EVERETT — In a few years, the waterfront Millwright District will boast 40,000 square feet of retail space, 150,000 square feet of office space and some 200 housing units, as well as a network of roads and 1,500 parking spaces.
But Wednesday, the district had just a few restaurants, a couple of boat clubs and some massive piles of dirt east of Boxcar Park.
People involved in the Millwright Loop development break ground on the project at the Port of Everett on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
The Port of Everett officially kicked off its second phase of district development with a ceremony Wednesday. For the next eight months, the Port will build Millwright Loop Road and Chamfer Street and install new utilities. The road system will be complete by the end of 2024.
The Port has considered developing the district since the 1990s, CEO Lisa Lefeber said. Those ideas have taken decades to come to fruition. In 2021, the Port partnered with Lincoln Property Company, an international firm, to develop the district’s real estate.
Port of Everett CEO Lisa Lefeber speaks at the Millwright Loop groundbreaking on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
“You’ve really created a developer’s dream here,” Alex Aigner, a vice president of the firm, said at the groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday.
Tenants might start moving in to the housing units by 2026, Aigner said.
The Port is taking care to preserve the history of the Millwright District in its designs, Lefeber said. A “workman’s clocktower, inspired by a clock that mill workers once used to punch in and out of work, will stand at the main entrance to Waterfront Place.
Snohomish County invested $15 million into the project as part of a pilot program, county Treasurer Brian Sullivan said.
Displays show the different phases of the Millwright Loop construction on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In total, the Millwright District project will use $300 million of public and private funding, Port Commissioner Glen Bachman said.
The roads and other features must rise above the floodplain to accommodate rising sea levels in the future, Lefeber said.
The district’s industrial history isn’t too far removed from the present. Tom Stiger, currently one of the port’s commissioners, worked as a laborer in the district before the Hulbert Mill burned down in 1956.
Surya Hendry: 425-339-3104; surya.hendry@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @suryahendryy.
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