Much of downtown in one family’s hands

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, July 22, 2006

Many people have a stake in downtown Everett’s destiny, but no one’s as invested in it as Art Skotdal and his family.

Look up Colby Avenue toward the 14-story white building known as the Everett Mutual Tower. In their hands since 1997, it is home to the Skotdals’ business offices as well as their radio station, KRKO-AM 1380.

At downtown’s central intersection – the crossing of Hewitt and Colby avenues – the Skotdals’ properties surround three of the four corners. If there were an Everett monopoly board, these Skotdal holdings would be like Boardwalk and Park Place.

Further down Colby, the Skotdals’ Peninsula apartment complex is one of the few large downtown housing projects built in recent years.

Their properties have an assessed value above $60 million, making them by far the most influential landlords in downtown Everett. The downtown core’s total assessed value is a little more than $500 million.

And, having already put their stamp on the city’s central blocks, the Skotdals have ambitious plans for the future. Plans for Skotdal Real Estate’s new 19-story office and condominium building at the corner of Wetmore and Hewitt avenues are making the rounds in City Hall. At 237 feet tall, the building would be nearly 100 feet higher than the Everett Mutual Tower, another Skotdal holding and the downtown area’s tallest building.

Recently, the family purchased the Elks Club property along Rucker Avenue, with the intention of building a new mixed-use development with residential space. To accommodate that, the Skotdals asked the city to raise the building height limits along Rucker to 150 feet. The family holdings also include the high-visibility southeast corner at Rucker and Hewitt, now serving mostly as a parking lot.

Art and his son Craig, the president of Skotdal Real Estate, shy away from most publicity, preferring to let their projects speak for themselves. Craig Skotdal wouldn’t talk much about proposed projects, but the vision of downtown he talked about largely matches City Hall’s vision contained in the downtown plan.

“In some ways, it’s lucky that Everett has taken longer to develop than other cities. We have the opportunity to learn from their growing pains,” he said in an e-mail response to The Herald.

He added the most critical part of the downtown plan is the implementation.

“We can’t let this plan sit on a shelf and collect dust. Both the public and private sides are going to have to work together and use what we have to make progress,” he said. “The key will be to stay focused, not attempt too much at once, and seize opportunities when they happen.”

As with any influential landlord in a city, mention of the Skotdals elicits varied responses from fellow downtown property owners. But many praise Art Skotdal for his efforts to invest in downtown during a period when few others would.

“He came here before the herd and helped clean up the community,” said Everett native and business owner Howie Bargreen.

And even those who admit to personal differences with the Skotdals credit them with building and managing quality properties.

As the city grows and attracts new landlords, the Skotdals will still have a big influence on downtown, but it won’t be as large as in the past. Mike Deller, whose former EverTrust Bank was the namesake tenant of the Skotdal’s Everett Mutual Tower, said he thinks that diversification is both good and inevitable.

“Art owns a lot of property, and he’s a good landlord, but competition’s good,” he said.

Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.