EVERETT — A recently released strategic plan in the works for more than a year raised potential ideas that could drive economic development efforts in south Everett.
The report, written by consultants working with city staff, said Everett should incentivize local property ownership and connect employers with residents looking for job training.
At a June 23 City Council meeting, consultants and economic development staff said there’s lots of opportunity in south Everett.
Commercial rents are lower than other areas of the city, housing is relatively affordable compared to other parts of the metro area and the neighborhood is situated near major employers like Boeing. The arrival of Sound Transit’s Link light rail brings a chance for denser, transit-oriented development, which can conserve open space, reduce infrastructure costs and promote economic development, research has shown.
But all those positives also come with challenges. Currently, there’s limited transit coverage, pedestrian infrastructure or bike paths, the report read. Workers there typically earn less than in other areas of the city. Most people there are renters for both commercial and residential property. As development interest rises while light rail’s projected opening date of 2037 gets closer, residents and businesses face the danger of being priced out of their own community.
“It’s both a great opportunity, but given the sort of mix of renters and and lower-income households, it’s also a potential threat, particularly around issues like economic displacement,” said Morgan Shook, a senior policy advisor at ECOnorthwest, the consulting firm that helped prepare the report for the city.
Residents in south Everett earn less, on average, than residents in other areas of the city. Nearly half of all households in the area are cost-burdened — meaning they spend more than one-third of their income on housing — and a quarter of renters spend more than half their income on rent, according to the report.
Everett has already undertaken some work to alleviate displacement pressure in the area. As part of its most recent comprehensive plan update, the city included provisions for inclusionary zoning in parts of south Everett, a policy that requires a certain percentage of higher-density developments to be leased or sold at more affordable rates.
The economic development report’s top priority was incentivizing local ownership to “anchor economic growth in South Everett,” the report read.
To do so, the city could utilize state and county programs which provide education and down payment assistance to some first-time home buyers.
The report also raised the idea of redeveloping Walter E. Hall Golf Course into an area for affordable mixed-use housing and businesses.
It’s not the first time that thought has come up. In 2019, the City Council discussed it during its annual retreat, and the city has previously considered evaluating whether it could sustain two golf courses.
Everett does make a small profit from its golf courses, budget documents show. But opening up the south Everett course for redevelopment could “serve as a cornerstone for advancing South Everett’s transformation,” the report read, by giving space to build for-sale workforce housing.
To build the project, the city would have to master plan the site, making sure the housing is affordable while also protecting wetlands, public spaces and access to transit, the report read.
The city also needs to make sure local businesses have a chance to buy property as well, the report read. Creating affordable retail space is not as common as creating affordable housing, said Everett Economic Development Director Dan Eernissee, but there are options to consider.
One way to do so could be creating a public development authority, a city-chartered nonprofit that could be tasked with holding and leasing affordable retail space, the report read. In a well-known example, Seattle established a public development authority in 1973 to run Pike Place Market in an effort to preserve the historic retail space and the legacy businesses operating there.
The city could also work to connect businesses through a business improvement district, where local companies could pool resources to fund investments in commercial space. Doing so may be difficult, however, without local ownership.
“Property owners come together and agree to tax themselves, basically, then you can form the BIA,” Eernissee said. “What we have in south Everett is a lot of either non-local owners of property or chain owners of property, who aren’t interested in a BIA, generally.”
Another recommendation from the report is to build workforce development efforts for locals seeking nearby jobs.
Most workers in south Everett commute out of the area for work, the report showed, even though there are a number of aerospace and green energy jobs nearby.
The report recommends holding regular meeting between employers and workforce development agencies, as well as possibly creating incentive programs for businesses that commit to hiring and training south Everett residents.
“There’s a real desire and a need for a better pipeline from the folks who live in the neighborhood into those highly-skilled trade jobs,” said Tina Vlasaty, the deputy director of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, known as LISC.
The city also needs to make sure that nearby services — child care, transportation, access to housing — are robust so locals can attend training programs, Vlasaty said.
In 2023, Everett put forth $200,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for the economic development plan.
City planning staff are also expected to create a subarea plan for the Casino Road neighborhood in south Everett, similar to the city’s “Metro Everett” plan approved in 2019.
Everett expects to begin work on the plan in 2026, city staff wrote in an email Thursday. It’s expected to take about one year to complete.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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