Everett riverfront development gets nod
Published 11:10 pm Saturday, December 13, 2008
EVERETT — The Everett Planning Commission last week recommended the City Council rezone a swath of industrial land along the Snohomish River east of I-5 as part of a massive commercial and residential project planned there.
Commissioners also suggested that the City Council approve a list of architectural design guidelines to help shape future development along the two-mile-long stretch of land.
The rezone is needed before construction can begin on an outdoor shopping mall and housing project called the Everett Riverfront District.
San Diego developer OliverMcMillan purchased 139 acres from the city earlier this year, including a former landfill and mill site.
By 2011, the developer plans to open shops, restaurants, a hotel, a movie theater and up to 1,400 homes.
For its part, the city is building a park, restoring wetlands and building five miles of walking and bicycle trails. The city and developer are working jointly to develop a system to collect methane gas emitted from decomposing landfill waste that is buried on the site. The total project is more than 220 acres.
City officials and the developer maintain the project will continue to progress and that tenants will soon sign leases, despite a bad economy and high vacancy rates in open-air shopping venues, due to retailers curbing expansion plans.
Cinetopia, a Vancouver, Wash., luxury movie theater company, is the first tenant to sign onto the new development.
It plans to build a 16-screen movie theater at the Riverfront District with a connected art gallery, a restaurant and a wine bar.
OliverMcMillan has other ambitious development projects in the planning stages in Southern California’s Inland Empire, suburban Chicago and Houston.
The Everett City Council is expected to vote on the final plan and rezone for the Riverfront District early next year.
Commissioners Si Newland and Loren Sand recused themselves from the vote. Newland’s family business owns land near the development and Sand was previously employed by Perteet Engineering of Everett, a civil engineering contractor that has received millions dollars for work it has done for the city preparing the site for development.
Reporter David Chircop: 425-339-3429 or dchircop@heraldnet.com.
