city was proposed in the 1990s to complement the planned light rail network put forward by Sound Transit and a proposed municipal monorail system. One streetcar proposal from Mayor Paul Schell in 1998 included re-routing a surface light rail line between downtown and the University District to serve the Seattle Center and South Lake Union, at the time a low-rise industrial area. The neighborhood had previously been proposed for redevelopment into a technology hub as part of the Seattle Commons plan, which was supported by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and civic leaders. After the Seattle Commons plan was rejected by voters in a set of referendums in 1995 and 1996, Allen's venture capital holding company Vulcan Inc. acquired waterfront properties in the South Lake Union area with plans to create a new commercial neighborhood. Allen and Vulcan Inc. envisioned a streetcar on Westlake Avenue to link the redeveloped neighborhood to Downtown Seattle, similar to the Portland Streetcar's role in the revitalized Pearl District. The city government also studied the use of a streetcar and other modes on several major transit corridors, including Westlake Avenue. The $45 million streetcar project gained the support of Mayor Greg Nickels, but its cost was criticized by members of the Seattle City Council and political activists who saw other unfunded transportation needs, including street maintenance and bus improvements. The proposed streetcar would travel from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to the Westlake Center, where it would connect to the Seattle Center Monorail, buses, and light rail trains. The city council approved a redevelopment plan for South Lake Union to accommodate biotechnology and biomedical research in June 2003, but chose to defer the streetcar issue until funding sources were identified and approved. Approval and construction Vulcan and several businesses along the proposed streetcar route offered to pay $25 million towards the construction cost using a local improvement district levy, while the remainder would be funded by the city. The city council released $2.4 million in state and federal funds for the project's design and engineering work in April 2004; this was increased by an additional $4.3 million by the Puget Sound Regional Council. Mayor Nickels proposed a financing plan for the streetcar project in April 2005, using federal grants, the selling of naming rights at stations, land sales, and redirected transit operating funds to pay the $47.5 million cost. A consulting plan projected that the