Quil Ceda Village is one of Snohomish County’s economic hot spots, with the county’s first Wal-Mart Supercenter, a Home Depot, a collection of smaller businesses, the Tulalip Casino and the new 100-store Seattle Premium Outlets.
Just five years ago, the same stretch of land along I-5 was mostly unoccupied.
Asked about the rapid and remarkable transformation, Tulalip Trines board member Herman Williams Jr. said development was in the planning stages for years before the first shovelful of dirt was moved.
“It’s taken a number of years to see our dreams become reality,” he said.
Further development at the Tulalip’s Quil Ceda Village, including a hotel, will take at least several more years to complete.
Already under way between the Tulalip Casino and Seattle Premium Outlets is an amphitheater that can seat 1,200 people for performing arts events, and display kiosks that tell about the tribes’ history.
Other ideas mentioned as possible additions to the 2,000-acre Quil Ceda Village site include an amusement or water park, a recreational vehicle park, a golf course, restaurants and other retail, light manufacturing or business development.
At this point, a hotel is the only idea that John McCoy, Quil Ceda Village’s manager, mentioned in definite terms.
“We know it will be open before the 2010 (Winter Olympics) in Vancouver, B.C.,” McCoy said.
In the meantime, the tribes are continuing efforts to retain a portion of the growing sales tax revenue created by Quil Ceda Village. By the end of the year, the tribes will be generating more than $17 million in annual sales taxes for the state and $6 million annually for the county, McCoy said.
He added that of the tribes’ 3,600 members, about 2,000 are older than 18. McCoy said the majority of those members are working.
Creating jobs for the tribes and diversifying the economy into directions other than gambling still are the overriding objectives behind the economic development project, McCoy said.
“That’s always been the goal. The Legislature can always legislate gambling away,” he said, “though I don’t see that happening anytime soon.”
Michael V. Martina / The Herald
A Nike factory outlet is one of more than 100 stores opening Thursday at Seattle Premium Outlets in Tulalip.
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