Potential temporary library locations have been identified, as the King County Library System project team works to complete design development for the downtown Renton branch and seeks permitting.

Final agreements on the extensive redevelopment of the Sunset Boulevard area in the Highlands, which includes a new library, are also being worked on.

The Highlands library will stay in its existing location while the new library is built, according to Greg Smith, KCLS director of facilities management services and development.

The City of Renton and KCLS are working out plans to use some space in the 200 Mill building, formerly Renton City Hall, as the temporary location for the downtown Renton library while it is being renovated. That building is right across the parking lot from the current downtown library.

“In the case of Renton main, it will be open as soon as construction starts for the duration of construction,” Smith said via email.

As soon as permitting is approved, the project teams hope to start construction on the Highlands library late 2013 and on the Renton main library in 2014.

The temporary Renton library is expected to be much like the temporary location of the Kent library several years back, but details are still to come.

“It is all yet to be determined with the amount of space we will have to work with,” said Smith. “Typically we provide a small browsing collection and about six to eight computer stations. A place to pick up holds and a place to check out.”

Concerning the Highlands project, the purchase and sale agreements between the Renton Housing Authority and Colpitts Development Co. were signed Monday. The same type of agreements for that project between Colpitts and the City of Renton are scheduled to be presented to the City Council for its review and approval in early June.

It has taken months for these agreements to be approved, but Mark Gropper, executive director for RHA, says there are “no sticking points per se.”

“It was a matter of threading together the conditions of the purchase and sales agreement between RHA and Colpitts, with the subsequent elements of the purchase and sales agreement between Colpitts and the City of Renton, in accordance with the design and land use that delivers and meets the parameters of the KCLS library,” said Gropper via email on Wednesday.

The Sunset redevelopment project, which includes plans for a renovated library and new public housing, involves multiple parties: RHA, Colpitts, the City of Renton and KCLS. Sixteen families have been relocated to the new Glennwood Townhomes, created by RHA and other assisted housing administered by the agency, Gropper said.

“The Phase I environmental study is done, soils tests came back fine,” Gropper said. “Demolition and building permits should be submitted this summer and we’ll be underway with construction.”

KCLS will meet with the City Council on June 3 to present costs for the Highlands frontage improvements and get direction on budget approval for the Highlands project. Although Smith does not know the costs for the new budget for the Highlands project, that budget will cover a 15,000-square-foot library, with underground parking and frontage improvements.

The Highlands library frontage contacts three roadways on its perimeters: Sunset Blvd., 10th St. and Sunset Lane. There are future improvement projects planned for Sunset Blvd. and Sunset Lane by the Transportation Department.

Costs to repair things like broken sidewalks, curbs and gutters, i.e. the frontage, are the responsibility of the property developer, said Renner.