A California developer’s Web site suggests that we “Imagine a Special Place.”
That’s not hard to do, considering the plans of OliverMcMillan. The San Diego company is poised to create a new neighborhood, shopping area and recreation destination on 221 acres along the Snohomish River in Everett.
Despite the site’s history of old mills and a landfill, I have no doubt the riverfront will be spectacular.
The Everett City Council recently approved an $8 million land sale deal. OliverMcMillan promises to set aside land for wetlands, trails and a park, and to adhere to environmental building standards.
I do have trouble imagining the day I could afford to live there – now that I know what “upscale condos” really means.
For more than 20 years, I’ve lived in an old house in northwest Everett. We bought it in 1985 for well under $100,000. The mortgage payment is affordable and I’m rich in equity.
Someday, when I run out of kids and the patience for lawn mowing, I may want to move to a condominium. If and when that day comes, I’ll be keen on someplace with a water view.
I’ve been watching the progress of another project, a partnership between the Port of Everett and developer Maritime Trust of Chicago. For years, I’ve read about “upscale condos” at the Port Gardner Wharf development on the Everett waterfront.
In January, Herald business editor Mike Benbow wrote that people had already put down deposits on 124 of 159 condos in the project’s first phase. If you missed it, here’s what “upscale” means: “The cost of the condos ranges from around $400,000 to $1 million,” Benbow wrote.
Twenty-four percent of the waterfront condo buyers earn $150,000 to $200,000 a year; 20 percent earn $200,000 to $250,000; another 17 percent earn more than $250,000, according to a study by Williams Marketing Inc.
Goodness, that is upscale. Now, I’m thinking riverfront.
I contacted OliverMcMillan’s Everett office Thursday to ask what prices we might expect on the riverfront. No one was available to answer.
I’m not the only one with waterside condo sticker shock.
Benita Davis works near downtown Everett, but lives in north Lynnwood. She’s 59, divorced, and has been a condo dweller for 15 years.
“I think Everett is up-and-coming, and I’m interested in what they’re putting together,” Davis said. She’s particularly interested in the riverfront. Davis, too, thinks she’s priced out of Port Gardner Wharf.
We’re not unaware of what Puget Sound area housing costs these days. Before living in Lynnwood, Davis sold her three-bedroom townhouse in Kenmore for $350,000.
A million, though? A million on the Everett waterfront?
“If I had a million dollars, do you think I’d want to live there?” Davis said.
I’m afraid I agree with her.
Everett isn’t Seattle, not by a long shot. Urban crowding may not appeal to everyone, but Everett’s cultural, educational and retail amenities can’t compare with those in Seattle, and won’t for years to come.
That said, Davis has lived in a condo in Seattle’s Belltown area. “It had a view of the ferries coming and going. But it was very small. And the noise factor, you could hear every drug deal going down,” she said.
Now, she’s got Everett riverfront fever. “I think this will be very nice,” Davis said.
I told Davis my dream scheme, which is to sell my house, buy a waterside condo with cash, and have enough left to send one more child through college – which will cost no less than $100,000.
“That is not going to happen,” Davis said. She’s honest, anyway.
Here’s one more tidbit from the study of folks who’ve put money down on wharf condos. Just 38 percent of them now live in Everett. That got me wondering about neighbors.
Early Thursday morning, with school and my child care closed due to snow, I dreaded telling my boss I wouldn’t be in the office – again.
That’s when I saw an e-mail from my wonderful across-the-street neighbors. The wife is a teacher, the husband an Everett Community College administrator. Their workplaces were closed. Their snow-day message to me was “send him over.”
Would the buyers of million-dollar condos volunteer to watch your 8-year-old all day? Would you let them?
Maybe I’ll stay put. I’ll mow my lawn and enjoy the view from the front porch.
Wherever I live, I hope city leaders and developers don’t forget the middle class. We’ve worked hard. We deserve a place in Everett’s future.
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.
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