PSRC picks 6 to win Vision 2040 awards

Six projects and programs won awards from the Puget Sound Regional Council for showing the kind of forward-thinking planning that matches PSRC’s Vision 2040 plan.

The plan is a strategy for growth management, transportation and economic development in the King-Pierce-Snohomish region as the population increases. Another 5 million people are projected to live here by 2040, according to PSRC.

Here are the winners:
* Capitol Hill Housing’s 12 Avenue Arts, a mixed-use building on Capitol Hill that will combine low-income housing and arts space. It will have 88 apartments for people making less than 60 percent of area median income, and two performing arts venues with 230 seats. There will also be 12,200 square feet of office space for nonprofits and community gathering space. SMR Architects designed the project and Walsh Construction Co. is the GC/CM.

* Arbor Village is a five-story, 123-unit apartment building with 10,000 square feet of retail and two levels of underground parking in Mountlake Terrace. Afco and Sons developed Arbor Village. It is the first, large-scale mixed-use project to be developed in the town center. In a press release the city called it “a catalyst project” that will lead to a compact, walkable, transit-oriented downtown with housing, retail and jobs. Weber Thompson is the archtiect and Sierra Construction is the general contractor.

* Redmond Central Connector is part of a regional trail systema and will connect key arterials along 10 acres of prime real estate. The city of Redmond is working with King County, Sound Transit and Berger Partnership on the plan.

* Pierce County’s Farm and Agriculture Program gives landowners a property tax break on land used for commercial farming.

* Fourth Street in downtown Bremerton. The city worked with LMN Architects, Lorax Partners and Exeltech Consulting to improve Fourth Street. The plan has created a “lively theatrical ambiance,” according to PSRC, and has generated new investment in downtown.

* Infill housing manual for Everett. The city of Everett, State Department of Commerce, Inova Planning Communications Design, Property Counselors and Fehr & Peers Transportation Consultants put together a report on best practices for building infill housing in Everett. The report serves as a manual for developers looking to build in the city, with sections on housing types, locations and land use changes designed to increase residential density in Everett.