A 126-unit mixed-use project under development in Fife is just the start of what the city hopes will be more multifamily housing construction as it gears up to welcome a Sound Transit light rail extension.

Tacoma-based SEB Development has filed plans to construct a six-building project across five parcels at 6320 20th St. E. In addition to the housing units, there will be approximately 5,880 square feet of commercial space.

Permit requests were submitted to the city in early November and the project is currently under environmental review. The entire project will be about 420,000 square feet, according to public records.

The development will replace some single-family houses.

“This is an exciting new development,” said Chris Larson, interim community development director for the city of Fife. “This is really going to spur more interest in this area.”

The city of around 11,000, known for its warehouses and auto dealerships, straddles Interstate 5 east of Tacoma.

Attracting more multifamily development is important for the city, Larson said.

“That’s really where our future development growth lies,” he said. “We are a high-capacity transit community.”

Within the next decade, a light rail station will open in Fife in a location across Interstate 5 from the planned apartments. The city hopes to build a pedestrian bridge over the interstate that would put the new station within a half-mile walk of the growing 20th Street corridor.

Derek Matheson, Fife’s city manager, said SEB Development’s project is part of a larger plan for the 20th Street corridor.

The city wants to add more more residential units, amenities and services to the area, he said. Plans for a new Starbucks at the site of the shuttered Johnny’s at Fife restaurant at 5211 20th St. E. are already underway.

One desperately needed service — a grocery store — recently opened in the neighborhood, Larson said. It was the city’s intention to hang onto that property, at 2040 70th Ave. E., until a developer came in willing to open a grocery store.

“No one bit for a while, but we held on until someone did,” Larson said. “A market was needed in Fife.”

Still, there hasn’t been much housing constructed in Fife aside from a few single-family developments, Matheson said.

“Now, there is not much room left for single-family homes in our 6.5-square-mile city,” he said. “Fife will continue to play an outsized role in the region’s economy and transportation system. We believe that adding more multifamily housing is how we will play a greater role in addressing the region’s housing needs. We are willing to talk to anyone interested in building more units in Fife.”