City of Everett decides not to buy health building on Rucker
Published 1:30 am Monday, April 9, 2018
EVERETT — The city of Everett has withdrawn its offer to purchase the Snohomish Health District building at 3020 Rucker Ave.
City leaders have been looking for places to relocate public works staff because of safety concerns in their current offices on Cedar Street. A long-term plan could take a decade or more. Mayor Cassie Franklin has said a stop-gap is needed.
The health district building would have taken about $30 million and four years to turnaround for city use, said Paul Kaftanski, Everett’s interim public works director. He briefed the City Council on the findings in March.
The city is “trying to get the staff into safe structures as quickly as possible within reasonable cost, and what we’re finding is that moving them at all is quite expensive,” Franklin said.
The public works complex on Cedar Street has been deemed unsafe for an earthquake, and redevelopment could surpass $100 million, officials have said. The offer on the Rucker building was $8.5 million.
After the city pulled the offer, the health district opted against a move of its own that had been under consideration. The district had been looking at the Volunteers of America buildings on Broadway and Lombard Avenue. Now, its board will be talking about what’s next, a spokeswoman said.
