The City of Burien is seeking proposals from hotel developers for the construction of a hotel on City-owned land in downtown Burien. The 1.3-acre undeveloped property is located on SW 150th between 1st and 4th Ave SW and is located just seven minutes from the arrivals and departures gates at Sea-Tac Airport (click image to view larger version): The roughly 54,000 square foot property is located within Burien’s downtown commercial zone, adjacent to the Burien Transit Center just east of the Chase Bank and planned Burien Transit Oriented Development (TOD). The vacant and cleared site is accessible from SW 150th Street, one of the main access routes into Downtown Burien. The site is less than 4 miles (or 7 minutes) from Sea-Tac Airport’s Main Terminal and is 1/4 mile from two major freeways – SR-518 providing access to the airport, I-5, and I-405; and SR-509 providing access to Seattle. Depending on the build out, there is potential for visibility from the SR-518 exit onto 1st Ave South. The site is two blocks NE of the new Burien Town Square development and boasts of views of Mount Rainier to the south. The City completed a land survey in 2005. A hotel in downtown Burien will also offers guests the convenience of a walkable downtown (Walk Score 90) full of high quality restaurants, shops, and bakeries. “Bringing a hotel to Burien has been a long-standing dream for many in our community,” Burien Mayor Jimmy Matta said. “A hotel will add vitality to the city by establishing a new visitor and customer base for our small, independent restaurants and businesses, and offers good paying jobs for our residents.” In 2016, the City contracted with CBRE, Inc. to provide a lodging needs assessment. The assessment concluded that there is an unmet local need in the Burien market for an 80-100 room hotel and lodging facility in the city. In addition, the continued growth of our region and Sea-Tac Airport will facilitate additional demand to support a lodging facility (download PDF of 2016 lodging needs assessment here). “Burien is ready for a quality hotel product that will meet the needs of our citizens, our business community, and regional travelers,” City Manager Brian Wilson said. “Our ‘foodie paradise,’ proximity to Sea-Tac Airport, and vibrant downtown provides a unique guest experience that is not currently available in South King County. This development will complement Town Square and other private investment happening in downtown Burien.” Request for Proposals Process An advisory committee made up of experts in finance, hotel development, hotel operations, and large events planning will assist in creating and scoring the RFP responses from developers. The panel is responsible for drafting the RFP, evaluating the proposals, and they will recommend the final candidate(s) to Burien City Council. Members of the Burien Hotel RFP Advisory Committee include:

  • Nancy Scholl: Vice Chair-Burien Business and Economic Development Partnership, CFO at Wright Hotels, Burien Resident
  • Hugo Garcia: Burien Planning Commissioner, Special Assets & Business Outreach Specialist at Craft3, Burien Resident
  • Mike Yellam: Development Manager at Fana Group of Companies, Burien Resident
  • Robyn Desimone: Member, Burien Business and Economic Development Partnership, Burien Business Owner, Iris & Peony
Timeline:
  • √June–July: Advisory Committee develops RFP.
  • √September: Publish RFP.
  • November 5: RFP responses are due, Advisory Committee and City Council to evaluate responses.
  • December: Developer selected by Burien City Council.
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