The aging Bellevue North Shopping Center is officially on the clock. Wallace Properties has secured city approval to scrap the longtime strip mall and replace it with a multi-building mixed-use complex that would bring roughly 900 apartments to about 4.2 acres in downtown Bellevue. The redevelopment calls for four residential buildings delivered in two phases, starting with a 28-story tower and a seven-story mid-rise that together would total 466 units. The project will wipe out a familiar retail block along Bellevue Way NE between Northeast 10th and Northeast 12th, a corridor Wallace first built out in the 1970s. Neighbors and small businesses along the strip are now watching the demolition schedule and permit process like hawks as the project edges closer to shovels in the ground.
On April 1, 2026, Bellevue officials signed off on an updated master development plan that gives Wallace the green light to begin phase one, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal. The approval marks the latest step in a long-discussed overhaul that Wallace has been reshaping since it first submitted formal applications in 2023.
Site and current tenants
The redevelopment targets parcels the owner lists as 1000 and 1100 Bellevue Way NE. Leasing and marketing materials from Wallace Properties show a tenant lineup that includes Panera Bread, BevMo, Adventure Kids Playcare and a handful of other small retailers. Those documents lay out the site plan, highlighting a strategy to keep active storefronts at street level while shifting most of the parking underground. The brochure also leans on the property’s walkable access to Bellevue Square and the downtown park as a prime selling point.
Project layout and unit counts
The master plan covers about 183,785 square feet, or roughly 4.2 acres, with nearly 900 apartments spread across four buildings, according to Downtown Bellevue. Phase 1 consists of a 28-story residential high-rise with about 308 units and a seven-story mid-rise with about 158 units, both sitting on a shared, multi-level underground parking podium. Phase 2 would tack on two eight-story mid-rise buildings that would deliver the remaining apartments along with around 23,600 square feet of restaurant and retail space.
Where it sits and who is next door
The block in play runs along Bellevue Way NE between NE 10th and NE 12th, with Wallace’s leasing packet listing the property details, tenant mix, maps and site diagrams. On the back side, the project touches office towers that earlier reporting said are leased by Amazon, a detail developers considered when deciding how to phase construction. Renderings and plans show new pedestrian links and a plaza intended to better connect the site to the surrounding downtown street grid.
Permitting, timeline and next steps
City permit bulletins and records indicate that the master development plan and Phase 1 design review applications have been under review since 2023, appearing under file numbers 23-109480-LP and 23-109482-LD. As described in the public notices, staff used the optional SEPA (DNS) process for environmental review.
Because a portion of the eastern side of the block is still locked into active leases, Wallace has said the project has to be phased so that the later buildings cannot break ground until those agreements run out. That timing issue likely pushes part of the work into 2027 and beyond. Once demolition and building permits are issued, the actual start date will hinge on permit conditions, financing and broader market conditions.
Why it matters
The redevelopment would inject a large batch of new homes into the center of Bellevue and include income-restricted apartments under a local tax-exemption program designed to spur more affordable units. For projects of this scale, the math and approvals tied to multifamily tax incentives often determine whether a downtown overhaul pencils out, which is why regional tax-policy watchers keep such close track of them.
With the master plan signed off, Wallace’s project now shifts from the entitlement phase into the nitty-gritty of demolition, detailed permitting and construction logistics. Residents, existing tenants and nearby employers will be tracking the construction calendar as the city and developer hammer out phasing, street upgrades and how to juggle the retail turnover along Bellevue Way NE.
