THE DOWNTOWN: City center to contain mix of services, retail: Transit hub to link with points northward

The Olympian
Olympia, Washington

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Progress Sunday, March 24, 2002

Tony Overman/The Olympian
Bruce Johnson walks with his fiancee, Peggy Riviere, in DuPont. Johnson says he likes the small-town feel of the city.

THE DOWNTOWN:
City center to contain mix
of services, retail

Transit hub to link with points northward

LINDA TARR FOR THE OLYMPIAN

DuPONT -- The city doesn't have a traditional downtown for residents to stroll through or to catch the eyes of people passing by, but someday that could change.

City plans call for a 30-acre downtown area -- about three city blocks -- from Exit 118 on Interstate 5 to Center Drive.

City officials hope the district, to be called DuPont Station, will become a hub for the 3,000-person city, said Dennis Clarke, DuPont's director of planning and economic development.

Its main purpose will be to provide a commercial area to serve people in DuPont, he said, but the vision also calls for specialty shops that would entice out-of-towners to spend time in the city -- and leave their cash.

"People already pull off to see the planned community," he said, referring to the 2,800-acre Northwest Landing project in DuPont. The project incorporates a mix of residential, commercial and office uses into five mixed-use villages.

Businesses like restaurants could capitalize on such drop-in traffic, he said.

Enthusiastic supporter

DuPont resident Bruce Johnson, 80, doesn't always agree with what city leaders are doing, and quit going to City Council meetings a while back because he was so aggravated with some council decisions.

But Johnson, who has lived in DuPont for 51/2 years, is enthusiastic about the city center idea.

"I would certainly want to utilize a place that had a few services in one spot," Johnson said.

He also believes a pedestrian-friendly city center would add to DuPont's appeal.

"I think a lot of people would use it. I know I would," Johnson said.

Johnson wonders why the downtown hasn't been built yet.

Clarke said there isn't a timeline for developing the city center, but that the landowner, The Quadrant Corporation, is seeking anchor tenants for the development, none of which has been built.

There is a better timeline, however, for a transit center that would be adjacent to downtown, he said.

The land the station would sit on also is owned by Quadrant and would be developed via a public-private partnership between the company and Sound Transit, a public transit agency serving King, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

An environmental study is being conducted on the project, and if all goes well, the first phase -- a park-and-ride and bus transfer area -- will be built by the end of the year, Clarke said.

Transit hub

Northwest Landing General Manager Greg Moore said Quadrant is negotiating a build-to-suit deal with Sound Transit in which Quadrant would erect the bus station and park-and-ride, and then sell the whole package, including the land, to the agency. Sound Transit has secured the funding for the deal, but the deal hasn't been cemented, he said.

Quadrant owns most of the land in DuPont, including Northwest Landing.

In its second phase, the transit center could hook up to the light-rail line being built by the Regional Transit Authority, Moore said.

Not everyone is excited about the transit station.

"I have a difficult time trying to picture myself using it," Johnson said.

But Clarke predicts the transit station will be well used, both by DuPont residents and others. It would be the first opportunity for people headed north from Thurston County to get off the freeway, he said.

A transit hub that would draw outside traffic would be a boon to the planned downtown, which Quadrant envisions as a regional draw, Moore said.

The company hopes that DuPont Station will bring in a significant portion of the 100,000 vehicle trips that pass by on I-5 daily, though it does not yet have a target number.

Those from far away could stay at the Guesthouse Inns Hotel and Suites, which recently opened across from the planned downtown area, he added.

Moore said the tenants Quadrant is recruiting for DuPont Station reflect a mix of service and retail shops, including restaurants, boutiques, drug stores and grocery stores.

"It would have all the services of a normal downtown," Moore said.

Quadrant and the city agree that the downtown should have its own special flavor and follow the neo-traditional design found elsewhere in DuPont.

Clarke said city codes call for an urban village that would resemble older Issaquah or the Redmond Towne Center.

Central plaza

DuPont Station would have a central public plaza, with streets that intersect at the plaza, Clarke said. The city center's two-story buildings also would align with the plaza and would be snug against the sidewalks with parking in the back to make it easier for pedestrians, he said.

Moore said the center plaza someday could host festivals or other community activities.

It's designed to handle vendors as well as entertainment such as music, with a stage and seating area.

Plans also call for 400 residential units to be thrown into the mix, accommodating just a portion of the growth that DuPont anticipates.

When DuPont is built out, it will have about 12,000 residents and 23,000 jobs, Moore said. Now the city has about 3,000 residents and 3,000 jobs.

By the time that maximum is reached, residents will have a community hub to call their own and to share with others, Moore said.

"The commercial development will come not only to serve that growth," Moore said, "... But it's also going to be a destination place."

Though city leaders envision shops in the downtown doing brisk business, they do not expect it to significantly alter DuPont's tax base.

Clarke said the city has not made any projections on how it would shift.

The city's property tax base is about two-thirds nonresidential and one-third residential, he said, with two commercial areas already developed.

City leaders and existing businesses also do not expect the downtown to detract from existing enterprises.

The Barksdale Station area, for example, contains a 15,000-square-foot building that houses Starbucks Coffee, DuPont Dental, First Tech Credit Union, Happy Teriyaki, Dhane Orthodontics, Community Mortgage Co., Edward Jones Investments, Big Town Hero Deli and Moda Salon.

A second building recently was filled largely by the Better Business Bureau headquarters for Oregon and Western Washington, which will take up all but 8,000 square feet of the 20,600-square-foot building.

Samantha Hannum, manager for the Big Town Hero Deli in Barksdale Station, agreed that existing businesses have nothing to fear from the new downtown when it arrives.

Hannum said her shop has an extremely solid customer base with State Farm Insurance, Intel Corp., BBB and military customers all loyal to the shop.

"I'm not really worried," Hannum said.

DuPont by the numbers

- Population: 3,000

- Projected growth: When DuPont is built out, it will have about 12,000 residents and 23,000 jobs. Now the city has about 3,000 residents and 3,000 jobs.

- Downtown: There is no timeline for the planned downtown, but an adjacent transit station is expected to open by the end of the year.

- Demographics: 74 percent white, 8 percent black, 0.8 percent American Indian or Alaska Native, 7.3 percent Asian, 0.6 percent Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 2 percent other, and 6 percent two or more races.

- History: The city incorporated in 1951.

In 1906, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. acquired the property from a variety of owners.

The City of DuPont began as a company town -- with more than 100 houses, a church, butcher shop and hotel.

In 1951, residents were allowed to purchase their homes, and the city was incorporated.

The City of DuPont is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the only former company town in the state in which most of the homes maintain historic integrity.

- Landmarks: DuPont Historical Society Museum, Northwest Landing, Intel Corporation, State Farm Insurance regional headquarters, Better Business Bureau for Oregon and Western Washington.

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