EVERETT — The Everett City Council gave an extension Wednesday to a company building a massive riverfront redevelopment project, allowing it five more years to find a grocer to operate on the property.
In 2019, the city signed a number of agreements with Shelter Holdings, a developer that owns the riverfront property, to build two mixed-use buildings, a public plaza and a number of parking spots by July 1, 2025. Those agreements also required a grocery store to open before the July deadline.
The developer, however, said grocery store operators “want to see additional surrounding population density to support a grocery store at the Riverfront,” a council document read. The delay gives the developer until July 2030 to attract a grocer.
Shelter Holdings has completed about 300 housing units on the property so far. It’s currently building 160 more units and the city is reviewing permits for another 150, said Eric Evans, who helps manage the project for the development company, at a June 18 council meeting. By the time the entire development is complete, there will be 1,250 housing units on the site.
The store is set to be a “specialty grocer,” according to an agreement between the city and the developer, ranging from 10,000 to 35,000 square feet.
Before the redevelopment project, the city used the area as a landfill from 1917 to 1974. It was also the site of the “Great Everett Tire Fire” in 1984 when about 1 million tires burned continuously for months, making national news.
The property owners initially attempted to use the former landfill site to host an Ikea furniture store, but changed plans after the retailer backed out in 2017. The next year, the developer announced plans for a massive six-phase mixed-use development including apartments, restaurants and a movie theater. After Shelter Holdings placed the cinema on hold in 2021, it later changed plans to put a pickleball facility there instead.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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