GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Lincoln Square Retail One-Third Preleased

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BELLEVUE, WA-As the steelwork was ceremoniously completed this morning for the first phase of the largest mixed-use project currently under construction in the US, developer Kemper Freeman announced two new tenants and promised a November opening for the 310,000-sf retail portion of the 1.4 million-sf, estimated $360-million development.On the heels of a November commitment by a movie theater operator, additional early lease commitments from a would-be upscale billiards parlor chain and McCormick and Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants have soaked up about 33% of the project’s retail space. Negotiations are well underway for much of the remaining space, a company spokesman tells GlobeSt.com.Sitting over a 1,700-slip underground parking garage, the multi-story retail podium is being topped with a 27-story office tower at one end and a 42-story hotel and condominium tower at the other. The hotel, a 337-room Westin to be operated by Starwood Hotels and housed in the first 19-floors, will open in November along with the retail and a sky bridge that connects to Kemper’s 1.3-million-sf Bellevue Square mall. The condominium portion of the tower is slated for completion in April 2006. A timeline for the office tower has not yet been announced.The Parlor Billiards & Spirits is a new company that will be opening its first location at Lincoln Square, according to this morning’s announcement. The upscale pool hall, restaurant and bar will occupy 21,000 sf. The McCormick & Schmicks Seafood Restaurant will occupy about 8,000 sf, including 5,900 sf on the ground floor, 1,500 sf on the mezzanine level and an additional 640 sf on the patio of the development. In November, Signature Theaters Management Company of San Ramon, CA leased 77,436 sf for a 16-screen movie theater.The project site is located at the corner of NE 8th Street and Bellevue Way. In addition to being across Bellevue Way from Kemper’s Bellevue Square development, Lincoln Square is across NE 8th Street from Bellevue Place, Kemper’s 500,000-sf office and retail development that wraps around the Hyatt Regency Bellevue. Lincoln Square got under way in 2000 and was halted in mid-2002 because of the economic downturn. The developer at that time was a group of investors led by Lend Lease Real Estate Investments’ Value Enhancement Fund IV. Kemper acquired the project in August 2003 and re-commenced construction in January.