The Auburn City Council on Monday cleared the way for Teutsch Partners LLC to buy the southeast and southwest blocks of South Division Street in downtown Auburn.
City officials estimate the sale price of the two blocks is $1.75 million.
Teutsch plans to develop the properties with mixed-use residential and retail, completing the six-block catalyst area in Auburn’s downtown. Construction should start in the first half of 2014.
“Our City Council began their visioning process for our downtown 10 years ago,” said Mayor Pete Lewis. “This unanimous vote affirms their vision to revitalize our downtown.”
The City was awarded a $2.2 million federal grant from the Economic Development Administration and a $7.2 million local revitalization bond that upgraded streets, sidewalks and utilities to support modern construction. State Rep. Pat Sullivan (D) helped the City secure funds for the project.
“When we finished the promenade in 2012, this is exactly why we did it,” said Deputy Mayor Nancy Backus, who chairs the City’s Planning and Development Committee. “We worked hard to find the funding for that project to upgrade the infrastructure to attract the type of development that we can be proud of and that will have an impact.”
Economic Development Manager Doug Lein said the City’s commitment to rebuilding infrastructure is key to the current economic upswing in Auburn.
“Our City Council’s oversight through our economically challenging times is what made it possible to be ready for the marketplace and is allowing us to attract well-established and capitalized developers like Teutsch and Landmark,” Lein said.
City officials estimate the new developments downtown will result in 300-500 new residents in the downtown core and more than 100,000 square feet of retail space.
John Walker of Teutsch and Brett Jacobsen of Plan A Development were in the council chamber to thank the City Council for its support.
Groundbreaking for the Plan A Development/Landmark Development project on East Main St was Thursday. The first of the three developments to get underway is to be a five-story mixture of retail on the base facing East Main Street and four floors of a high-end finish, high quality, market rate apartment community. The building should be finished in the summer 2014.
Teutsch Partners, LLC was formed in 1987 as a privately-owned, regionally-focused, commercial real estate services and development company. Since its founding, the firm has grown into a fully integrated real estate company, according to its Website, “providing exceptional service to our clients while demonstrating a commitment to our core values of integrity, responsiveness and quality work.”
While continuing to provide corporate real estate advisory services to some of the Pacific Northwest’s prominent organizations, Teutsch Partners has developed a diverse portfolio of favorably performing commercial real estate assets. This portfolio of development expertise includes commercial office buildings, industrial parks, retail uses, multi-family residential, mixed-use marina facilities and medical office buildings.
