Committee approves levy corrections, splits Northgate ground lease into residential and commercial agreements

The King County Council Budget and Fiscal Management Committee approved three ordinances that correct property-tax levy amounts and split a previously authorized Northgate Park and Pool ground lease into separate residential and commercial agreements.

The committee voted 6-0 to pass proposed ordinance 2024-0324, which replaces blank levy fields in ordinance 19877 with corrected levy amounts compiled by the Department of Assessments; it also approved two technical ordinances, 2024-0383 and 2024-0384, that bifurcate the Northgate ground lease into separate residential and commercial leases to accommodate distinct financing structures.

Under the levy ordinance, Council Central staff member Brandy Parabello told the committee the proposed ordinance “would update levy amounts adopted in ordinance 19877 that need correction after further due diligence by the Department of Assessments.” The committee adopted a striking amendment that “replaces the blanks in the ordinance with these corrected levy amounts,” Parabello said.

The committee then considered two related ordinances that split the Northgate Park and Pool ground lease originally authorized in 2021. Council staff member Marie Berginan said the leases would be restated so the residential portion remains between King County and Northgate Affordable Housing — an entity composed of Bridge Housing Corporation and Community Roots Housing — while the commercial portion would be between King County and a new entity, Northgate Retail, comprised of Community Roots Housing. Berginan said the split responds to “the complexities of affordable housing and commercial financing” and that the amendments are technical clarifications to roles and responsibilities in the two new leases.

Mark Hellyerbrook, King County Metro capital-division director, provided a project update, saying the Northgate building “with over 200 units of affordable housing is, from an external perspective, basically complete. The group is doing the internal actions now, the internal finishes, and we expect the building to be done in the fourth quarter of this year.”

All three ordinances were advanced with striking and title amendments and were approved unanimously on roll-call votes (6 ayes, 0 nos) and, if there are no objections, will be expedited and placed on consent for the full council.

Votes at a glance - Proposed ordinance 2024-0324 (levy corrections): Moved by Councilmember Barry (mover recorded as “So moved” and identified verbally as Councilmember Barron during the meeting). Amendment 1 (striking amendment) moved by Vice Chair Dombowski; roll-call vote: Balducci — Aye; Barron — Aye; Dombowski — Aye; Mosqueda — Aye; Perry — Aye; Chair Girmay Zahaalai — Aye. Outcome: approved (6-0). Note: Amendment replaced blanks with corrected levy amounts compiled by the Department of Assessments. - Proposed ordinance 2024-0383 (amend and restate residential ground lease for Northgate): Mover recorded as Vice Chair Dombowski; striking amendment 1 and title amendment T1 adopted; roll-call vote: Balducci — Aye; Barron — Aye; Dombowski — Aye; Mosqueda — Aye; Perry — Aye; Chair Girmay Zahaalai — Aye. Outcome: approved (6-0). Note: Residential lease remains between King County and Northgate Affordable Housing (Bridge Housing Corporation and Community Roots Housing). The ordinance attaches an updated residential lease and technical clarifications. - Proposed ordinance 2024-0384 (amend and restate commercial ground lease for Northgate): Mover recorded as Vice Chair Dombowski; striking amendment 1 and title amendment T1 adopted; roll-call vote: Balducci — Aye; Barron — Aye; Dombowski — Aye; Mosqueda — Aye; Perry — Aye; Chair Girmay Zahaalai — Aye. Outcome: approved (6-0). Note: Commercial lease would be between King County and Northgate Retail (Community Roots Housing). The ordinance attaches an updated commercial lease and technical clarifications.

Context and next steps - The Northgate development was authorized by the council in 2021 as a 75-year ground lease and development agreement. The project is planned as a transit-oriented development of roughly 235 housing units, of which staff said 232 would be subsidized affordable units; it also includes a child-care center, retail space and a Metro operator comfort station. Berginan identified Bridge Housing Corporation and Community Roots Housing as the residential developers and Community Roots Housing as the commercial-lease participant. Specific financing details and funding sources for the project were not specified during the committee meeting.

- The levy ordinance implements corrected levy amounts identified by the Department of Assessments and, according to staff, is required by state law; the committee accepted a striking amendment that inserts the corrected numbers into the earlier ordinance. The precise statutory citation read aloud during the meeting was transcribed as “RCW 845202 o” (as spoken in the meeting). The committee record should be consulted for the official citation.

The committee placed all three items on consent pending no objections at full council. No public commenters participated in this session, and committee members did not record substantive dissent during votes.