EVERETT — Moving Paine Field offices to a state-of-the-art $5.2 million administration building on Feb. 24 is the beginning part of a master plan spanning over the next two decades that could see an expanded passenger terminal and a six-story parking garage.
The new building at 9901 24th Place W. Suite D, Everett, will provide some breathing room for a growing administrative staff. Currently 110 employees operate from three different buildings. That’s up from 57 staff members in 2018.
Their new home will be in what used to be a closed Boeing training center that was purchased in 2022 for $6.6 million, said airport spokesperson Kristin Banfield. She said the two-story 93,432-square-foot building is in final stages of renovation.
She said airport staff will occupy the second floor and a small portion of the first floor. Banfield said the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office will be leasing the rest of the building for its West Precinct offices.
“This move comes because of our need for a more modern workspace that aligns with our mission and supports our growing team,” said Joshua W. Marcy, the airport’s director in a statement.
It’s the latest step for the county-owned airport that opened a commercial passenger terminal in 2019, operated by Propeller Airports. More than one million passengers flew out of Paine Field in one year.
Then the pandemic hit in 2020. Passenger numbers dropped, and United discontinued flights in Everett in 2021. This left Alaska Airlines as the only commercial air carrier at the airport.
In October 2022, a state commission named Snohomish County airport as the best bet for expanding passenger airline service at an existing airport to meet future demand for flights in the Seattle area. That’s even as 633,000 passengers flew out of Paine Field in 2023.
The airport master plan projects as many as 4.3 million passengers by 2040.
The airport’s 2040 master plan calls for expanding the airport’s small passenger terminal and building garage parking.Airport roads would also be expanded and auxiliary facilities would be built including a catering facility to provide food service to feed passengers on planes.
Banfield said commercial aviation only accounts for 10% of flights at the airport. She said Paine Field field also serves Boeing test flights, and is the largest base for general aviation in the state of Washington with 550 aircraft calling the airport home.
Staff members will be working remotely Feb. 18 to Feb. 21 in preparation for the move.
Randy Diamond: 425-339-3097; randy.diamond@heraldnet.com
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
