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HomeMy WebLinkAbout29_Mayors Newsletter_020917FEBRUARY 9, 2017 This Week from the Mayor Denis Law, Mayor VOL. II, NO. 6 Feedback Comments, questions or suggestions, or just want to share all the great things that are happening in the city, please e-mail me. Thanks for reading. Hyatt Regency at Southport will be a game changer It was 17 years ago when developer Michael Christ purchased property owned by Puget Sound Energy on Lake Washington on the south side of Gene Coulon Park. He had a vision of developing a high-end hotel, office campus and apartment complexes on this prime piece of property, to take advantage of priceless views, waterfront access and one of the best parks in King County. The Southport area has experienced significant change over the past 15 years, from the Boeing operation and The Landing, to redevelopment leading up to the Seahawks headquarters and training facility. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in this area. After purchasing the property, Michael built the Bristol apartment complex and through the recession period continued to plan for a hotel and office campus. This June, he plans to open what will be one of the finest hotels in the region, while continuing the process of building a 750,000-square foot Class A office complex. Michael and his wife Min gave Dr. Kevin McCarthy, president of Renton Technical College, and me a tour of the Hyatt Regency Hotel this week, followed with dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, the Peyrassol Café that is located on the ground floor of the Bristol. The tour left me with the realization that Renton will soon have a beautiful destination hotel that will likely bring as much attention to our community as we received when The Landing was built and the Seahawks moved to town. This hotel will be spectacular! With 347 rooms and approximately 40,000 square feet of conferencing space for concerts or just about any special event, the main theme throughout this 12-story hotel is quality. Michael was proud to point out the special attention to detail throughout the hotel, from elegant floors and staircases, the use of fine wood and elegant design, to bathrooms in the guest rooms that you find in million dollar homes. Tremendous detail was spent on the brick exterior and overall design of the building. Nearly 80 percent of the rooms will have views of the lake. The conferencing space, restaurants and lounges, are situated to maximize the waterfront experience, will be a huge hit with visitors and local residents looking for an evening out or a unique place to entertain friends. You will find a number of special outdoor spaces for dining and taking in the view. What a perfect venue for boat shows, home shows, meetings, concerts and weddings. In fact, many weddings have already been booked. Puget Sound Energy notified us this week of their plan to move the transformer repair operation to a new location beginning this spring, which will dramatically improve this site. Traffic growth and access to public transit remain big issues in addressing all of this development and the city is working with King County and the state to improve these impacts. The new development will result in many new jobs for our community, hopefully providing opportunities for residents to work closer to home while eliminating stressful commutes. We’re blessed that investors are committing billions of dollars to become a part of Renton. The Hyatt Regency at Southport will be a game changer for this community, a 17-year dream for Michael Christ that will soon be a reality for all of our residents and businesses to enjoy. Crews worked around the clock to keep the city running The snowy weather we had earlier this week affected us all. It also had a special effect on the city workers responsible for keeping our city safe. A big thank-you to the men and women of our city departments for their around-the-clock efforts during this week’s storm. Around 2 p.m. Sunday, hours before the first flakes touched down in Renton and while most of us were sitting down with friends, family and food to watch the Super Bowl, Public Works crews were called in to prepare for the approaching storm. De-icing and sanding trucks went to work on the hills and once the snow started, plow drivers started clearing major routes. This carefully choreographed symphony continued, non-stop, over three days with crews working 12 hours on and 12 hours off. Additional crews were dispatched to clear downed trees and assorted debris. The skill and dedication of these men and women were major reasons why we experienced only minor disruptions to city services. PUBLIC WORKS CREWS CLEAR A DOWNED TREE THAT WAS BLOCKING GRADY WAY DID YOU KNOW • 4,316 miles of roads were plowed by 12 crews from 8:30 p.m. Sunday to 9 a.m. Wednesday • 1,500 gallons of de-icer were applied • 75 tons of sand/salt mix and 30 tons of salt were used • 26 tree limb/tree down issues were addressed Crews are now working to clear curb lanes to open flow and locate catch basins.