EVERETT – Puget Sound Christian College is moving to downtown Everett, the second educational institution to choose the city as its new home in the past month.
“It’s huge,” Lanie McMullin, the city’s executive director, said of the importance of the decision.
“We’ve said all along that it’s not really how many people move to your city, it’s who moves to your city, that responsible communities have been looking at. Our natural resources nowadays are people’s minds. It only behooves us to invite young, educated people to our community.”
The 54-year-old institution, now located in Mountlake Terrace, is negotiating the lease of a building at 1620 Hewitt Ave., the former home of longtime Everett retailer Burnett jewelers. The building now has a Subway sandwich shop downstairs.
Randy Bridges, the college’s president, said the college was looking for an urban area that fit its students, many of whom are preparing for the ministry or careers in social service.
“We wanted to go where we thought the growth was going, and we liked the feeling and the character of the downtown area,” he said.
The college was recruited by the city, as was Bastyr University, which announced last month that it plans a branch campus for its natural healing programs on riverfront land in Everett. Cogswell College already is located downtown.
“We think what Everett is trying to do is good for the city and for the institutions,” Bridges said. “Just that the city wants us is encouraging.”
Bridges said the college hopes to lease about 18,000 square feet in the Hewitt Avenue building. Eventually, it wants to find housing for its students downtown, and develop programs where businesses and organizations can host vocational and other classes at their facilities. He also hopes to use the city’s Performing Arts Center for college programs.
The college was once located in Edmonds, a site now being converted into a performing arts center for the community. Bridges said Everett is a much more suitable location for the students.
Tom Hoban, CEO of Coast Real Estate Services, which is representing the college in finding accommodations for the college administration and student housing, said he was excited about the decision.
“I’m a native of Everett and returned here 17 years ago to start my own business,” he said. “It’s been clear since then that having a four-year university is a key part of a healthy community. It’s an opportunity to retain and even import college-bound kids.
“This particular college intends to be very visible and active in the community, which I think is a bonus.”
McMullin said the presence of more young people downtown should help in the revitalization begun by the Everett Events Center.
“We’ve become a place where young people want to be,” she said. “There’s a sense of energy and vitality that is contagious. Businesses are able to open with less risk. We’ll see things like restaurants and bookstores. Downtown residents are what every good developer is looking for.”
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459 or benbow@heraldnet.com.
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