Sultan retail village would include shops, offices and a park

Published 11:05 pm Sunday, February 15, 2009

SULTAN — Developer Steve Harris envisions a vibrant retail village.

There will be restaurants, shops and a park — all of it done to fit a rustic, Northwest feel.

And it will be in Sultan.

The city is cheerleading a private venture to turn a 17-acre patch of ground at Sultan Basin Road and U.S. 2 into a retail village. Workers could break ground on the project as soon as late this year, Harris said.

If it’s built, it will change the face of the little town next to the river.

The city supports the venture, even writing letters of recommendation on the developer’s behalf to potential tenants, Mayor Carolyn Eslick said.

“It’s a very active recruitment, probably the biggest one our city has seen in 15 years,” she said.

Harris, who lives in Monroe, serves on the city of Sultan’s planning board, a five-member volunteer advisory board that makes recommendations to the City Council on land-use policies.

Sales tax has become a vital source of revenue for cities since the Legislature limited property tax collection increases to 1 percent per year unless voters approve more. The city would like to attract more of it, Eslick said.

Harris, an owner of Terra-Ex Land Group, has worked as a developer-builder for 25 years. His wife, Sherri Harris, is a real estate agent. They purchased the property several years ago from the estate of Sam Wold. The city also vacated a street right-of-way to his company in May on Sultan Basin Road. His company paid $65,000 for the property, which needed improvements.

“We’d like to work with the people and play up the area’s assets,” Sherri Harris said. “We totally love the area. We’re both local people. It’s Sultan’s time to shine.”

The company wants to create an environmentally responsible project that blends with the architecture in downtown Sultan, she said.

The development would feature three-story spaces, with shops on lower levels and micro office spaces that professionals could lease on the upper floors.

A piece of the property would be devoted to senior housing.

“People would be able to walk to everything they need,” she said.

Four acres of the property would be a park, perhaps with interpretive trails. The couple would like to see a cultural center that highlights the area’s history.

Plans are being drawn up, although Harris said how quickly the project moves forward is dependent on financing. In this economy, that will be tough. He plans to build the project in stages, which should lessen the risk, he said.

He thinks it will happen regardless.

“Financing finds itself on good projects,” he said.

Debra Smith: 425-339-3197, dsmith@heraldnet.com.