Puget Neighborhood Likely New Home for 1,300 Students

Puget Neighborhood will likely have in the immediate future 1,300 new rental units that will be marketed primarily to the student population.

Puget Neighborhood will likely have in the immediate future 1,300 new rental units that will be marketed primarily to the student population.

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Between Ambling University Development’s University Ridge private dormitory project with over 500 beds and now additional plans spearheaded by Langstan Management to develop the 24 acre parcel [Lincoln Street Mixed Use Development]  south of Fred Meyer on Lincoln St., the Puget Neighborhood may find itself the home for over 1,300 students  to whom these new apartments will be marketed.  The Lincoln Street project will be built in two phases, the first of which will comprise 175 units with apartments of varying size.  The second phase projects the building of 216 units (2 and 3 bedrooms) to accommodate 584 tenants.  Do the math.


The newest set of apartment complexes may affect the ability of Ambling University Development to fill its rather high end units with rents beginning at $650 per bedroom.  The Hearing Examiner has already put a dent in Ambling’s plans to have a combination of 2 and 4 bedroom units by declaring the 4 bedroom units illegal under the Bellingham Municipal Code.  You can read about the Hearing Examiner’s decision by clicking here. The additional effect of having 1,300 new renters in the Lincoln St. corridor remains to be seen.  Individual students tend to have cars and use them, a point missed by the transportation study commissioned by Ambling for University Ridge.  Having another 800 or more potential vehicles entering and exiting Lincoln St. via Maple St. will be interesting to say the least.  With the cars from over 500 residents at University Ridge also vying for use of the Maple St./Lincoln intersection, traffic problems are a given. 


The residents of the mobile home park across from the proposed Lincoln Street Mixed Use Development are none too happy and voiced their concerns recently at the Elks Club as the developer laid out the plans for the first phase of the project.  These citizens tend to be retired seniors who enjoy the peace and tranquility their rather isolated area provides.  With all the additional traffic, quiet enjoyment will be out the window, not to mention that left turns out of the mobile home park onto Lincoln St. will be increasingly difficult, not only due to the additional traffic from the new apartment buildings but also from the row of commercial establishments planned along Lincoln St. to the east of the apartment complexes.  No lights are planned between the present light at Lincoln St. at Lakeway and the light at Samish at Elwood, so the corrida begins.

There will be a presentation to the public by the developers on Phase II (the 216 apartment units) of the Lincoln Street project on Thursday, 21 Nov at 6 p.m. at Carl Crozier Elementary School.

About Dick Conoboy

Citizen Journalist and Editor • Member since Jan 26, 2008

Dick Conoboy is a recovering civilian federal worker and military officer who was offered and accepted an all-expense paid, one year trip to Vietnam in 1968. He is a former Army [...]

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