What’s the Everett waterfront going to look like during the next few years?
Probably a little like downtown Portland, Ore., say the people who are planning and will pay for the redevelopment of 65 acres in the north marina area.
The $200 million- $250 million project will likely have parking on the street and underground, with a minimum of parking lots. Blocks will be short and include some pocket parks.
There will be a walkway along the waterfront, an amphitheater for public events and a possible “on-demand” public transit system that could drive through the development only if a passenger has signaled for pickup.
“It will be much more people friendly,” said John Mohr, executive director of the Port of Everett. “It should have a system of meandering walking routes, neighborhood parks and be much more inviting and much more peaceful.
“It will be a place I would want to come back to over and over again.”
Denny Derickson, a senior planner for David Evans and Associates, called the project of condos, offices, shops and public areas a transit-oriented development.
“Walkable streets and short blocks will allow people who really want to depend on transit – to really live in a part of Everett where that can happen,” he said. “Especially with the price of gas these days, that’s pretty cool stuff.”
He chuckled a bit when explaining how Portland came up with its design of short blocks that crisscross the city. “The developers wanted more frontage ” to sell, he said.
But more frontage also means more sidewalks and more shops and more people out and about, as opposed to what you see at suburban malls with large parking lots.
Port commissioners won’t make a decision on the development before June, but we should start seeing changes within a few weeks, when American Boiler Works is expected to demolish its building.
Port property manager Eric Russell said more demolition will follow. Work on the infrastructure should start this summer.
And work on the first of a maximum of 660 condominium units is to begin this fall.
Ken Olsen, the local representative for Chicago developer Maritime Trust, said he already has a list of 300 people who are interested in the condos.
“We’ve had a tremendous response from people interested in buying condominiums,” he said. “I get about two calls a day.”
Olson said at this point, the condos will likely sell at $300 a square foot. But he said the market will determine the actual price.
“It’s uniquely positioned in the marketplace,” he said.
Added Mohr: “One of the things that surprises me are the number of empty nesters in this community who are demanding that we get started on this project.”
In addition to the commercial development, the port is separately planning a $22 million expansion of its marina.
That’s expected to start in August, providing as many as 294 slips for boats. The slips will mostly be for bigger vessels, from 40 to 80 feet long.
The marina, which has been the West Coast’s second-biggest single marina, will climb to the top with that project, Mohr said.
Once some of the work is completed, Everett should become a waterfront destination for all of north Snohomish County, Derickson added.
“This will be the location for them,” he said. “It provides something that is really needed.”
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com.
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