Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States and part of the Seattle metropolitan area.

Originally a logging settlement, the area was first called "Federal Way" in 1929 to refer to a school district.

In 2004, the city annexed the Northlake, East Redondo, and Parkway neighborhoods, adding over 2,700 people and nearly 1 square mile (2.6 km2) of area.

In February 2007, the city announced formal plans to annex the majority of unincorporated land on its east border as one PAA named East Federal Way, comprising the Star Lake, Camelot, Lakeland, and Jovita neighborhoods,[11][12] and a strip of Peasley Canyon Road connecting the two areas.

City leaders suggested promoting the location for a potential community college campus.

The 40-acre (16 ha) PowellsWood Garden, known for its outstanding structural plantings and perennial borders, is located off South Dash Point Road.

This land, on a portion of the Cold Creek ravine, was purchased by Monte and Diane Powell in 1993 in order to preserve green space in an increasingly urbanized area.

However, after low sales, Six Flags sold the park in April 2007 to Parc Management LLC of Jacksonville, Florida, for $31.75 million.

Federal Way is locally identified by its 1990s semi-urban development, characterized by landscaped off-street multi-structure apartment complexes and shopping centers.

The city awarded the contract to United Properties' "Symphony" project, comprising four 15–22 story towers, including 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2) of retail and office space, 900 housing units, and a large downtown park which would be relinquished to the city.

[citation needed] However, in July 2008, United Properties requested a one-year extension on the terms of the purchase agreement, citing difficulties in the credit and housing markets to acquire the necessary funds.

[25] In August 2009, United suggested scrapping the Symphony plan and instead building a performing arts center on the property, a proposal the city rejected.

[26] In September 2009 the South Korean development firm Lander Korus joined onto the project with United.

As of 2011 the new developers had yet to close on the property, citing financing difficulties, and had received the seventh extension on the land from the city, which expired in March 2011.

[29] The developers were banking on the city's recently granted EB-5 visa qualification to encourage foreign investment in exchange for permanent resident status.

[30] As of February 1, 2011, this deal was also dead, as the developer had failed to make a required escrow deposit by the end of January.

The city ultimately chose a proposal by Arcadd known as the "Crystal Palace", a densely packed glass multi-tower structure where some of the towers bend outward near the top under 20 stories with a larger retail and public space pavilion at the base.

After extending the deadline eight months to allow Arcadd to obtain the necessary earnest money, and still seeing no progress, the city decided to move on with a different plan.

[34] In 2014, the lot was repaved, leaving the AMC Theatres building foundation in place, but filling inside its perimeter with sod.

To the north of the downtown park, an elevated lot which was formerly the location of a Toys "R" Us store has been purchased by the city, which is slated to host a planned performing arts and civic center (PACC).

Federal Way has mayor–council form of government with a seven-member city council whose members are elected at-large to staggered four-year terms.