Shelter Holdings

(Updated as of September 2021)

Developer Shelter Holdings owns the L-shaped property located along 9th Avenue Northeast from Northeast High Street to Northeast Discovery Drive and from Northeast Discovery Drive to 5th Place Northeast. Since 2014, Shelter Holdings has desired to develop this property with uses it feels will serve our community. In 2017, Shelter Holdings began subdividing the 1.8 million square foot property zoned retail/commercial and pursued approvals for several development proposals that complied with the Issaquah Highlands Development Agreement.

The proposals included:

• Retail: Pedestrian-oriented retail development similar in scale to the existing Grand Ridge Plaza, to include several restaurants, an entertainment facility, specialty grocer, pharmacy, daycare, and other daily goods and services. The proposal consists of 107,000 square feet of building area distributed among 11 buildings on five lots, with off-street surface parking for about 545 stalls. The buildings would primarily be single-story retail with opportunities for an additional 13,000 square feet of second-story retail, restaurants, or deck space to take advantage of views from the site. This second-story option would increase the total building area to 120,000 square feet.
• Medical Office: A medical office building (sized 88,000 square feet) to complement and support the existing Swedish Hospital and Proliance medical facilities, including 391 parking stalls.
• Self-Storage: A 108,385 square feet, four-story self-storage facility with three stories above grade and one story below grade.
• Corner of 9th Avenue Northeast and Northeast Discovery Drive: The site includes a proposal for 120,000 gross square feet of office space, an 18,000 gross square feet fitness center, and 5,000 gross square feet of retail to complement and support the existing community, including Swedish Hospital and Proliance medical facilities, and the previously mentioned medical office building. The site is adjacent to Northeast Discovery Drive, approximately 154,030 square feet (3.54 acres), with approximately 291 parking stalls (including 17 on-street). The building would be sited to the southeastern portion of the site to activate the corner of 9th Ave Northeast and Northeast Discovery Drive. According to the city of Issaquah, this portion of the project only went through a pre-application process and Shelter Holdings did not submit a Site Development Permit. The city has not denied development of this parcel.

The city denied Shelter Holdings’ applications because they do not comply with the new regulations adopted after termination of the Issaquah Highlands Development Agreement. Shelter Holdings argues it submitted its applications before termination of the development agreement, and the new regulations should not apply to their plans for the parcel.

The current Issaquah Highlands development regulations adopted by the city in 2018 require a minimum of over 900,000 square feet of dense commercial development. In a statement to Highlands Council, Shelter Holdings said, “the type of large-scale office buildings that the regulations require is not economically feasible in Issaquah Highlands.” The dispute remains in litigation.