Edmonds Waterfront Center asks city for help with a loan

Published 1:30 am Thursday, March 19, 2020

EDMONDS — Fundraisers for the Edmonds Waterfront Center are short a couple million dollars in paying for the new 26,000-square-foot building, which is set to open this fall.

To date, staff have secured more $14.1 million for the $16.3 million project on Railroad Avenue. State grants and appropriations make up about $4 million, but to access those dollars, fundraisers need to show they have enough money to complete the project. Now, they’re asking the city for help getting a loan to cover the rest.

“In a way, it’s an insurance policy,” said Daniel Johnson, campaign director for the new building. “This allows us to continue that fundraising past construction, if it’s required. It is our intention to raise all the money by the time we cut the ribbon in the fall.”

With the city council’s approval, the city would put down a line of credit worth up to $2 million. On Oct. 31, those expenses would be transferred into a seven-year loan for the senior center to pay off.

The council was scheduled to vote on the loan Tuesday, but postponed the action until next week’s meeting. Members pushed the vote down so the council could focus on transitioning to remote meetings amid the coronavirus outbreak, City Council President Adrienne Fraley-Monillas said.

“We just didn’t want to take up something that important when we were just learning how to work with five people on the phone,” she said.

The building is set to open by early October, Johnson said.

Construction is continuing during the coronavirus outbreak, but the number of on-site workers is kept to under 50. Further restrictions from the governor could halt the project, he added.

The pandemic has also tempered donations, but the center “won’t stop fundraising until every dollar is raised,” Johnson said.

Formerly known as the South County Senior Center, the original building on Railroad Avenue opened in 1967. It was the first non-profit senior center in Snohomish County.

Today, the senior center serves about 3,000 people annually.

Plans for the new building started in 2013.

The Waterfront Senior Center is intended for people of all ages. Senior programming runs mostly from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. All-ages events will go from 4 to 10 p.m.

When it’s finished, the building will meet requirements for the LEED Gold standard, an environmental checklist which includes having no fossil fuels on site and a robust solar energy design.

The building’s roof will house 305 solar panels, which cost a total of about $300,000, Johnson said.

In all, sustainability provisions cost about $500,o00.

In a bid for more donors, people can pay $1,000 for a panel and have their name on a plaque in the building.

Edmonds resident Rick Steves, the travel author and TV host, donated an additional $200,000 for the environmental upgrades, on top of the $4 million he already gave for the project.

Per the loan agreement, the city can rent building space one Saturday evening each year, and the city gets weekday access during summer months and for events.

If the senior center misses a loan payment, the city can deduct time off the building’s 40-year lease.

“We do not anticipate this to take effect,” Johnson said, “because we have every intention of, first, drawing down the minimum we would need to complete construction, and second, paying off the loan amount.”

Joey Thompson: 425-339-3449; jthompson@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @byjoeythompson.