Sammamish council reviews transition plan for former CWU campus; residents push thrift shop and community uses

City staff presented options on May 13 for the city-owned community facility at 122 Twentieth Avenue Northeast after Central Washington University ends its lease June 30, and several residents urged the Council to place community programs — including a thrift shop proposed by Sammamish Friends — in the building.

Janie Walzer, management analyst for the Parks and Recreation Department, told the Sammamish City Council the city bought the building in 2015 for "a little over $6,000,000," that it measures about 31,000 square feet, sits adjacent to wetlands, and is sited on roughly 22 acres. She said the lot is zoned residential and the university operated under a conditional use permit issued in 2017; after CWU vacates, the building would be a nonconforming use that can remain occupied for 12 months unless the city takes other action.

Walzer outlined three broad options: find a single anchor tenant to rent the whole facility, sell the property, or maintain city ownership and operate the building. She said initial transition costs to keep the facility open — "the bare minimum" — were estimated between "$175,000 and $275,000," ongoing facility operations would be about "$190,000 a…