EVERETT – Frequent shoppers may joke about living at the mall, but a new single-family housing development will make living at Everett Mall – or a few steps away from it – a reality.
Steadfast Commercial Properties, which owns the mall, plans to build 74 single-family houses on undeveloped land at the shopping center’s south edge. The gated community, called Greenfield Village, would include a central park with a playground and picnic area.
The location close to the mall, a transit center, the Interurban Trail and I-5 should make it attractive to a range of buyers, including young professionals and families, said Neil Green, an associate broker at John L. Scott Real Estate in Marysville.
“A homeowner can literally walk to dinner and a movie or shop till they drop within walking distance of their home,” said Green, who is marketing the development for Steadfast.
Steadfast bought the six-acre property on the edge of the mall’s south parking lot earlier this year. The overgrown area, located between the shopping area and residential neighborhoods, has in the past attracted some troublesome activity.
Patrick Cox, a partner at Steadfast, said the new houses come as the local mall, like malls all over, is evolving into a destination for more than shopping. For example, once Mervyns department store leaves the mall next year, part of its space will be converted into a fitness club. The mall also hopes to attract more restaurants in the future.
Green dubbed the new development a SLEEPS community, one where residents can sleep, live, eat, entertain, play and shop without having to drive .
Greenfield Village also will help fill a big housing need for Everett, said Lanie McMullin, the city’s executive director of economic development.
“In Everett all over, one thing we’re in need of is entry-level, single-family homes,” she said. “This is a wonderful addition to that. It’s a great idea.”
Green said he expects prices for the homes, in today’s dollars, to start between $340,000 and $360,000. The homes will range from more than 1,650 square feet to more than 1,800 square feet, each with three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The multistory houses will have virtually no yards to maintain, but they will be well designed, Cox and Green said. Some of the designs will have the garages in the back so as not to detract from the front of the house.
“They’ll be really attractive, with great curb appeal,” Green said, adding that buyers who reserve in advance will be allowed to pick their design.
Linda Johannes, general manager of the Everett Mall, said Greenfield Village will only add to the general improvement of the mall. Since Steadfast bought the center in 2004, it has built a new collection of stores and added big tenants to the existing mall. A new movie theater has opened and more changes are ahead as well.
“We’re trying to roll out something wonderful for south Everett,” Johannes said.
Cox said Steadfast is in final talks with a local builder for the project, and construction could begin early next year.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
Steadfast Commercial Properties
Drawings show a Greenfield Village single-family house (above), and the overall layout of the Steadfast Commercial Properties development (at bottom), which will be located south of the Everett Mall.
Greenfield Village
For more information about Greenfield Village at Everett Mall or about being placed on an interested buyer list, e-mail Neil Green at John L. Scott Real Estate, neilg@johnlscott.com.
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