Published January 2006

Real Estate Briefs

Mixed-use development
planned for Silver Lake area
A Seattle architecture firm plans to break ground this spring for a cluster of high-end condominium and retail buildings that could very well change the north shore face of Silver Lake in south Everett.

According to plans submitted a year ago to the city of Everett’s building permits department, the development, called Silver Lake Center, will include two eight-story condominium towers, retail and commercial space, two floors of underground parking and landscaping dotted with fountains and pools.

No dollar figure was available for how much the project would cost. Information was not available on how long the project will take to complete.

Alan Clark, head of Arca Architecture Planning and Urban Design, the firm behind the development, said he will publicly unveil his final plans this month. Until then, he won’t discuss details of the development.

As proposed, Silver Lake Center, designed to be built in two phases, would ultimately stretch south from 110th Street SE to Highway 527, which borders Silver Lake, and from Highway 527 on the west to Romio’s restaurant and the edge of an apartment complex. The first phase, according to permit applications, will include the towers, underground parking and landscaping. The ground floor of each tower is reserved for restaurant and retail space.

Stanwood residential,
commercial development proposed
Arlington developer Brent McKinley’s Vine Street Group, which originally proposed putting a Wal-Mart on 23 acres near Stanwood’s high school, has requested a land-use change for next year that would allow mostly housing or apartments, with four acres of pedestrian-friendly retail stores.

That would effectively rule out building a Wal-Mart or other similar large retail competitors, as four acres is not enough for their stores and parking lots.

Just one of those big stores would have had to squeeze to fit on the 15 or so acres of buildable land there, said Stephanie Hansen, Stanwood’s director of community development. The remaining several acres would need to be set aside near Church Creek because of environmental rules to protect salmon.

The proposal McKinley submitted to the city calls for the four acres of commercial land to be set at the northeast corner of Highway 532 and 72nd Avenue NW, Hansen said.

The rest of the property would be used for houses and apartments, she said.

To make it work, McKinley needs the city to change the land-use and zoning for the parcel. Right now, only moderate-density housing is allowed on those 23 acres, Hansen said.

McKinley would need the four acres changed to commercial zoning. The zoning would need to be changed to allow the apartments, too, Hansen said.

Albertsons closes Edmonds store;
new-tenant search under way
The Albertsons at 9803 Edmonds Way in Edmonds closed in December, and the process of finding a new tenant for the 35,000-square-foot space is well under way, city officials said.

The closure, rumored for months, came at a time when Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons Inc. has struggled against discount retailers and wholesale clubs such as Wal-Mart, Target and Costco.

“I think it’s part of Albertsons’ having some major financial woes. I don’t think (the closure) has anything to do with local demand at all,” said Jennifer Gerend, the city of Edmonds’ economic development director.

Albertsons’ headquarters e-mailed a short statement explaining the closure, but officials declined other comment.

“The lease expired, and we made the difficult decision to close the store,” it read.

The statement added that all of the 70 or so employees from the store who stayed with the company were given positions at nearby stores.

As far as filling the space, Seattle-based PCC Natural Markets is among those considering the site. Diana Crane, PCC’s public relations manager, said managers of the organic co-operative have been in the “investigational stage” regarding that location.

“We are certainly interested in the Edmonds market. We feel it’s a great fit for PCC and our shoppers,” she said.

Home prices up 22 percent from year ago
While many areas of the country are reporting that their housing bubble is losing gas, that’s still not the case in Snohomish County.

In fact, the only negative number for the county’s housing market in November was the number of listings available to buyers, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. Choices were down 10.54 percent, compared to November 2004.

Pending sales, those started but not completed, were up more than 9 percent in November; closed sales were up 13 percent; and the combined median price for single-family homes and condos was up nearly 22 percent from a year ago.

Single-family houses alone posted a median price of $318,950, meaning half the homes sold for more and half sold for less. In November 2004, the median single-family home price was $259,725.

For condos, the median was $185,000 compared to $169,950 in November 2004.

Back to the top/January 2006 Main Menu