What's Happening in Auburn, WA…

A housing development that would take the place of a mixed-use project is a step closer to reality, after the Auburn City Council approved Inland Construction's plans for redeveloping the former Valley 6 Drive-In Theaters.

The project has been either in development or idle for about eight years, when the city originally entered into a development agreement with Robertson Property Group (RPG) for a development called the Auburn Gateway Project, signed in 2011. Inland Construction has asked the city to make some adjustments to the development standards first outlined in 2011, and the city council's recent approval was for those adjustments. Inland representatives said that unless the adjustments were approved, it would have to withdraw its offer to purchase the property.

The original plan was for a project covering 70 acres with over $2m worth of infrastructure and off-site improvements, including an extension to I Street Northeast. The project would have had 500 multi-family units located above retail spaces on the ground floor, 720,000 square feet for commercial use, and 1.6 million square feet for offices.

Instead of a mixed-use development, Inland is proposing living options centered on a healthy environment including access to open spaces, community gardens with a minimum of 800 square feet, a pool, two playgrounds, a system of community trails, and other outdoor amenities.

Construction is expected to start by the end of the year. Brochure printing is often used to illustrate the advantages of living in communities like this.