by A 10-screen cinema complex at Burien Town Square would be more than just a cluster of movie auditoriums, Burien City Council members were told Monday night (Nov. 2).
It would become a “social icon” for the community,” predicted Frank Rimkus, president and CEO of Los Angeles-based Galaxy Theatres, who hopes his firm can team with Urban Partners, the private developer of the Town Square project, to bring a multi-screen cinema complex to Burien.
And it could draw an estimated 400,000 movie-goers to downtown Burien annually, Rimkus said. “That would do a lot for retail and restaurants.”
He based this on a general demographic overview, which includes an area-wide population of 130,000 who would be served by the cinema complex – and who would rather stay near home than drive to the movies in neighboring cities.
As a social icon, a cinema complex would relive the prominence held by movie theatres in cities until the mid-20th century,” Rimkus continued. It would include multiple-sized auditoriums comfortable seating, quality food service, on-site parking – and state-of-the-art electronics and digital projection and sound systems.
Councilmembers generally seemed receptive – with some reservations – to the concept during an initial presentation of a plan to build a cinema complex with some retail space during the next phase of Town Square development.
“This community from day one (as a city) wanted an entertainment center,” said retiring City Councilwoman Sally Nelson, who has served on the council since incorporation in 1993. “We have an entertainment gap in the city, in the area.”
Urban Partners current agreement with the city calls for construction of a second condominium-retail complex north of the existing building, which opened in June. But since then, sales of only five condos have closed and no retail space has been leased.
“This has been quite a year,” Paul Keller, managing principal of Urban Partners, told the council before introducing Rimkus. “We obviously have been greatly impacted by the economy and downturns in capital markets.”
Later, Keller added, “Urban Partners is very, very excited about this opportunity … Don’t give up on downtown redevelopment,” he implored the lawmakers. “Don’t give up on Burien real estate. Don’t give up on Urban Partners.”
Mayor Joan McGilton replied, “We don’t give up. We don’t see a lot of the (economic) downturn in Burien with the new businesses that are coming in.”
Keller said development, if approved by the council, would take an estimated 24 to 30 months to complete.
“We believe this is a legitimate opportunity to put a first-class theater here and make it an economic success,” Rimkus said.
Galaxy Theatres is rated in the top 10 percent in the industry by the National Theatre Association. The company, which has 177 screens in the western United States, already has a presence in the Puget Sound region with cinema complexes in Federal Way, Tacoma, Lacey and Gig Harbor. Its website is galaxytheatres.com.
A Galaxy Theatres development at Town Square would be similar to the cinema complex in the Uptown project in Gig Harbor, he said.
Councilwoman Kathy Keene said, “This is an amazing project. I know that residents are looking for something like this.” She said it “would be a great addition to the city.”
Could one of the auditoriums be available for use by Burien Little Theatre, local dance studios and other performing arts groups that need a space with fewer than 300 seats? asked Councilwoman Rose Clark.
Keller said Urban Partners was already aware of this interest by the council and is exploring its feasibility.
Councilman Gordon Shaw said he is “skeptical” because Urban Partners needs “to consider the impact on a change of plans (for Town Square) as well as the impact of moving ahead … there needs to be balance.”
by With only five of the 124 condominiums at Town Square sold to date, more than five months after the grand opening of this complex in June, prospective buyers and those anticipating future downtown development in Burien wonder if condo prices might be lowered.
This question has been raised in the weeks since Chicago-based Corus Bank – the construction lender for Urban Partners, the private developer of the condo/retail complex in Town Square – was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on Sept. 11.
Corus Bank’s deposits were sold, then the FDIC conducted a private auction for the remaining assets. Now Starwood Capital Group, TPG Capital, Perry Capital and WLR LaFrak have acquired an equity interest in a limited liability corporation that will hold the construction loans and real estate-owned assets of Corus.
