Microsoft Hatches Land Deal -- Software Firm Has Option To Buy Old Chicken Farm

REDMOND

They don't grow chickens in this town anymore.

Mostly, they grow software.

But lest one thinks that ne'er the twain shall meet, Microsoft has let it be known it wants to buy what used to be Redmond's last chicken farm.

The software monolith has obtained an option to purchase 35 acres of a former poultry ranch in the middle of technology country, between Redmond and Bellevue.

The property, a postage-stamp-sized parcel on a map of the Eastside, is one of the last pieces of unincorporated King County land between the two cities.

The old farm, at the intersection of 148th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 51st Street, is just a few blocks from Microsoft's huge corporate complex.

It's part of a 62-acre parcel; Nintendo, whose home is directly to the south, already owns the remaining 27 acres.

The farm was homesteaded in 1912 and belongs to the Morelli family, one of the Eastside's oldest.

For years, ever since the Morellis stopped farming it, it has been the site of development battles as chicken farming gave way to the insistent drumbeat of urban sprawl, and parts of the old farm were sold to homebuilders.

Five years ago, a partnership of family members tried to put a 480-unit apartment complex called Redmond West on the property - an effort that was shot down by neighbors who didn't think an apartment complex was compatible with their single-family neighborhood.

Now, the family and its development partner, Trammell Crow Northwest Inc., are trying to help Microsoft buy the land.

That purchase could come soon. "We may be a month away from the major hurdles being crossed," said Buck Ferguson, Microsoft senior director of administration.

Redmond Planning Director Roberta Lewandowski, whose city would annex the land, agreed there is support for Microsoft's plans, both by neighbors and city officials. But it will likely be June before the city can give its official blessing, she said.

Most neighbors would prefer having Microsoft on the property than apartments or new homes, and the city likes the idea of "having a job provider at a time when the city needs jobs," Lewandowski said.

The property is zoned for residential use under Redmond's comprehensive plan.

To build, Microsoft would have to get a business-park-zoning designation on the property, and seek annexation.

That's already under way.

A planning-staff recommendation is about four weeks away, Lewandowski says. The city plans to hold an informal meeting with residents, then the Planning Commission will hold public hearings in May.

The commission will send its recommendation to the City Council then and the council is expected to make a final decision in June.

The Morelli family is less optimistic about an early resolution. Gabe Morelli, 63, is one of the last members of the family remaining on the property. A former Redmond High School Spanish teacher, Morelli says: "I've been told many times over the years that things were imminent. I'll believe it when I see it."

The family's building plans have not been entirely unsuccessful over the years. More than a decade ago, the family sold some 30 acres across 148th Avenue Northeast from their farm. That property now is covered by big new homes.

No matter what Microsoft does, Morelli won't leave the property. He has negotiated an agreement with the company allowing him and his aunt, Alba Morelli, to stay in their two old farmhouses as long as they live.

"I'm going to live here until I die or decide to move away," he said. "That's the only way the deal was possible. I told them that."

And if Microsoft wants to build on the property before that?

"They're going to have to put it up around me," Morelli said.

Chicken farming used to be one of the staple industries of the rural parts of King County.

Only two active farms remain: the nearest is in Carnation; the other near Enumclaw.