Imagine front doors that open to busy sidewalks. A coffee shop with outdoor seating on the corner, and shoppers browsing storefronts up and down city streets.
That snapshot doesn’t represent many areas of Everett now. But developers and city officials are peering into crystal balls to see if it could be a common scene from downtown Everett’s future.
The pilot project is a 22-unit development next door to the Everett Public Library. Aptly dubbed Library Place, the collection of rectangular, orange and gray studios and town homes is like the metaphorical toe test — an attempt to find out if the swimming pool is warm enough for big-time urban development.
Library Place might look more at home in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood than it does in Everett. Externally, it’s stark and modern. Inside, it takes on an open, minimalist quality: housing designed to feel like urban living at its best.
For the developers, it was a risky move. Skotdal Real Estate started plans for Library Place years ago, before the economy undermined the housing market and put residential construction on pause.
Building in Everett is an even shakier move, considering that the city hasn’t historically supported high-end housing projects. The cost of building in Everett is similar to that in Seattle and Bellevue, but the return on investment is usually lower.
“That’s why we’ve not seen much development of this quality in Everett,” said Craig Skotdal, president of Skotdal Real Estate. “But we live in the community. We wanted to support our town.”
He called the project “a leap of faith.”
Make that a two-part leap. Library Place could eventually be much bigger than the 22 units available now. Skotdal Real Estate has delayed plans indefinitely for a larger second phase of Library Place: a second apartment development.
Blame the economy for that delay.
“In a perfect world, we would have built everything at once,” Skotdal said.
He isn’t sure exactly when the company will move ahead with phase two. Consumer confidence has to make a rebound, a big enough rebound to support an additional 178 apartments.
So far, Skotdal Real Estate is dealing with a different reality. Five of Library Place’s 22 units have rented so far, but Skotdal said he anticipates leasing activity to pick up in spring when renters start looking to move.
The company dropped the lease price of the units earlier this month; anyone who rents between now and May 1 receives a 20 percent discount. Now, a studio rental starts at $895 per month. A one-bedroom townhouse starts at $1,250, and the two-bedroom goes for $1,450.
Library Place is heralded by city officials as a bold new step for Everett, an attractive residential development that could help local employers recruit new talent by making downtown a more appealing place to live.
The idea is that stylish rental options might help create a more walkable downtown by giving small businesses an injection of customers who live nearby. In a way, it’s a return to the days before suburban sprawl became commonplace.
“It’s not just about building a new apartment building in downtown Everett,” Skotdal said. “Our goal is to bring people back to the core of Everett.”
He said prospective renters often ask about the building’s amenities.
“We tell them the location is the amenity.”
Read Amy Rolph’s small-business blog at www.heraldnet.com/TheStorefront. Contact her at 425-339-3029 or arolph@heraldnet.com.
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For more information about the building, go to library-place.com
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