While not every day occurrences, public-private partnerships like the one batted around on Edmonds’ waterfront redevelopment project are not unheard of.

The partnerships allow a city — if it purchases property — to exercise more control who builds what and where.

One current example is in Monroe, a 20,000-resident city which spent $16.1 million purchasing 28 acres just outside its downtown core in 2005.

City officials heard Wal-Mart was interested in coming to town, so they decided to act strongly and quickly to block the development, Monroe Mayor Donnetta Walser told the Enterprise Jan. 18.

The city purchased the land from Snohomish County.

“We wanted something more than a Wal-Mart, something more than a strip mall,” she said. “We wanted something that is a tribute to the city, something the city could be proud of beyond just the basic retail.”

The city wanted to create a plaza with a stage, trails for walking, and new infrastructure on the property, she said. Without owning the land, the city probably couldn’t have talked a developer into building those, she said.

But, as owners, Monroe did just that.

A new Lowe’s home improvement store – the biggest and most unique store among its 1,400 worldwide, company officials said – opened in Monroe in December.

Construction on a beautiful University Village-like mixed development is slated to begin in 2008.

The project was expensive. The city has paid roughly $2,000 a day in debt service since it purchased the property. And because Wal-Mart was publicly waiting in the wings, the county jacked up the property’s price, Walser said.

Still, Walser would do it all over again.

“We are glad we did it,” she said. “(The property) would have been very limited. This makes it consistent and higher quality.”

Monroe’s example doesn’t fit terribly well on Edmonds’ waterfront, Edmonds officials said.

For one thing, a contract rezone—a development agreement that would modify current zoning requirements—could control the process almost effectively as ownership, Mayor Gary Haakenson said.

For another, Edmonds’ financial situation is different.

“It would definitely be a stretch for us to do something like that,” said finance director Dan Clements, who said a $16 million property purchase would cost Edmonds $1.4 million a year in debt service. “It would require fairly significant reductions in other areas.”

Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com