Everett college looks to expand student housing

EVERETT — Student-only apartments that Trinity Lutheran College wants to build near its downtown campus could provide a valuable test case as higher education expands in the city.

Before the college’s development partner can start construction of the 100-unit building, city leaders must approve new zoning and parking rules.

“We’re looking at it as a pilot program,” Everett planning director Allan Giffen said.

The city Planning Commission was considering the issue Tuesday night. The City Council will have the final say.

If approved, a new six-story building would rise from land on the southwest corner of California Street and Oakes Avenue, across from the former Everett Armory and an Everett fire station. There’s a parking lot there now.

The biggest policy decisions concern parking. Trinity wants to reserve 100 spaces in the parking garage it owns on California Street, a block west of the proposed apartment building. Trinity’s campus is another block to the west.

“I’m pretty confident that the students won’t have that much parking demand,” Giffen said. “After it’s occupied and we have some time to observe the utilization of parking stalls, we can probably figure out a little more accurate standard for parking.”

Policymakers would need to amend city code to allow parking for the building a block away, rather than at the building itself. For the project to move ahead, the city also needs to clarify that student housing is allowed in the city’s downtown business district and how many parking spaces those students will need.

If successful, the housing proposal could clear a path for more student housing, not only for Trinity Lutheran, but for the other institutions the city has been encouraging to grow here, including Everett Community College and Washington State University.

Trinity moved its campus to Everett from Issaquah in 2008. The college now has more than 200 students and hopes to increase enrollment to 250 by fall, president John Reed said.

In five years, the college aspires to double that number. High-quality, low-cost housing is essential to making that happen.

“The whole vision is to have 500 students in downtown Everett, living and serving,” Reed said. “One of the major initiatives is to improve housing.”

Trinity already has about 80 student apartments available near Everett’s main library.

If approved, the college hopes the student apartments at Oakes and California will be ready to occupy in 2015, Reed said.

Footprint Investments LLC intends to develop the project for Trinity. The company, headquartered in Seattle, has been active in the so-called micro-housing boom in Seattle, Redmond, Portland, Ore., and Oakland, Calif.

Though an estimated 20 percent of the occupants in the company’s existing projects are students, this is Footprint’s first student-only building, said Cathy Reines, the company’s president and CEO. This also is its first venture in Snohomish County.

The Everett project would be different from a dormitory. Students would have their own apartments of about 200 square feet, each with its own bathroom and kitchenette. They would have access to a common laundry and full-scale kitchen.

Trinity would be required to lease apartments to students. Only one person could occupy each unit.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.