The station was originally included in the Sound Transit 2 ballot measure in 2008, but was left out of the East Link Extension after a funding shortfall stemming from the City of Bellevue's desire for a tunneled alignment under Downtown Bellevue.[3] Sound Transit instead completed environmental reviews and selected a preferred alignment to Downtown Redmond, indefinitely deferring the final segment of East Link until a later date.[4] The Sound Transit 3 ballot measure, passed in 2016, includes $1.1 billion in funding for the two stations in Downtown Redmond, which was planned to open by 2024.[5] Preliminary engineering on the Redmond extension was approved in February 2016, after being suspended in 2010.[6]
The station is planned to open in 2025.[7] It includes murals by six artists that were produced by a mosaics studio in Tieton.[8]
