EVERETT — After months of work to dismantle the former downtown Everett YMCA’s interior, demolition on the exterior of the facility’s annex is underway along Rockefeller Avenue.
Last week, crews started tearing down structures added to the red-brick YMCA in the 1960s and 1980s. The original structure was built in the 1920s on California Street.
Eventually, over 260 apartments will replace the YMCA annex and a parking lot across the street.
“I support this. I don’t consider that a historic building,” said Jack O’Donnell, a member of Historic Everett, which is dedicated to preserving historical architecture in the city. “If we’re getting housing in place of that, and it serves no purpose now with the YMCA not there, then that’s a win.”
Seattle-based Trent Development bought the properties from the YMCA of Snohomish County for $3.6 million last year, according to Snohomish County property records.
The company estimates the total project’s cost between $90 and $95 million.
The Nimbus apartment building at 2701 Rockefeller Ave., the site of the former parking lot, is the first being built. Excavation for underground parking started in January, Trent Development CEO Trent Mummery said. An eight-story building with 165 apartments and a rooftop terrace will be erected atop the single level of parking.
A construction worker sprays water over the demolition site of the former YMCA annex on Tuesday in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
The building will be smaller than the initial proposal of 10 stories atop three levels of underground parking. Everett city staff approved the revised project last summer for 97 parking spaces for residents in studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, according to permits. Residents will drive into the alley between Rockefeller and Oakes avenues to reach the garage.
Framing and site work permits are close to being issued, Everett Public Works spokeswoman Kathleen Baxter said.
Early plans for the location of the YMCA annex show a five-story building with 54 units and no on-site parking.
The brick 1920s building will remain. Trent Development intends to rehabilitate it for commercial use, with potential for a boutique hotel, condos or an office building.
“I think it’s one of the hallmark buildings downtown,” O’Donnell said.
Ben Watanabe: bwatanabe@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3037; Twitter @benwatanabe.
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