By Kate Reardon
Herald Writer
EVERETT — When Mike Mastro decided to build a first-of-its-kind housing project geared toward young professionals in the city’s downtown core, he wanted to pattern it after Seattle’s Belltown area.
"It’s in-city living with kind of a high-tech feel," he said of the apartment complex still under construction at the corner of Grand and Hewitt avenues in the city’s Bayside neighborhood. "I think it’s maybe one of the first things that will start a trend there."
Many of the 121 units in The Nautica will have amazing views of Everett’s Port Gardner Bay, Possession Sound, Whidbey Island and the Olympic Mountain range.
The complex is something new for downtown Everett. Rents there will average about $1.08 a square foot, a bit higher than the city’s market rate of about 80 to 85 cents, said Shawn Hoban, president of Coast Management Co. Inc. in Everett.
Hoban, who has not worked on the project, said he respects "that these guys are giving it a shot."
"We think its’ a relatively aggressive play in downtown Everett," Hoban said. "I hope it’s successful."
Hoban said the city council opened the doors for such development a few years ago went it approved a 10-year property tax incentive as well as increased height limits for projects in the area.
| Nautica Apartments rents
For rental information, contact Precision Management Co. at 425-339-1331.
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It fits with the overall rebirth of downtown, Hoban said.
"You’ve got to have people living and working in Everett 24 hours a day if you’re going to support retail and entertainment (in downtown)," Hoban added.
No doubt, there will be people sitting in the wings to wait and see how this project does.
"If it’s successful it will be part of the overall development of downtown," Hoban said, adding that others will likely jump onto the bandwagon of investing in downtown Everett.
Some of the 121 units could be available for rent by December or January, Mastro said.
The average rent is about $925, with studios beginning at $615 and two bedroom/two bathroom units starting at $1,100, said Terry Sander, vice president of Precision Management Co.
The units are wired for high-speed Internet access and several units have a quasi-den off the kitchen area where residents can have a small computer station.
"There’s a desk for a computer so you can work in your unit there and be cooking a roast at the same time," Mastro said.
There are two levels of underground parking. And storefront units at street level. A few of the units can be used for work and living because they include lofts.
"It’s like an office and then you live upstairs," Mastro said. "That’s kind of the Belltown idea."
The complex will also have a weight room, a social room and a garden deck where residents can have barbecues on the roof top.
The building has a nautical feel, decorated outside in blues, greens and yellows.
"It’s a different look for downtown," Mastro said.
Craig Skotdal, a property owner and manager in downtown, said this type of housing is an important part of creating a dynamic downtown.
"When people live, work and play in the heart of the city it generates a lot of positive momentum," he said. "It’s the kind of energy we need to boost retail businesses and restaurants in the city’s center."
Other projects in the Everett area Mastro has done include 289 units called Camelot at 112th Street and Highway 99, Mariner Court Apartments near 128th Street and Casa Blanca on Highway 99.
Mastro also built the Bayside Condos in the 2500 block of Rucker Avenue. About 70 percent of the 39 units there have already been sold.
You can call Herald Writer Kate Reardon at 425-339-3455
or send e-mail to reardon@heraldnet.com.
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