EDMONDS – A Seattle developer plans to soon begin construction on a $65 million condominium project at the former Unocal oil tank farm site overlooking Puget Sound.
“As soon as they release the building permits, we’re ready to start,” said Ross Woods, executive vice president of Triad Development Inc.
The development, called Point Edwards, will include 297 units when all phases are built. Individual condos will range in price from slightly under $200,000 to above $1 million.
Triad’s purchase of the 23-acre property overlooking Puget Sound, for a recorded price of $9.4 million, closed in early October. In September, the state Department of Ecology declared that Unocal’s cleanup of the property was complete after the removal of soil contaminated with petroleum, arsenic and lead.
Grading has already begun on the site. The developer has filed permit applications for a total of five buildings – four residential complexes with a total of 99 units and a community building for the residents.
Those won’t all be built at once, Woods said. First will come the community building and two of the residential structures. The other two condo buildings in the first phase could be built soon afterward.
The community building will include a gym, conference room, theater and lounge area for residents. An outdoor swimming pool and a hot tub also are planned, Woods said.
The first phase is expected to be completed by spring 2005, and additional buildings will be built as the market demands, he added.
Woods and his architect, Blaine Weber of Seattle-based Weber + Thompson, said they believe the condos will sell well because they are both close to the water and downtown Edmonds. Both said they’ve already received inquiries.
“I think the setting, with the view, is obviously a huge bonus,” Woods said.
Triad also is paying for improvements to Pine Street along the front of the Point Edwards development and will provide three public viewpoint parks.
When Woods first talked about his plans a year ago, he and Weber discussed an Italian style for the three-story residential buildings. That has changed, however.
“We did some focus groups with the Edmonds community,” Weber said. “The result was the people we met with said, ‘We want something that truly is Edmonds.’ “
In response, the design has been changed to a more “casual, comfortable” look that will fit in better with the rest of Edmonds, Weber said.
Many of the condos will have water views, but sizes of the units will vary, from under 700 square feet to 2,300 square feet. The estimated price for the least expensive units will be $180,000, Woods said, about $20,000 more than originally quoted last year. The priciest units will command up to $1.2 million, according to Triad.
While the upper portion of the Unocal site is being transformed, the lower portion still awaits a new future. The Department of Ecology plans to propose a cleanup plan for the lower portion in early 2005, with work expected to begin that summer. The state and the city have proposed a realigned ferry dock and Edmonds Crossing terminal, which could connect rail, ferry, bus and other transportation in one place. That proposal, however, requires more money.
Eric Fetters is a reporter for the Herald in Everett.
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