EVERETT — After years of planning and design work, Everett officials painted the clearest picture yet on Wednesday of the possible costs of a new city-built outdoor stadium to host professional baseball and soccer teams.
City staff are targeting a total budget of $82 million for property acquisition, design and construction of the stadium.
It’s a lower number than preliminary estimates a city fiscal advisory committee presented to the council last year. At that time, the committee estimated a stadium could cost between $84.4 million and $114.6 million, with another $18 million set aside for property acquisition.
Under current plans — which are still subject to change — the city would put forward about $7.25 million of one-time funds toward the $82 million project to build it, about 9% of the stadium’s total cost. That’s more than the $4.4 million in one-time spending the fiscal advisory committee first pointed out as a possible funding source in its preliminary recommendation.
If approved, the city would spend $4.8 million now and about $2.45 million at a later date, city staff said in a presentation. The rest of the money would come from Snohomish County, the state, the AquaSox, the United Soccer League and bonds. Those bonds, to be paid back by the stadium’s future revenue, would serve as the bulk of the funding for the project, totaling around $40 million.
Under current plans, the city would not spend any general fund dollars or raise taxes to fund the project.
Cost estimates for the stadium are now lower because city staff negotiated with the progressive design-build team — the designers and contractors working on the stadium in tandem — to design the project to Everett’s budget specifications, staff said Wednesday.
“We’ve been working with the financing available to us,” Everett mayor Cassie Franklin said Wednesday.
The city has been looking to build a new stadium for years. The process was spurred by new regulations from Major League Baseball that meant Funko Field, where the minor league Everett AquaSox play, was out of compliance with league rules. The stadium would need extensive renovations to be brought into compliance with the new regulations.
The league has already levied fines against the AquaSox for playing in a stadium not up to par. The team’s co-owner, Chad Volpe, previously said Everett could be in danger of losing the AquaSox without a new or renovated stadium.
That risk set off years of studies comparing the viability of sites across the city. Eventually, the city narrowed its choices down to three — build a stadium downtown, rebuild Funko Field at its current site, or do nothing, likely leading to the AquaSox leaving the city.
In December 2024, the City Council selected the downtown site. That was based, among other criteria, on the possibility of the United Soccer League bringing professional men’s and women’s soccer teams to the city. A soccer field would not have fit at the Funko Field location.
The extra investment from United Soccer League and its additional lease revenue is critical to making the finances of building the stadium work, city staff have said. The head of the city’s fiscal advisory committee, Fred Safstrom, previously said the viability of a Funko Field rebuild was questionable because of the lower available revenue. That property is owned by Everett Public Schools, meaning the city would not be able to recoup as much of the stadium’s costs.
“We’ve always looked at Funko Field seriously. I think for a lot of us, if we could have made it work there, we would have,” council member Ben Zarlingo said Wednesday. “It’s just that it does not support the extra revenue that allows us to complete this project.”
The council is set to vote on three ordinances related to the stadium project on June 11. They would put $4.8 million toward the project, amend the city budget to reflect that investment and start the process of property acquisition on the stadium site.
Out of the $4.8 million, $3 million would go toward bringing the stadium design to 60% completion, $550,000 would go toward legal services and consultant fees, and another $1.25 million would go toward initial property acquisition costs.
The city has still not made a final decision on whether or not to build the stadium. That will only come after design of the project is complete, likely in late 2025 or early 2026.
In the property acquisition ordinance, the city lists 16 parcels it could acquire — through eminent domain, if necessary — to make room for the new stadium, set to be located on the east side of Broadway between Hewitt Avenue and Pacific Avenue. If approved by council, the city would move toward purchasing many parcels along Broadway and Pacific, but parcels along Hewitt would not be acquired, the ordinance shows.
The initial property acquisition ordinance is just one step in the process of buying those properties, a staff document said. It would give the mayor authority to sign documents like purchase agreements, lease agreements and settlement agreements with the property owners listed in the ordinance.
The city can’t close the purchase of any property until council approves it. If eminent domain proceedings become necessary, the council would have to pass a second ordinance approving that as well.
Some businesses near the site have previously raised concerns over potential impacts of the stadium. Others have supported the project, citing potential economic development. The Greater Everett Chamber of Commerce publicly backed the stadium in April.
City staff stressed the goal is to relocate any displaced businesses within the city limits.
On Wednesday, the council also terminated an agreement between the city and Sound Transit that would have constructed a pedestrian path, pedestrian lighting and bicycle signage between Angel of the Winds arena and Everett Station. It would have been known as the Wall Street Connector.
The downtown stadium will take up some of the space the proposed multi-modal path would have occupied, a council document said. The stadium project, however, is also expected to be built with other pedestrian improvements, the document said.
If built, the Wall Street Connector project would have cost over $2 million, funded mostly by Sound Transit.
If the council approves the three stadium ordinances on the table, the next step for the city will be to complete lease agreements between the baseball and soccer organizations. Those negotiations are progressing, with an agreement already in place for the lease terms to last the life of the bonds’ debt service, said Ben Franz, a consultant working on the project. The city expects to complete those negotiations by the fall, he said Wednesday.
Construction is expected to begin in 2026 if the project moves forward. The first game would be played in April 2027.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
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