Everett/Snohomish County Development News

[taiwanesedrummer36]

New store
Architects and designers for Edmonds' PCC location hope the building will win a rating of Platinum LEED, for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

If they win the Platinum certification, it would be only the second Platinum LEED building in Washington state, according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), which awards the certifications.

PCC's last store, in Redmond, won the Gold rating, one of only 29 buildings to have attained that rating, according to the USGBC.

The new PCC is being rebuilt in the shell of the old Albertson's location at the corner of 100th Avenue West and Edmonds Way.

It will have about 24,000 square feet, making it slightly larger than PCC's Redmond or Fremont locations, Crane said. PCC is looking for health or fitness type tenants to rent small storefronts, she said.

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

An earlier version of this story reported that the Edmonds PCC store will be the first in Snohomish County, but that was incorrect. PCC operated a store in South Everett from 1992-1995.

[taiwanesedrummer36]

District to buy land for schools

No plan for new high school yet

By Sarah Koenig
Enterprise reporter

Some locals could see a new elementary and middle school built in their neighborhood in the next two decades.

Everett School District officials have negotiated a purchase and sale agreement to buy about 30 acres of land on 180th Street Southeast between Sunset Road and 51st Avenue Southeast. The agreement is not final and must be approved by the Everett School Board in August after an appraisal.

The district is looking to buy the land from a developer, the McNaughton Group LLC.

"McNaughton's intention was to develop that into homes, but with the downturn in the economy (they opted) to sell it," said Mary Waggoner, district spokesperson.

No one lives on the property. There are seven homes standing that belonged to people who sold their land to McNaughton. If the district buys the land, they will raze the houses as they are a hazard, Waggoner said.

As a result of the agreement, district officials are no longer looking to buy 24 parcels of land east of Sunset Road between 164th Street Southeast and 180th Street Southeast.

Officials had threatened eminent domain to homeowners there, some of whom did not want to sell.

The district is discontinuing those efforts – for now, Waggoner said.

"It doesn't mean that down the road we would not be looking for more land and considering these properties," she said.

Population forecasts show that the district will need to build two new elementary schools, not just one, she said. The state Office of Financial Management projects a 15 to 20 percent population increase in the area over the next 20 years.

The land the district is looking to buy from the McNaughton Group would host one elementary school and one middle school on the same site.

Voters would have to approve a bond to fund the new buildings, Waggoner said. The next bond will not go before voters until 2010, so construction would not begin before then.

The new schools would be built on the land sometime in the next 20 years, Waggoner said.

There are no concrete plans to build a new high school in the south end of the district, though Jackson High School's population has been growing.

"Whether or not we need a full new high school or need to do some other arrangement of high school classrooms is yet to be determined," Waggoner said.

The district does need some new high school classrooms, she said.

The purchase price for the land the district negotiated in the agreement is $23 million. About $18.1 million of that will be paid in cash and $5 million in credit for future school impact fees.

The money comes from the bond voters approved in 2006 to build new schools, renovate schools and buy land for future schools.

If schools were built on the land, they would probably be multi-story buildings because of the scarcity of land, a practice that is becoming more common in other district as well, Waggoner said.

[taiwanesedrummer36]

Lessons learned from Town Center

By Alexis Bacharach
Enterprise editor

Mill Creek planners are using their wisdom from mistakes at Town Center to guide development of the city's next big project -- the East Gateway Urban Village.

A number of issues have come to light since Town Center's grand opening a few years ago. Problems with parking and signage are being closely examined as plans for East Gateway are cemented in the City Code. The City Council approved design standards for the planned development on Tuesday, July 1, under the condition that mistakes in Town Center would not be duplicated.

"I hear from people all the time: 'We just love Town Center … It's fabulous, but you can never find a parking space,'" Councilwoman Mary Kay Voss said. "Parking, parking, parking -- that's the No. 1 complaint I hear from people."

East Gateway, similar to Town Center, is being marketed as a sustainable, mixed retail and residential community, complete with public parks and other recreation services. City leaders as well as business owners have chimed in recently that guidelines for signage and parking at Town Center are ambiguous; merchants are waiting for kiosks and directional signs; shoppers aren't shopping, because they're looking for parking.

"We should learn from what has transpired there," Councilwoman Donna Michelson said. "I've never heard anyone complain that there's too much parking anywhere."

Community Development Director Bill Trimm agreed; Town Center should serve as a model for its strengths and its weaknesses.

"Everybody has learned a lot; the development community has learned a lot," he said. "We're definitely getting smarter."

With design standards in place, developers will start submitting project proposals to the city.

"We don't want to limit them too much," Trimm said. "One we get a proposal that we can start to fine-tune these things. Believe me, parking and signage will be discussed."

[jessejb]

Originally Posted by USAPatriot

There is a easy way to Tulalip. It's called Interstate 5.

We dont drive down here, so no $$$ for Tulalip!

Clearwater Casino it is!

[taiwanesedrummer36]

NEW SOUTH EVERETT FREEWAY STATION ALMOST COMPLETE!

TRANSIT USERS REJOICE!

[Bond James Bond]

^
Yay!

Too bad it won't do me any good for my commute, as I *have* to drive to my job.

[Bond James Bond]

This is interesting. I was wondering about this:
http://www.soundtransit.org/x1877.xml

The project allows transit service to bypass the congested State Route 526 interchange currently needed to access the Eastmont Park-and-Ride and will improve bus speed and increase schedule reliability. After the South Everett Freeway Station begins operation Sound Transit will evaluate alternatives for service to the Eastmont Park-and-Ride.

[taiwanesedrummer36]

Probably people will get mad they have to drive "farther" to get to their local park-and-ride for faster bus service.

I say ST help Everett Transit fund part of an existing route that connects Eastmont to the rest of the area (Route 19?).

