-hour environment of getting people that are living downtown shopping downtown, dining downtown.”
The old City Hall building may be historic, but officials say it’s not in good shape. On Tuesday, the Redmond Urban Renewal Agency is considering a proposal from a developer out of Portland that want to build the building.
The plan to build the apartments is still in its very early stages. Construction probably will not start until next summer at the earliest.
Another plan is to add a food truck lot: General Duffy’s.
General Duffy’s will be a family-friendly food court complete with food trucks, a pavilion-style tap house, and a play area for children. Arnold said there’s another unique feature at this lot.
“The key thing about this project is this connects up with our Homestead Canal Trail, which runs almost the length of the entire city, for bicycles and pedestrians to be able to get through town without having to rely on a car.”
The plan is to have the food truck lot up by next spring.
