Durkan cuts deal with downtown property owners over $711 million waterfront park

There's a new deal to pay for the city's waterfront park.

Mayor Jenny Durkan says she has staved off a legal challenge from downtown property owners by negotiating with them over their share of the $711 million project.

The city planned to impose a special tax on downtown property owners to recoup some of the cost of the park. The tax would have been collected from the property owners who will get new views when the Viaduct comes down — and presumably, see their property values increase. But these property owners have been fighting the plan for months.

Durkan's deal, announced last week, cuts the amount property owners would pay to end the controversy over the Waterfront Local Improvement District (LID).

The agreement is now expected to cost the average condo owner about $1,700 over 20 years and the average commercial property owner $3,500.

Durkan says the 20-acre park will have a sweeping walk from Pike Place Market and will transform the city.