Governor Jay Inslee announced that Renton has been awarded a 2013 Smart Communities Award for the City’s Sunset Area Planned Action.

The plan details how the city will leverage public investment to catalyze private property development and create opportunities for market-rate and affordable housing plus retail investment.

The City of Renton was among nine cities and three counties to receive a Governor’s award for smart growth planning.

In his announcement of the award, the governor said, “These projects help create and sustain a thriving economic climate and strengthen our ability to lead in the global economy. Washington is a great state to live and do business in thanks to these examples of leadership and innovation.”

“We are honored to receive this prestigious award and to be acknowledged for our efforts to promote smart growth here in our city,” said Renton Mayor Denis Law. “This award recognizes our vision for this community, and encourages us to continue to strive for a better quality of life for all our residents. Thanks to our strong public private partnerships we are leveraging public funds with private investment and are moving forward to create a great community.”

The Sunset Area Community Revitalization Program will redevelop the Sunset Terrace public housing community and encourage redevelopment in the Sunset Area through land use transformation, and public service and infrastructure improvements.

This public investment will catalyze private property development at a greater scale and help realize the existing permitted zoning uses and density, creating opportunities for market rate and affordable rental housing and homeownership, plus local and regional retail investment.

“The City of Renton and its housing authority are together doing a wonderful job investing time and targeted resources in the future of the Sunset Area and the Renton Highlands.   The completion of the recently opened Glennwood Townhomes, and now underway the Kirkland Avenue Townhomes, are emblematic of the development and smart communities strategies that we employ to create a more vibrant, healthy, and sustainable neighborhood,” said Mark Gropper, executive director of the Renton Housing Authority.

“The City of Renton is doing a wonderful job of investing time and energy into the future of the Highlands neighborhood, and the completion of the recently opened Glenwood Townhomes is emblematic of the type of housing we envisioned for the Sunset Area,” said Mark Gropper, executive director of the Renton Housing Authority.

The Sunset Area Community Neighborhood is bounded by NE 21st Street on the north, Monroe Avenue NE on the east, NE 7th Street on the south, and Edmonds Avenue NE on the west. The neighborhood is part of northeast Renton and is also known as or referred to as the Highlands area. This is the second year in a row that the city has won the Governor’s Smart Communities Award.