Published October 2005

Fulfilling A Vision
A six-year, $300 million development project is expected
to transform the Port of Everett’s North Marina
into a community destination spot

Illustration courtesy of Everett Maritime LLC The Port of Everett’s new $300 million North Marina development, dubbed Port Gardner Wharf, will include waterfront condominiums and retail shops, as well as marine businesses and an expanded marina.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

The Port of Everett is on the verge of launching the development of Port Gardner Wharf, a $300 million, six-year project that would create an entirely new residential, retail and commercial neighborhood, complete with recreation and leisure activities, on the city’s waterfront.

After five years of studies and master plan preparation for the 65-acre site, the port plans to begin the first stages of construction this winter, working through its chosen developer, Maritime Trust Co. of Chicago. The firm created Everett Maritime LLC in October 2000 to develop the North Marina’s master plan for the port and for future leasing of sites within the project.

“We are now able to begin transforming the North Marina from an underutilized industrial area to a vibrant and pedestrian-friendly waterfront community,” said John Mohr, executive director of the Port of Everett.

Transforming the port’s aging industrial and marine complex into Port Gardner Wharf will produce a marine-oriented, urban neighborhood with a mix of 500 to 600 condominiums of 800 to 2,800 square feet each, low-rise office buildings, restaurants, boutique retail shops and marine businesses. A 1.5-mile-long esplanade will loop around the development, which will include a 1,000-seat amphitheater, acres of park space and bicycle trails.

“We want to create a neighborhood that works,” said Bert Meers, president of Chicago-based Maritime Trust. For Dennis Erickson, a former Everett city planner who now works for the local office of Portland-based David Evans & Associates, deep involvement in the design of the project has convinced him it will be a major step forward in the city’s urban renewal effort.

“The North Marina project fulfills a vision the city has had for more than 20 years, a vision to create some kind of community destination on the waterfront that takes full advantage of the magnificent setting there. At the same time, it will make the area even more of a boaters’ destination as boating activity grows in the Northwest,” Erickson said, noting that the project is the city’s first major public-private urban development venture.

“This is the best project for the community, the Port of Everett and Maritime Trust,” Port Commission President Jim Shaffer said when the commission approved the final master plan for the development in early August.

To ensure the plan continues to be attractive and viable for Maritime, however, the Port of Everett has applied for a change in the city’s building height restriction from 55 feet to 65 feet for the condominium segment of the project.

When plans for underground parking ran into problems with a higher-than-expected water table in the port land, it was necessary to raise some of the structures by 10 feet. That height increase, however, would mean exceeding the city’s 55-foot limit in the waterfront zoning.

“It’s serious. If the height limit can’t be raised, it will cost Maritime a loss of 100,000 square feet of residential space for the shorter buildings. That translates into subtracting $12 million from the company’s revenues, which will make the project harder to finance,” Mohr said.

The height issue is due to be heard before the Everett planning commission in mid-October, before going before the Everett City Council in November for a final decision.

If the project goes ahead, as many observers believe it will, creating Port Gardner Wharf will mean the demolition of existing buildings on the site to make way for new ones. Scores of companies and hundreds of workers will be involved, with employment payrolls expected to reach $35 million annually during the anticipated six years of development.

Currently, businesses in the North Marina area, on the west side of Marine View Drive between 10th and 16th streets, account for 443 jobs, primarily in boating services, industrial plants and a variety of other businesses. After the Port Gardner Wharf project is fully complete, the employment level for the site is expected to climb to 2,253 jobs — including 1,677 in the anticipated office space, 360 in nonmarine retail stores, 126 in restaurants and 91 jobs in the “craftsmen” area, where businesses will focus on boat service and repair.

Six years from now, the new Everett neighborhood will include 22 acres of marine sales and services, 8 acres of housing, 7.5 acres of retail and professional office space, 7 acres of offices, 1.2 acres of hotels and restaurants and 7 acres of parks and other public open space. The new development is expected to generate $3 million in annual taxes for the city from property, leasehold, business and occupation, and sales and use taxes.

Although existing companies that don’t fit into the new development will need to find new quarters, there can be advantages as well as disadvantages. American Boiler Works, for instance, a metal fabrication company that called Everett’s waterfront its home for 100 years, has already moved to Arlington, settling on a 5-acre industrial site that will provide space for future growth for its 100-employee business.

In addition to the North Marina development site, construction crews already are preparing to begin work on a $15 million expansion of the Everett Marina. With 2,050 slips for recreation craft up to 50 feet long and berths for 65-foot-long fishing boats, the existing marina on the south side of the wharf property already is the second largest on the West Coast.

But market research has convinced the Port Commission that the Puget Sound area has a severe shortage of moorage for large yachts, boats ranging up to 70 feet long. The expansion will add a 200-slip marina area adjacent to the north side of Port Gardner Wharf able to handle 35- to 70-foot-long yachts for tenants, guests and visitors.

The expanded marina, port officials say, will complement the development of the new Port Gardner Wharf project, a visionary effort that supporters believe will breathe new life into the port’s economy as well as fostering the city’s economic growth.

Related: Report finds port is a job, money generator

Back to the top/October 2005 Main Menu