Everett near deal with developer to overhaul riverfront

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, January 17, 2007

EVERETT – The ink on the contract isn’t dry.

But a major riverfront land deal between the city and a California company, which specializes in urban mixed-use developments, is two weeks away, city officials say.

“What you’re doing is bringing back to life for people, what was used only for industry,” said Dene Oliver, chief executive of San Diego-based OliverMcMillan. “This is really about the recycling of America.”

Oliver said he learned to water ski on Lake Washington and spent much of his childhood visiting family in the Puget Sound area.

His company has offered to pay $8 million for 216 acres of city-owned former heavy industrial land on the banks of the Snohomish River.

Over the last two decades, the city has spent more than $48 million cobbling together land and cleaning up the old Simpson Lee mill and city landfill sites, east of downtown.

Now the dream of an upscale place to shop, dine, work, live and play is starting to take shape, at least on paper.

On Wednesday, general terms of the agreement were aired publicly for the first time at a City Council workshop.

The council will now have time to digest the terms before a final vote scheduled for Jan. 31.

OliverMcMillan plans to transform the polluted site into an ecologically friendly project with a minimum of 400,000 square feet of retail space and at least 100 hotel rooms or residential units.

Of the retail area, at least 150,000 square feet would be squared away for small boutiques.

The company also said it plans to develop the site to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Silver standards.

That’s the second of four levels of certification by the U.S. Green Building Council, which rates projects based on sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Maintaining 2.3 miles of public trails leading to the waterfront and building a three-acre park are among many commitments the city is pledging for the development.

It has also left negotiations agreeing to grade the land for development, to design a methane collection system over the landfill and to relocate Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks and the city’s animal shelter.

Roughly half of the land, much of it sensitive wetlands, are expected to be preserved, offering recreational opportunities for birdwatchers.

“It’s something that will truly make this above and beyond anything else that’s happening in the Puget Sound region,” Everett spokeswoman Kate Reardon said.

There is some wiggle room in the pending deal.

Ultimately, the project could swell to 1,500 houses, condos and apartments and 1.5 million square feet of retail space. However, OliverMcMillan representatives say those levels of development are very unlikely.

About the developer

OliverMcMillan is a private development firm founded in 1978 by San Diego natives and lifelong friends Morgan Dene Oliver and James L. McMillan.

The company specializes in urban infill developments that combine retail, office and residential space. Its projects include The Glen Town Center, 20 minutes from downtown Chicago, and the Westcreek project, near Houston’s central business district.

Glen Town Center is a 1,200-acre community with 1.1 million square feet of retail shops, a 10-screen movie theater and 300 high-end apartments and condos.

Plans for Westcreek call for 350,000 square feet of retail space, 300 high-end apartments and 80,000 square feet of office space.