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- As part of the Business Transformation program, the Customer Service Management workstream has completed all citywide requirement interviews and validation workshops, establishing the foundation for a unified community facing service and engagement platform. The technology selection process begins in early Q3. The platform will be designed to meet citywide needs, with the first phase replacing the current MyBellevue and Engaging Bellevue solutions.
- The Business Transformation Procurement Transformation project has officially kicked off. Initial efforts are centered on defining the future citywide operating model, with a strong focus on clarifying roles and responsibilities across all departments and establishing standardized procurement processes to ensure consistency and improve service delivery citywide. Work to evaluate and select the supporting technology platform is scheduled to begin in late Q3.
- Govstream.ai has been deployed to about 190 Development Services staff, supporting wider use of AI tools across departments. Core data integrations are now live, including permitting data from Amanda, GIS data from Bellevue Map Viewer, and Exchange Server connectivity for shared mailboxes. With deployment and integration complete, staff can efficiently access permit details, review projects, locate records, and navigate information across systems. We are ready to accelerate adoption and enhance value in the coming months.
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| Coordinating approaches and budget, finalizing contract with DH. |
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| In Q2 2026 the Arts Team conducted outreach and gave support to the arts and culture community in the run up to the Arts & Cultural Faculty Grant deadline. The application window closed with 4 requests for cultural facility funding totaling $1.7M.
Also in Q2, the City directly invested in the BelRed Arts District with two projects:
- The City installed the largest Mural on the Eastside in Arts District: “Rent Free” was painted a retaining wall along Spring Blvd running parallel with the Light Rail tracks. This mural is over 10,000 square feet and used almost a full ton of paint. The mural was installed in May, ahead of heavy Light Rail ridership for the World Cup.
- In preparation for World Cup activities the City contracted with placemaking partner organizations, including the BelRed Arts District Community Alliance, Bellevue Downtown Association, and Spring District Association. The City provided direct financial support to bring events, activities, and community engagement activities to our districts during this busy global event.
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| The 2026-2032 Affordable Housing Strategy was adopted by city council in April. The final Affordable Housing Action Plan outlined 20 high-priority actions to implement across the seven-year planning period. Staff have begun implementation of early action items, including a five-year financial plan, advocating the state Legislature for local revenue sources, and expanding incentives in low density land use districts. |
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Wilburton TOD: The Predevelopment Agreement was fully executed by all parties on April 22. Bellwether is now preparing entitlement materials and is in the process of enrolling in the city’s affordable housing fee reduction and expedited permitting programs. The developer also received a $2M predevelopment funding award through the 2025 Housing Stability Program. The city is finalizing funding agreements with Bellwether for the predevelopment award.
Kelly TOD: City Council approved the Predevelopment Agreement and draft Ground Lease with BRIDGE Housing on June 23rd, documents will be fully executed by the end of June 2026. The next step is negotiation of a Public-Private Partnership Development Agreement to confirm minor code departures needed for the proposed project.
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| The project is currently in Phase 1, the Engage and Imagine phase, which will continue through the end of the year. Staff have met internally for a kickoff to outline the engagement strategy and confirm team roles and responsibilities. Staff are currently working on developing tactics for engagement with the community on developing community scoring criteria that will be used to evaluate design submissions. |
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On February 10, Council adopted a 6-month Interim Official Control (IOC) to preserve and protect the building facades of older buildings in Old Bellevue, and impose temporary design guidelines while the city processes and considers permanent development regulations for Old Bellevue. This IOC will expire in August.
On May 5, the Council initiated the Downtown Livability 2.0 (DTL 2.0) Land Use Code Amendment (LUCA) to update development regulations in Downtown and address policy gaps from the 2017 Downtown Plan update. Council directed staff to update the City's permanent development regulations for Old Bellevue as part of DTL 2.0.
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| County work on the Eastrail is advancing, with elements in design, permitting and under construction. The Wilburton Trestle project is talking longer than initially planned, as the contractor has found more extensive deterioration in the historic wooden structure than was anticipated, requiring more extensive restoration work. City projects for Eastrail connections at Spring Blvd and at SE 32nd St/Mountains to Sound Greenway are also advancing, with some delay from the timeline initially anticipated. The city project at 118th Ave SE/Mercer Slough is on track to be complete when the county opens the Eastrail segment between NE 4th St and 118th Ave SE (in mid/late 2027). |
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- Completed the development of Short-term Equity Plans for every department to identify specific, near-term actions to be completed in alignment with DAP 2035.
- Identified a set of Key Equity Indicators to measure long-term progress on the 41 Equity Objectives included in DAP 2035.
- Developed and tested a prototype of the upcoming public DAP 2035 dashboard.
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| Draft Community Engagement Toolkit completed. Consultant review for best practice and gap analysis underway. Community Engagement website landing page in development. |
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- The Human Services Division continues to support low-income homeowners through the Home Repair Program.
- The Human Services Commission held a Public Hearing on the topic of community need and funding.
- Staff supported the Human Services Commission as they begin their review of 193 eligible applications, requesting more than $18 million per year for the $7 million available per year (Human Services Fund, Housing Stability Program, and CDBG).
- Per policy, their recommendations prioritize the most significant gaps and disparities, and per Council direction include these percentages of funding per area of need:
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- Per the Human Services Strategic Plan, staff are providing technical support and guidance for agencies to successfully contract with the City of Bellevue.
- Homelessness Outreach staff are continuing to work with faith organizations, safe parking program operator 4 Tomorrow, and local neighborhood groups on potential safe parking program locations, with DS on permitting at potential sites, and with FAM regarding ongoing accommodations at the Lincoln Center until program relocation.
- Homeless Outreach staff implemented a shared data tracking system with Cities of Redmond and Kirkland Homelessness Outreach staff, and have requested IT assistance with establishing automated updates from data system to data dashboard.
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