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The School District is rushing its application to demolish homes on the newly acquired property near Renton High School. They’re in such a hurry they have not even formally halted a six-year project that was about to build thirty new apartments on Airport Way in the “Dreamliner” project (where they now plan to move the baseball field). The project board for the School District’s demolition plan is now posted next to the project board for the Dreamliner.
The Dreamliner Apartment Project has been in the formal approval and permitting process since 2018, and was soon to bring 30 desperately-needed new apartments to Airport Way. But the School District recently purchased this property under threat of eminent domain, and plans to include this property in their relocated baseball field. They’ve also taken 32 houses and 8 businesses for this purpose.
Renton School District has only a rough concept for their new high school, and they still have to go to court to try to attempt to acquire the final ten properties they want. They also have not begun any formal building plan process, or conducted an important archeological review, or consulted with the FAA about their planned new sports track in the Runway Protection Zone, or initiated the public process required for the City of Renton to vacate South Tobin St, South Tillicum, and Shattuck Ave South.
But none of these important public process elements appear to be slowing the School District down in tearing down the checker-board of homes and businesses they’ve been able to acquire, in an effort that some people feel is intended to make it impossible to save the neighborhood while lowering the value of properties that the District has not purchased yet.
Even worse, the immediate tearing down of the homes before the project is formally approved is an end-run around the recently approved Houston Eminent Domain Fairness Act, which was passed unanimously this year by the legislature to assure that if property taken by a school district is not used for its intended purpose it will be sold back to the original owners. How can it be sold back if it is destroyed?
By tearing down the homes they acquired under threat of eminent domain, like this one, they eliminate the possibility of having to sell them back if their plans are not approved
Big public projects like this require years of planning and approvals, and any number of steps could cause the project to go sideways. The School District themselves acknowledge that the building won’t be complete for about five more years, and that’s IF everything goes according to plan.
Under these circumstances the right thing to have done would have been to leave the neighborhood intact until construction is near, by either buying options on the properties or purchasing them outright and renting them back to the owners. Purchasing them and tearing them down immediately, before they have an approved plan, unreasonably forces the hands of decision-makers downstream in the process and violates the spirit of proper public planning.
Out to bid; Renton School District is inviting bids to tear down some homes in the neighborhood while others are still contesting the eminent domain taking through the courts
Renton Resident Angie Laulainen spoke at last night’s Renton City Council Meeting on this topic, and she provided me a copy of her speaking notes. I’ve included then below the cut:
Renton Resident Angie Laulainen speaks to Renton City Council on May 12, 2025
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