EVERETT — Port of Everett officials are nailing down nitty-gritty design details and construction workers are moving earth as the port’s ambitious waterfront redevelopment project moves ahead.
The port is building roads and parks, installing sewers and even advertising its Waterfront Place Central project to show developers that its plan to turn former industrial land into homes, shops and offices is serious and backed by money. The taxpayer-supported port plans to put about $33 million into the project.
The port plans to shop out to private developers various parts of the undertaking, which is being built in stages over the next few years. Port officials expect private investors to put about $340 million into the work.
It is a different approach from the past decade when the port teamed up with a single developer for a similar project with more housing. That plan was derailed when the developer, Everett Maritime, filed for bankruptcy in 2009.
“Because it’s a new market, we have to show that we’re behind it,” port spokeswoman Lisa Lefeber said Thursday.
The aging seawalls around the first phase to be developed already are being replaced. The port has dubbed the area Fisherman’s Harbor, a nod to nearby mooring for commercial fishing vessels. The land is between the central marina, 14th Street and West Marine View Drive. The property between the marina and Marine View is mostly fill dirt held in place by bulkheads built before 1950.
“They’ve reached the end of their lives,” and need to be replaced before construction can begin, Lefeber said.
Work is slated to start this summer on a splash park and other open spaces.
The port already has begun recruiting firms to build a hotel and housing at Fisherman’s Harbor, and officials expect to begin looking for restaurants interested in the area. They could open in 2017.
Talks with housing developers raised questions that were more specific and detailed than port officials had anticipated. So, they paused the search and dug into details of parking and other issues.
“We want the right answers before we start negotiations with a developer,” said Terrie Batuello, the port’s business development director.
Now, she and her team should soon have a short list of housing developers, she said. After a finalist is picked and a contract signed, “we would like to see construction start in 2017.”
Other pieces are expected to come together in the next few months. The Everett Farmers Market resumes May 8 at its new location in Boxcar Park, the green space at the end of the central pier. In June, the port plans to move the historic Weyerhaeuser Building from its current location alongside West Marine Drive to Boxcar Park.
Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.
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