EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY		CONTACT:	Jayme Jonas: 425-556-2496
August 15, 2007			Marta Gronlund, 425-638-2333

Vision for Overlake one step closer to reality

Recently, the Puget Sound Regional Council officially designated Overlake as an Urban Center. Overlake is now the 27th such center in the central Puget Sound region. This action was the third and final step in the designation process. Since both Redmond and Bellevue border the Overlake area, there has been strong coordination between the two cities during this process, recognizing they share many common interests.

“We are excited that the region has recognized Overlake as an ideal location for an urban center in addition to our downtown,” says Mayor Rosemarie Ives. “The community’s vision for Overlake is a vibrant and attractive place to live and work with walkable streets connecting shopping, parks and community gathering spaces.”

The Urban Center designation is important to Redmond for several reasons. With it, Redmond can begin to realize the vision of developing Overlake into a place not only to work and shop but also to live while providing everyone with convenient opportunities to walk, bike or use transit. However, the designation will also increase Overlake’s competitiveness for transportation funds and infrastructure commitments, since the area now better meets the funding criteria established for urban centers.

“Now that this designation is in place, we want to continue our outreach efforts with existing and potential businesses, property owners and developers so they understand how this designation can support a number of goals for the area,” says Lori Peckol, the City’s Long Range Planning Manager. “We also will continue to work with the Planning Commission and City Council to update the Overlake Neighborhood Plan to allow for a smoother implementation of the adopted vision for the area.”

Urban Centers are to be compact concentrations of jobs and housing, with direct service by high capacity transit, and a wide range of other land uses such as retail, recreation and parks. Existing examples of urban centers include the downtowns of Redmond and Bellevue.

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