Bellevue officials got a first glimpse this week at conceptual plans for a new Home Depot store.
City officials met with representatives from the home-improvement giant Monday, May 9, to discuss conceptual ideas for a retail center in northern Bellevue.
"The representatives presented a packet with design concepts—conceptual ideas, sketches and site plans," said Jacki Saul, Bellevue planning and zoning administrator.
Three Home Depot representatives, James Spitzer, Tom Thorson and Steve Pappa, presented conceptual renderings for a Home Depot store in the context of a preliminary planning meeting to Saul and City Council members Eric Allen, Vivian Ivie and Tammy Eaton.
"I have never seen a Home Depot designed like this before. They do have some elements to break up the box," Saul said. "It is big, though."
The renderings presented at the meeting depict an aerial view of two buildings located on two adjacent lots. The plans propose a Home Depot store on a five-acre site owned and presently occupied by the Sun Valley Garden Center. The site is on the north end of the city, on the west side of state Highway 75.
"(The representatives) suggested some design concepts that are very non-Home Depot, with wooden buildings, no orange stripe, and very unobtrusive, as far as the site plan," Eaton remarked.
Saul said the buildings are approximately 26,000 square feet and 36,000 square feet in size. The buildings are separated by a parking lot situated in the middle of the two structures.
The representatives also presented two conceptual plans for the architectural design of the buildings. The conceptual designs incorporate architectural detailing on three sides of the buildings and include elements such as vertical wood siding.
Saul described one design as a mining theme and the other as a mountain lodge concept.
Eaton compared one of the designs to the appearance of a train depot. She also approved of the conceptual site design, which she said avoids a sea of asphalt by incorporating landscaping and placing the buildings near the highway.
The Colorado-based engineering firm Galloway, Romero & Associates completed the preliminary conceptual plans. The firm's Web site indicates the company has designed several Home Depot shopping centers.
Plans for the development remain in preliminary stages due to an emergency building moratorium enacted by the council last month. The moratorium halts applications for structures with an aggregate roof size greater than 20,000 square feet.
"We are trying to get a clear picture of what the city of Bellevue would like to have and maintain," Eaton said. "Our ordinances and design review help to express that vision."
Discussions about the moratorium and possibly altering the city's standards begin May 19 with a workshop conducted by the Planning and Zoning Commission. The P&Z is expected to address criteria such as building size, shape and architectural design review standards.