“The $4.5 billion portfolio consists of more than 100 loan and (real estate-owned) assets linked to high-quality condominiums, multi-family housing, office properties, and land representing nearly 23 million square feet,” according to a recent news release from this investment consortium.
Urban Partners, however, has yet to comment publicly on whether it might reduce the prices of its Town Square condos – phase one of the planned Town Square project. A primary reason for this is that it’s not a simple matter of lowering those prices, despite the fact that the investment consortium purchased the construction loans of Urban Partners and others well below their original value.
Two or three or even more banks usually are involved in large construction and real estate loans, notes Burien Economic Development Manager Dick Loman. This, in turn, creates a slow and involved process for a developer to obtain permission from lenders before it can make a corresponding reduction in its housing prices.
In the meantime, Loman says, Urban Partners is “hanging in there. They’re not leaving town. They’re trying to do the right thing. I know that Urban Partners wants to meet the market, but they can’t act until they receive a green light for moving forward. This means that (Town Square condo) prices aren’t going to go down without permission from the bank.”
Burien City Manager Mike Martin emphasizes that “no public money is involved” in the Town Square condo-retail complex. “There is no financial to the taxpayers” because the Urban Partners’ development is privately financed.
But, he adds, “We do want to see them fill up sooner than later.”
by Borrowing a phrase from Mark Twain, reports of the demise of Burien’s Town Square condominiums, which opened for occupancy in June, are vastly exaggerated.
So declares Dan Rosenfeld, principal of Urban Partners, developer of the privately owned condo and retail complex in Town Square at the corner of SW 152nd Street and Sixth Ave SW.
“We are holding on,” Rosenfeld said this week, responding to a rumor that Urban Partners is barely hanging on. “We are very proud of the quality of our project and the effect that it’s having on the revitalization of downtown Burien.”
Together with the public part of the Town Square project, he added, which includes the new King County Library/City Hall building and a downtown park.
“We couldn’t have built a better project,” Rosenfeld continued. “We did this in a very challenging market. We are working buyer by buyer on closing sales. We are making progress. In the long run, I think we will be very successful.”
Un-leased retail spaces sit empty at Town Square.
The Town Square complex includes a mix of one- and two-bedroom condos, two-story Homes on the Park, and live/work lofts. There is 20,000 square feet of ground-level retail space in addition to 122 condos.
None of the retail space has been leased to date. And, said Burien economic development manager Dick Loman, five of the condos have been sold and closed to date, according to the most recent number provided him.
“They’re selling slow for reasons we all understand,” Loman said. “No development company is making money today but they have the resources to hang on.”
Rosenfeld underscored Loman’s assessment, stating that Urban Partners plans “to stay the course … literally 20 potential buyers are having trouble selling their (existing) homes. Everything’s difficult. That is not a reflection on what we have (at Town Square). Quite the contrary. We’ve received many compliments on the project.”
Underwriting standards have been tightened as lending markets adjust to new criteria, he noted. Urban Partners is “fine tuning our lending program and our marketing activities in response to changing circumstances in the capital markets. We are constantly trying to find ways to do it better.”
Burien City Councilman Gordon Shaw quashed another rumor, which suggested Urban Partners was considering renting some of the condos as apartments. The developer is prevented from doing that in their agreement with the city, which states they must be “for sale” units, he said.
With only five condos sold, and all retails spaces still "for lease," it's no surprise that rumors have started.
But, Shaw said, “It’s concerning to me that more of the residences have not been sold and closed. I’m also distressed about no retail leases … I just don’t know how (Urban Partners) can weather this storm.”
As a councilman, he continued, “I’m just sitting here holding my breath. Urban Partners is telling us nothing about their financial condition.”
For his part, Rosenfeld says they still hope to build the other two condo/retail complexes long-planned for Town Square, “but we have to sell the first phase first. The mortgage markets are challenging, the appraisal markets are challenging. The good news is, there are real signs that a turnaround in housing markets is beginning to appear. Things are edging upwards.”
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