Lake Hills to lose its QFC store

The Lake Hills section of Bellevue is going to lose its neighborhood QFC supermarket by Oct. 31 and could soon be saddled with a mostly empty shopping center.

That news was disclosed last night by developer Oscar Del Moro, who warned residents that any hopes of keeping a vibrant Lake Hills Shopping Center are unrealistic unless his plans to expand it are approved. The East Bellevue Community Council has the final say over whether to allow the needed zoning changes, and a hearing on the matter dragged on late last night.

QFC plans to reopen at Bel East, a shopping center about a mile away.

To attract a replacement grocery at Lake Hills, the center has to offer a 45,000-square-foot store, comparable to other new supermarkets, said Del Moro, senior vice president for Bellevue-based Cosmos Development and Administration, which is representing the center owners.

Cosmos has spent 18 months gathering comments and promoting its plans to enlarge the cozy but weathered center, which has changed little since it was built four decades ago.

The neighborhood remains a quiet place, but residents are frustrated with commuter traffic that shortcuts to Microsoft and other large Eastside employers. Some residents fear the shopping-center expansion will attract more cars, and they point to its proposed underground parking garage as proof.

But the main objection last night was that building heights of up to 45 feet would disrupt the lives of homeowners next to the site at Lake Hills Boulevard Southeast and 156th Ave. Southeast

"My house faces 'backwards,' " resident Pam Asheim said. "If I am in my living room or dining room or looking east ... I will be looking straight at the shopping center."

About half the speakers last night favored the changes, and an apparent majority at earlier public meetings have pleaded for the expansion, though comments by community-council members last night sounded mostly unfavorable. Besides a larger supermarket, Cosmos' plans include a new branch library, a pedestrian plaza and offices.

If rejected, the developers will build an office park instead, Del Moro said.

Mike Lindblom can be reached at 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com.