[Bond James Bond]

I get to go on a helicopter ride over the Tulalip reservation tomorrow!!!

I'll take some pics for you guys.

[NW Mike]

Everett Herald story of where the condos went

http://heraldnet.com/article/2008080....drawing.board

Some Everett condo projects still stuck on the drawing board

EVERETT -- The banner for Colby Tower -- promising panoramic views of the water and mountains -- hangs on a building next to where the nine-story tower could rise in the future.

Construction on the handsomely designed structure, with nine luxury condominiums on the upper floors and mixed-use commercial space below, originally was scheduled to start last fall.

No date has been set for it or several other big projects around downtown Everett.

It's not a unique situation for commercial developments. The chilly economy and a tighter lending climate are delaying or killing projects around the nation.

Timothy Corpus, Colby Tower's developer, said five of the nine condos are reserved and he's trying to secure leases for the building's commercial space. That needs to happen for the building to go forward.

"We are confident we will be able to pre-lease space sufficient to satisfy lending requirements," he added Wednesday.

Also still looking for financing is Maritime Trust, the Chicago-based company that is partnering with the Port of Everett in a $400 million redevelopment on a portion of the city's waterfront. The Port Gardner Wharf project would include some 660 condominiums, along with a mix of retail shops, restaurants, offices and other buildings.

No specific date has been set to commence work on the first condos, but Maritime's contract with the port says it must begin at least 25 percent of the work by 2011.
Maritime had received a commitment for initial financing from Merrill Lynch, but that was withdrawn as the company dropped that type of business during the mortgage meltdown, said John Mohr, the port's executive director.

"The development of the condominiums are at a standstill right now," Mohr said, adding that Maritime has expectations of financing from other sources but doesn't have a firm commitment right now.

He noted that Maritime's president, Bert Mears, talked last week with people who had earlier shown interest in buying a condo. "I was pleasantly surprised (with the continued interest)," Mohr said. "They mostly were concerned that the price would not go up."

At the Tuesday port commission meeting, officials said the state Department of Ecology had just approved the port's cleanup of pollution in the soil near the project area.

Without that approval, the port "wouldn't have been able to get started even if the financing had gone through," said Connie Niva, port commissioner. The port's Jerry Heller agreed, noting bank financing and a city permit would require the state to sign off on the cleanup work.

To keep the project going, the port has begun work on the utilities in the area and has also taken over development of the Craftsman District, a location for marine-related businesses, from Maritime.

While a number of smaller condo developments in downtown Everett also are in limbo, a few projects are moving along without delay.

Furthest along is the new Elks Lodge, a five-story building along Hoyt Avenue that includes nine condos in the upper floors. The Elks used proceeds from the sale of their outdated and too-large lodge across the street to jumpstart the new development.

Meanwhile, on the site of the old Elks Lodge, Skotdal Real Estate's 200-unit Library Place is under way, with completion scheduled by 2010. Skotdal Real Estate also has initial permits for an 18-story building at the northwest corner of Wetmore and Hewitt avenues, but has not set a date for that development.

With Skotdal Real Estate's long list of previous developments and sizable real estate holdings, financing is not the issue for the project. Instead, timing of that project is dependent on when "the market will support it," said president Craig Skotdal.

Demand for apartments remains strong, however, so developer Lobsang Dargey is pushing ahead toward construction of a six-story building with 150 apartments and street-level stores at the northwest corner of Pacific and Rucker avenues. The city recently approved vacating an alley for that project, which requires the relocation of utility lines before heavy construction can begin, Dargey said.

Allan Giffen, the city of Everett's planning director, said a few other large projects are pursuing permits, including a residential development along the south end of Broadway that includes more than 100 units and a 150-room senior living center at the corner of Lombard and Pacific avenues. Along the Snohomish River, the city's riverfront development is scheduled to begin sometime next year.

"We haven't heard from anybody saying they're pulling out projects," Giffen said.

He said approved projects, such as Colby Tower, can delay construction for up to two years after receiving approval without having to go through permitting again.

Tom Hoban, president of Coast Real Estate, said experts in the field are expecting the credit markets to improve over the next 12 to 18 months, which should help out projects that have been delayed because of financing problems.

While he works to get his project started, Timothy Corpus said his belief in Everett's potential hasn't changed. Despite the economy and lending markets right now, "we have strong convictions about the continued viability of downtown Everett and its unique location in the Pacific Northwest."

[Bond James Bond]

Nice article on Tulalip, Inc:
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/200...more.than.luck

[Frasier Crane]

Aqua Sox ballpark




Somebody help me with this mystery golf course next to Puget Sound?

[Bond James Bond]

^
Great stuff! I had meant to go to an Aqua Sox game not long after I moved here, but I never did figure out where they played.

BTW that shopping center in the left-center of the 2nd photo is, like, totally abandoned.

[Bond James Bond]

Oh wait - now I just figured out where that Aqua Sox stadium is. Damn, I drive by it twice a day!

[taiwanesedrummer36]

Originally Posted by Bond James Bond

BTW that shopping center in the left-center of the 2nd photo is, like, totally abandoned.

To be replaced by an expansion of Everett Community College by (at least) 2030-something...

[Bond James Bond]

^
Really? Good news.

[NW Mike]

Originally Posted by Frasier Crane

Somebody help me with this mystery golf course next to Puget Sound?

Thats Legion Memorial Golf Course, Great Course!

[taiwanesedrummer36]

Originally Posted by Bond James Bond

^
Really? Good news.

[taiwanesedrummer36]

[Bond James Bond]

^
Ooo, gotta check it out.

On this one plot on the east side of I-5 next to the freeway station they're building something, but I can't figure out if it has something to do with the park and ride lot or not.