Light rail extension to force out prominent Eastside dealership

A major car dealership in Bellevue could be on the chopping block because of the East Link light rail extension.

Crews are starting to work on the $3.7 billion project, which will add a light rail line that runs from Seattle to Redmond.

The Puget Sound Business Journal reports that Sound Transit is asking for half an acre of BMW Bellevue's property.

A spokesperson for the company says it will be nearly impossible to operate without it. The half-acre accounts for only about 18 percent of their space, but that part of the lot holds display cars and vehicles waiting for service. Removing that part would make working on the site “even more complicated than it is today,” the spokesman told the Journal.

The PSBJ said the construction will cause the relocation of about 225 homes and businesses.

The purchase of the half-acre of land has not yet gone through, but the BMW dealership will be forced to relocate to a new space that won’t be ready until 2018, the Journal said.

Cox Media Group