Port of Everett Transforming Waterfront Into a Residential Oasis

by John Wolcott

From lumber mills and industrial property to ritzy condos and shops, the Port of Everett is going through a major renewal.

Work has started on Port Gardener Wharf, a community of luxury condominiums, restaurants, marinas, open markets, marine businesses and a waterfront hotel in Everett, Wash.

The phased project will include a 65-acre industrial site.

Maritime Trust Co. of Chicago's Everett office, Maritime Trust LLC, developed the master plan for the site, working with the port since 2000. Hoffman Construction Co. of Seattle has been chosen as the general contractor and David Evans & Associates of Everett as consulting engineers.

Work on the site of Port Gardner Wharf began in October with installation of the first foundations and infrastructure for 159 condominiums and townhouses. Priced from $380,000 to more than $1 million, as many as 660 residences are planned for the North Marina development.

The five-and six-story condos will be part of a new tourism, recreation, shopping and commercial neighborhood with views of Port Gardner Bay, Whidbey Island and the Olympic Peninsula mountain range.

"We've been having a successful marketing program over the last several months," said Ken Olsen, western region director of land development for Maritime Trust Co. "Judging from the response, we'll probably be oversubscribed on the first phase of residential units. The first occupants should be in by the summer of 2008."

The project's four major phases will be developed as separate yet connected neighborhoods, each one with retail stores, condominiums, townhouses, offices, plazas and open spaces.

In July, the port amended its contract with Hoffman Construction to include the marine-themed Craftsmen District, Hoffman will be responsible for the district's roads, utilities, boatyard, new marina operations building, public access areas and parking, with most of the work expected to be done by subcontractors. "The Craftsmen District is an integral part of this new development because it will provide the infrastructure necessary for our marine-related businesses to thrive," said Eric Russell, director of properties and development for the Port of Everett.

The marine-oriented, urban neighborhood will include 50,000 sq. ft. of retail shops and restaurants, plus 15,000 sq. ft. of office space above the retail space. An esplanade will loop around the development, which will include a 1,000-seat amphitheater, park space and extensive bicycle trails.

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When the Bayside Marine project is finished early next year, it will offer a new Travelift dock with more than double the lifting capacity of the present equipment, plus a new dry-stack storage facility for up to 200 boats. The completed Craftsmen District also will include boat and yacht sales offices, kayak rentals, marine-based suppliers, boat repair and restoration shops, sail makers and other maritime facilities.

The Port Gardner Wharf project already is stirring imaginative proposals for other development on the waterfront.

Jeld-Wen Inc., an Oregon door manufacturer that recently closed its Everett plant a short distance north of the wharf site, announced in July that it is proposing its own redevelopment over the next several years.

Eagle Crest Inc., the real estate division of Jeld-Wen, has filed a rezoning request with the city of Everett that would turn its 53-acre factory site into a waterfront community of condominiums and commercial enterprises. A public park could be included on the waterfront near a four-acre woodland.

"If you look at what's happening in Everett, and the waterfront development that's taking place, it seems a natural part of the evolution," said Stuart Woolley, executive vice president of Eagle Crest. The company owns a chain of hotels in Oregon and Arizona and several resorts in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Among its properties are the new Suncadia resort community and golf course in Roslyn, Wash., and Silver Mountain ski resort near Kellogg, Idaho.