On Thursday afternoon (June 25), under 80+ degree, sunny blue skies, the City of Burien – in partnership with Merrill Gardens, Pillar Properties and Legacy Partners – celebrated the groundbreaking of the remaining phases of Burien Town Square. Construction began May 29 on the Merrill Gardens senior living community (on the east side), and is expected to be complete by late in the summer of 2016. Construction is also currently underway at the market-rate Pillar Properties apartments on the west site. Once finished, the two developments will complete the Burien Town Square vision which already includes City Hall, Burien Library, Burien Town Square Condos, and Town Square Park. The two properties will bring intergenerational living to the downtown area with Merrill Gardens 126 independent, assisted living and memory care apartments alongside the 228 market-rate studio, one and two bedroom apartments. Both developments will include limited retail on the ground level as well as underground parking. “These two major investments in Burien’s downtown core show how far our economy has come and how much potential Burien has to grow,†said Burien Economic Development Manager Dan Trimble. Here are some photos from the event as taken by Scott Schaefer (click images to see larger versions/slideshow): [caption id="attachment_87549" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Parcel #4, at the corner of SW 150th and 5th Ave SW, is where Burien’s old City Hall used to be located. This is where Merrill Gardens new senior apartments are being built.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_87545" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Andrea Reay, Executive Director of Discover Burien, served as emcee.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_87551" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Mayor Lucy Krakowiak.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_87544" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Chip Davis, City of Burien Community Development Director.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_87543" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Bill Pettit, R.D. Merrill Company President.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_87538" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Kerry Nicholson of Legacy Partners.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_87541" align="aligncenter" width="490"] Dave Eskenacy, Merrill Gardens President.[/caption] Seattle-based Merrill Gardens currently has 25 operating communities in six states with ten new communities under development. The communities are located in Washington, California, Arizona, Nevada, Alabama and Georgia. Construction is currently underway in Auburn on a similar facility which is expected to open during summer 2016. Legacy Partners has developed or acquired more than 70,000 multifamily units, both for rent and for sale, over the last 47 years. With offices in Seattle, Foster City, Dallas, Denver and Irvine, Legacy Partners currently owns and/or manages more than 15,000 apartment homes for its own account and for its institutional clients. Legacy Partners has had a continuous presence in the Pacific Northwest since 1973, and, including Burien, currently has six projects under construction in the Pacific Northwest Seattle based Pillar Properties develops, owns and manages luxury apartment residences that express the unique personality and vitality of signature neighborhoods in the Puget Sound area. Pillar Properties goal is to deliver a ‘quietly awesome’ experience at every level with properties that embrace each neighborhood to create an iconic presence. With 1,000 units currently in operation, Pillar Properties has plans to develop one new apartment community each year. Pillar Properties is owned by the R.D. Merrill Company, a timber pioneer with roots dating back to the 1890’s.
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Unfortunately we had a “dust up” with some limited vision residents over the weekend but I hope today they saw what will come out of the dust. Over 300 residential units for
Burien will make a huge contribution to our Buriien residential community. Please move on from your bunker and embrace this terrific community effort. Welcome, Legacy, Merrill
Gardens, Pillar, WG Clark, Compass Construction and of course our new friends from Northwest Construction! Good luck!
Bartell Drugs, The Dollar Store, Dicount Grocery should expect increased business from the new senior residents. Another Goodwill would do well in the city center,too.