Historic Elks Club building’s time is up

EVERETT — The days are numbered for the century-old Elks Club building, as preparations have begun to tear it down and build 200 residential units in its place.

Construction fencing is up around the club and neighboring buildings on the block. A large backhoe has begun demolition work in the club’s parking area just south of the Everett Public Library. Across the street, construction crews are busy building a smaller, all-new home for the Elks.

Skotdal Real Estate is ready to move ahead with Library Place, which will cover nearly two-thirds of a full city block. With an estimated cost of $30 million, it’s believed to be the largest private investment to date in downtown Everett.

The project, which will rise up to seven stories, will include 200 condominiums and apartments. The decision on how many units will be marketed as condos versus apartments hasn’t been made, said Craig Skotdal, president of the Everett-based development company. That will depend on market conditions as the building rises.

He also didn’t pinpoint a completion date.

“We don’t have one at this point. It’s going to take as long as it’s going to take,” Skotdal said. He added it should be done at the same time or before the first new condos are available on Everett’s waterfront.

While holding decades of memories for Elks club members, their building at 2731 Rucker Ave. simply became too large as membership declined. In 2004, Skotdal Real Estate agreed to buy the building and surrounding property, including some small businesses that face Hoyt Avenue. The sale was completed last month for $2.5 million, according to Snohomish County property records.

Because work to relocate utilities and remove hazardous materials, primarily asbestos, needs to done first, visible changes to the property will be minimal for now, Skotdal said. By early next year, however, it should look quite changed.

As the block is dramatically redeveloped, Skotdal said he’d like to see similar changes take place simultaneously on Rucker Avenue.

“As it stands right now, Rucker Avenue is an enormous concrete chasm that cuts off the west side of downtown from everything else,” he said. “The key to revitalizing downtown is to get more feet on the street. If we can humanize Rucker with more landscaping and calm traffic down a bit, it can become a great boulevard that connects people and places in much the same way as Colby and Hewitt now do.”

Such a plan to “humanize” Rucker is included in the city’s downtown plan, but it’s not clear when that may happen, said city spokeswoman Kate Reardon.

The city recently extended a tax-break program that allows condo and apartment owners in downtown skip 10 years of property taxes on the value of new residential buildings, paying taxes only on the land value. Skotdal said at the time of the City Council’s extension vote that the tax incentive helps to make the Library Place development viable.

He added, however, that infrastructure improvements, including redoing sidewalks and streets, also are important to help attract development. Despite recent interest in Everett, developers’ return on investment here is as much as 30 percent below the return on investment for projects in Seattle or Bellevue, he said.

Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.

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