Factoria is a mixed-use suburban neighborhood in south Bellevue, Washington and is one of the city's significant commercial districts. Originally timberland from the 1890s to 1920s and later envisioned as an industrial center, Factoria has since the 1960s evolved into commercial and residential development. Factoria was annexed into Bellevue in 1993.^[1] The core neighborhood is bounded by Interstate 90 to the north, Interstate 405 to the west, Newport Way to the east, and Coal Creek Parkway to the south.

History

Factoria is part of the Duwamish Tribal Territory. "During the 1890s, loggers cut large stands of timber on land now known as Woodridge Hill, Richards Valley, Greenwich Crest, Mockingbird Hill, Monthaven, Newport Shores, and the commercial area of Factoria."^[2]

In the late 1890s, the Northern Pacific Railway laid tracks through the largely uninhabited area along the shores of Lake Washington near Mercer Island. In the early 1900s a large industrial center was envisioned by a group of Seattle investors led by E. L. Skeel on what is now the interchange of Interstate 405and I-90. In 1908 Skeel formed the Mercer Land Company and platted several blocks adjoining the railroad tracks. The new community was to be named Mercer. A stove factory was constructed at the town-site but never manufactured a single stove. By 1911, development of the community was at a standstill and the company, now run by a Sarah Kendall with Skeel as secretary, filed a new plat featuring more blocks and public space. The project was now called Factoria, a name that would hopefully attract major industries, which it never did.

According to,^[2] Factoria

was promoted as an industrial center with coal smoke "belching from hundreds of smokestacks." Promoters expected at least 20 plants, in addition to the existing Factoria Stove and Range Co., to locate there. But some 15 years after the promoter’s pitch, only the Factoria School had been built and the proposed industrial town of Factoria never got off the ground. The present day Factoria Mall is located on the original Factoria property.

In the late 1920s Factoria became the headquarters for the burgeoning rabbit industry on the East Side. In 1927, an abandoned local factory was converted into a processing plant for canned rabbit meat and fur as well as a marketing headquarters for the industry.^[3] In 1939, construction began on a new $800,000 highway project that straightened out the Sunset Highway between Issaquah and Mercer Island and eventually led to the construction of the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge across Lake Washington. The new four-lane highway passed directly through Factoria and intersected with Lake Washington Boulevard, then the major north–south highway on the East side.^[4]

Following the opening of the bridge and highway in 1940, Factoria became a major crossroads. In 1950, the 900-car Sunset Outdoor Theatre was constructed near the intersection by Sterling Theatres, Inc.^[5]

Factoria remained largely undeveloped up until the 1960s, when freeway construction put the area at the intersection of two major arterials, Interstate 405and Interstate 90, which would replace most of the original town-site and create a major suburban retail center.^{[citation needed]} The construction of a 42-acre (17 ha) shopping center was announced in July 1961.^[6] Since the 2010s, the area has undergone significant gentrification due to an influx of tech and other white-collar workers.^[7]

Commerce and industry

Factoria's commercial development is centered on Marketplace at Factoria, a nearby AMC movie theater, and several grocery stores and office buildings, including the six-tower Newport Corporate Center, occupied primarily by T-Mobile USA. The "Factoria Campus" development situated directly north of The Marketplace at Factoria, consists of three office buildings plus a cinema and some retail businesses, standing where the Sunset Outdoor Theater formerly existed.^[8]

^{Chris Schniegenberg is one of the top real estate agents in King county, Bellevue, Snohomish, Pierce counties}