Planning commission recommends approval of 38-unit senior housing at 36th Street and Granada Parkway

The Bellevue Planning Commission voted Jan. 22 to recommend approval of a rezoning and preliminary plat that would allow a single, multi-story senior apartment building on a vacant parcel at the northwest corner of South 36th Street and Granada Parkway.

Planning staff told commissioners the applicant seeks to rezone Lot 1 of Roth Anderson Grove (transcript also shows the name as “Ross Anderson Grove”) to RG-20 and to preliminarily plat the site to permit multifamily residential development. Staff said Public Works reviewed access and recommended that the development take access from South 36th Street; staff recommended approval, concluding the proposal conforms with the city’s zoning ordinance, subdivision regulations and comprehensive plan.

Rob Woodling of Foundations Development LLC, the applicant, said the project would include 38 units of mixed-income senior housing and that the design has been adjusted to reduce building height and neighborhood impacts where feasible. “We would propose 38 units on this particular site,” Woodling said. He added the team worked with the school district on a driveway alignment to move the building away from neighbors.

A neighboring property owner, Mary Lou McAvoy, told the commission her property abuts the site and said a fire truck currently cannot make the turn into her driveway. McAvoy said there had previously been an agreement to share a driveway with an adjacent owner, but she understood Public Works was now asking developers to provide separate access. “As it is right now, a fire truck can't make the turn up into our driveway,” McAvoy said, later confirming the applicant had discussed a 30-foot landscaping buffer.

Planning staff responded that Public Works requested separate access for the applicant’s property rather than sharing the neighbor’s driveway and that staff and Public Works will continue to work with the applicant on the access design. Staff also said RG-20 zoning for a single building on a single lot does not require site-plan approval and that the developer will return with a final plat.

Commissioner Ackley moved to approve the application, seconded by Commissioner Yoder. The motion passed on a unanimous recorded vote as announced on the record; the commission’s recommendation sends the case to the Bellevue City Council for a public hearing set for Feb. 17, 2026.

The commission’s action was strictly a recommendation to the City Council; any final approvals, conditions or requirements will be decided at the council public hearing and during permitting and Public Works review.

The Planning Commission adjourned after the vote.