By Meghan Hall
A New York-based investor has purchased a vacant plot in the growing suburb of North Bend, Wash. Public records show that Kennedy Lewis Investment Management purchased land for about $31.02 million on April 8th. The seller of the property was an entity affiliated with Cedar River Developer, Inc.
The property sits adjacent to Tanner Landing Park and is off of SE Tanner Road. Data from the King County Assessor’s office shows that the property, which totals 11.55 acres, is vacant. It is currently zoned for multi-family uses.
Records also indicate that the property is entitled for a 212-unit townhome development. The project was approved in 2018. Shelter Holdings, Riley Group and Taylor Development were just a few of the entities behind the development. The project has been dubbed Cedar River Partners Townhomes.
However, since the project was approved, appeals have been filed by locals concerned about the development’s impact on not just the nearby trail and river, but whether or not there would be enough water to support the new project. In 1999, North Bend went into a building moratorium of its own due to constrained water sources. Recently, the Utilities Technical Review Committee (UTRC) found that despite the efforts of the Sallal Water Association, Sallal would not be able to provide water service to the site.
According to the City of North Bend’s website, site work on the project began in October of 2020. However, no updates on the project have been provided since February of 2021, and its fate remains unclear. If completed, the project would be one of the first townhome projects completed in North Bend in decades.
The site’s new owner, Kennedy Lewis Investment Management, targets “opportunistic financings” across the United States. Much of the firm’s focus is on stressed investments, according to its website, whether they be cyclical, regulatory or secularly caused.
