EVERETT — A hotel that would be one of the tallest buildings in town and a core of shops are part of a massive redevelopment plan on the city’s land along the Snohomish River.
The city on Friday released more details of proposed plans for its 221-acre riverfront property.
“We are getting closer and closer,” Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said. “People can start getting their minds around what this development could look like.”
San Diego developer OliverMcMillan proposes building up to 1,400 housing units and more than 1 million square feet of shops and a hotel.
All that development is expected to bring more traffic and people to town, but also to accompany projects to rehabilitate sensitive wetlands and the Snohomish River shoreline, according to environmental documents released Friday.
Public review of the project begins now, with new documents available online and at Everett libraries.
Environmental review is a milestone in the effort to remake the city’s old landfill, tire fire site and mill properties. OliverMcMillan proposes to buy the city’s land for $8 million in a deal that might close in February.
The development firm is happy to see the project analysis reach this point, president Paul Buss said.
“We think it addresses the issues and are looking forward to the review process,” he said.
The city spent tens of millions of dollars cleaning up the riverfront property and about a decade moving toward redevelopment, Stephanson said.
The sale will leverage a project worth about $500 million, he said.
“We’ve had a dozen or more renditions of what that (the project) could look like and the best site for structures,” Stephanson said.
The preferred project builds a core of shops, offices, a theater and a hotel. The north and south ends of the project would be dedicated to townhouses and other housing.
Altogether, the project is intended to create a “lifestyle entertainment center.”
More than 100 acres of wetlands and open space is intended to be restored and surrounded by protective buffers. Trails and natural park areas connecting the public to the river are also planned on the city’s dime.
By 2030, a total of 10 intersections will operate at the city’s two worst traffic-jam ratings with or without the project, according to the city’s analysis.
Also, dump trucks might have to make 70,000 round-trips to bring in fill dirt and take away unsuitable dirt as part of construction.
Overall, the proposed development will help, not hurt, the environment and wildlife habitat by upgrading the former industrial site, Everett planning manager Dave Koenig said.
Specifically, a 30-acre important wetland on the property will have better protective buffers, he said.
The hotel would be the tallest building on the site, having about seven or eight stories, for a total of 100 feet in height. Other housing will be about two or three stories tall, Koenig said.
The project area sits outside the Snohomish River’s floodway, where floodwaters run fast and dangerously.
Some of the project is planned to be built within floodplain areas where development is allowed. Construction will be at least two feet above recorded floodwater levels and will be built away from flood-prone areas, Koenig said.
Alex Alexander, who lives across the river, said building on a bend in the river is folly.
“The river will decide what it decides to do,” he said. “Water and wind are things you simply cannot fight.”
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
Riverfront project
New analysis of Everett’s riverfront redevelopment project can be reviewed for free or purchased from the city.
Online: www.everettwa.org and click on “riverfront redevelopment” and then “draft environmental impact statement.”
At the library: Main library, 2702 Hoyt Ave., or Evergreen branch, 9512 Evergreen Way
At City Hall: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 2930 Wetmore Ave., Suite 8-A
CD copies: Free.
Printed copies: $50 for the draft environmental impact statement and $50 for all appendices.
Questions? Call Dave Koenig at 425-257-8736.
Public meeting
A public hearing is planned at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 22 in the Weyerhaeuser Room at Everett Station, 3201 Smith St., Everett.
The project
Total acres: 221
Proposed buildings: Up to 900,000 square feet mixed commercial use, 200,000 square feet of hotel space, up to 1,400 housing units.
Work begins: Dirt might be hauled in in April.
Construction done: Fall 2010 at the soonest.
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