Published October 2005

City should lift height limit
for marina

Urban renewal in Everett started in earnest with two major public projects, Everett Station and the Everett Events Center. Both have contributed much to attracting people and investment back into downtown Everett.

Now, thanks to the foresight of the staff and commissioners at the Port of Everett, the city is about to get another major urban renewal boost — the new $300 million Port Gardner Wharf project, due to break ground this winter.

“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.

Five years in the planning, the project will create 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. More than 1,800 new jobs would be created, as well as much more recreation and retail activity.

There’s a snag in the process, however. When plans for underground parking uncovered higher-than-expected water levels under the site, buildings had to be raised to accommodate that difference. But that put the buildings above the city’s 55-foot height limit for the waterfront.

Neighbors on the bluff above the waterfront development have protested against raising the buildings by 10 feet, fearing the loss of even more of their view of Port Gardner Bay. If the Everett planning commission and the City Council don’t approve the extra height, it will cost the developer in the public-private project, Maritime Trust Co. of Chicago, $12 million in lost revenue from losing 100,000 square feet of the original condominium space. The company and outside observers say that could threaten the financing of the project.

The project’s Web site, www.portgardnerwharf.com, shows today’s view of the waterfront and how the completed project would look, with and without the extra 10 feet in height. From the bluff, the difference is difficult to detect. And, the extra height would only be needed on buildings in three of the eleven blocks of residential development. The other buildings will be only 35 to 40 feet high.

Considering the stimulating economic impact, the beautification of the waterfront and other long-term benefits to the city, both the planning commission and the council should approve that height change in swift order, adding Port Gardner Wharf to the list of recent positive developments approved for the city.

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