The Bellevue Downtown Association Thursday night announced the winners of the 2010 Place Making Awards at the organization’s 37th Annual Celebration. More than 350 local business and community leaders attended the event at Meydenbauer Center in Downtown Bellevue.
“The Place Making Awards recognize landmark events and extraordinary achievements from the past year,” said Leslie Lloyd, BDA president. “The winners have contributed in a significant way to our shared vision for a thriving urban center and our evolution as the Eastside’s economic and cultural heart.”
Following the awards program, keynote speaker Doug Farr, founding principal of Farr Associates and author of Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature, discussed what it means to be a sustainable urban center and how success calls for effective connections between people and places, movement and urban form, nature and built fabric.
The 2010 Place Making Award winners and details are:
Commute Champion: Tetra Tech INCA
Ensuring an accessible downtown is critical for the local and regional economy. Downtown employers play a major role in boosting non drive-alone rates and transit ridership by providing transportation benefits for their employees. Tetra Tech INCA has shown outstanding commitment and results through its commute benefits program. The program has reduced individual travel costs and helped with recruitment and retention.
Cultural Catalyst: Tateuchi Center Campaign
In June 2010, a major investment was made toward the arts in Downtown Bellevue. The $25 million grant from the Atsuhiko and Ina Tateuchi Foundation to the Tateuchi Center Campaign was one of the largest gifts to any cultural institution in the region’s history. Situated at the corner of Northeast 10th Street and 106th Avenue Northeast, the 2,000 seat concert hall and 250-seat cabaret-style theater at the Tateuchi Center is scheduled to open in 2014.
Move of the Year: Bungie to Bellevue
The Eastside and Downtown Bellevue are home several leading-edge game development companies. Bungie Studios, the creators of the renowned Halo series, moved its headquarters and nearly 200 employees in summer of 2010 to 80,000 square feet of completely customized space at the Bellevue Galleria.
Opening of the Year: Seattle Children’s Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center
Downtown’s nearby medical district keeps growing in quality and in quantity. Overlake Hospital and Medical Center completed an expansion in 2007 and Group Health opened its Bellevue Medical Center in 2008. In July 2010 the 75,000 square foot LEED gold certified Seattle Children’s Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center opened, helping our city take another important step as a premier center for the region’s best health care.
Residential Development: Avalon Towers Bellevue
Downtown Bellevue’s residential community continues to grow and thrive. In the past five years, significant projects have added more than 3,000 residential units. The downtown population has more than doubled in that time. Avalon Towers Bellevue opened in April on Bellevue Way with 13 and 23-story towers and 396 units. The project has enjoyed a very successful lease-up phase and has further demonstrated AvalonBay’s commitment to Downtown Bellevue.
John Boespflug City Builder Award: Matt Terry
John Boespflug served as Bellevue Downtown Association chair in both 1988 and 1998. Following his untimely passing in 1999, the BDA named an award in his honor to recognize career contributions to advancing downtown as the economic and cultural heart of the Eastside. Matt Terry’s tenure with the city of Bellevue spanned 30 years, and he served most of it as Planning and Community Development Director. He was instrumental to the vision, planning and development of Bellevue’s vibrant downtown.
The Bellevue Downtown Association 37th Annual Celebration was sponsored by: Davis Wright Tremaine, Baylis Architects, Clark Nuber P.S., Puget Sound Energy, The Spring District, Washington Federal, CH2M Hill, KPFF Consulting Engineers, The Seattle Times, GA Creative and Ryan Wenzel Events.
Established in 1974, the Bellevue Downtown Association is a nonprofit, membership organization charged with leading the continuing evolution of Downtown Bellevue as the economic and cultural heart of the Eastside.
