EVERETT — Construction on homes on the Riverfront property in the Port Gardner and Lowell neighborhoods of Everett is expected to get the final OK in the coming weeks.
Riverfront is a housing and commercial development along the Snohomish River that’s been years in the making.
It’s located on the site of the former Eclipse and Simpson mills and the city’s former landfill, the scene of the infamous Everett Tire Fire in 1984.
The final plats of the residential subdivisions were approved by a hearing examiner in August 2014 for the 40-acre Simpson site. That’s where owner Polygon Northwest Inc. is expected to build 235 detached, single-family homes. Polygon has named this development Overlook at Riverfront, and it will be accessed from 41st Street.
In February 2015, the examiner approved plats for 190 townhomes on the 17-acre Eclipse site. Now called The Towns at Riverfront, it will be accessed from Pacific Avenue.
A central road connecting the two would be included as part of a development plan for the former landfill, which lies between the two housing tracts.
The City Council has to sign off on the final development agreements. That has to do with ensuring the developer will have the financing lined up to complete the project as proposed, Everett’s Planning and Community Development Director Allan Giffen said.
Polygon already has started building a few model homes on the property. When the City Council gives its final approval, construction can begin in earnest on the first phase of 70 homes.
The council is scheduled for a briefing Wednesday, and to vote on the southern Overlook development Aug. 24 and the northern Towns development Sept. 14.
The project has seen various iterations since Polygon bought the three parcels from San Diego developer OliverMcMillan for $18 million in 2013.
What was initially considered as a 1,400-home development was scaled back shortly after Polygon took over.
In 2014, Polygon sold its residential home-building business to California-based William Lyon Homes for $520 million, which included the two Riverfront parcels.
At the same time, the developer (keeping the name Polygon Northwest Homes) scaled back Riverfront even further to the current size of 425 units.
Giffen said that Polygon, the commercial developer, has not submitted a plan for the landfill site, but that is expected soon.
The development agreement requires a minimum of 400,000 square feet of commercial space, and it could be as large as 1.1 million square feet, Giffen said.
“We don’t know if they’ll come back with any homes on the landfill parcel,” Giffen said.
There is no requirement that any of the units be affordable housing.
The original plan for the commercial strip called for construction to start in mid-2017.
“The middle of next year isn’t going to happen, so they need to come back and amend the timeline,” Giffen said.
Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
