 Diners fill the seats at P.F. Chang's Chinese Bistro in downtown
Bellevue. Here and at several other neighborhood eateries, a
Friday-night table could require a wait of up to two hours.
“Lincoln Square was the tipping point in becoming a true
downtown,” says deputy mayor Chelminiak. “Now you have a feel there
in those blocks, a vibrancy. The restaurants, the theater.” And
high above it all, the serene condo units with spectacular views.
“Our downtown is filling up with 20- and 30-somethings and 50- and
60-somethings” seeking the life only a city can offer, one with
great public spaces like the 20-acre city park, and great stores
and restaurants, he says.
The city has big plans to balance its building with livability.
Officials would like to connect downtown with the waterfront by
creating a green corridor, or recreation trail, from downtown’s
core through a neighborhood to Meydenbauer Bay. They also plan to
add a Performing Arts Center to Bellevue’s already lauded cultural
offerings like the Bellevue Arts Museum and the Meydenbauer
Theater.
 Bellevue's 20-acre downtown park south of Bellevue Square is one of the
city's great public spaces. Every evening members of the condo crowd
bring their dogs and visit with their neighbors.
To top it off, Bellevue has shed its “lily-white” reputation,
says Chelminiak. “Twenty-five percent of our population is foreign
born. We are an extremely diverse community now.”
“It’s a very exciting time to be here,” says Chelminiak. “In
roughly 70 years, we have gone from strawberry patches and pea
patches to this metropolitan city.”
With satisfaction, Meyers strolls through the new Lincoln Square
condos as workers wearing blue shoe covers put the finishing
touches on the wood floors, the balcony doors, and the marble
fireplaces. Starting at $400,000 and featuring creamy carpets and
floor-to-ceiling windows, these gems can cost as much as $6
million. The tenants have waited years for their new homes. Most
are trading a large house and quiet neighborhood for a luxury condo
downtown with Nordstrom next door and world-class cuisine just an
elevator ride away.
Meyers looks to the north, where by 2007 the last piece of the
project, an office tower which will house Eddie Bauer’s corporate
headquarters, will be completed. “I think the perspective of what
is suburb and what is urban is beginning to change,” he says. “If
you want to take a new palate and create a new architecture,
Bellevue is the place to do it.”
Page
1
2
3
4
Washington State Magazine Home
|
.jpg)
