The Port of Everett will take 65 acres of former Everett Shipyard space and turn it into what they hope becomes a thriving mixed-use waterfront hub. The $363 million project recently approved by the Everett City Council comes after more than a decade of planning and cleanup along Everett’s waterfront.

The entirely new community, Waterfront Place Central, will include live, work, shop and entertainment options on the waterfront, built out of $330 million in private funds and $33 million in public infrastructure funded by the port’s capital improvement plan.

Terrie Battuello, the port’s chief of business development, says that with the city’s approval, the port will anticipate issuing the first solicitation for a private developer in March while they work to secure developers this year and put the first phase into construction in 2016.

The overall plan includes 15 new public gathering spaces, up to 660 housing unites, two waterfront hotels, at least 10 fine and casual dining restaurants and 662,000 sq ft of commercial, retail and marine sales and services.

Fisherman’s Harbor, the first phase of the Waterfront Place Central development, includes 5.56 acres that will boas 204 apartment units, a 120-room hotel, five commercial buildings and numerous retail and waterfront restaurant spaces. A continuous public trail, floating activity barges, a dock walk for visitors and a large park fill out the space.

The city sponsored a housing demand study for Everett and found there was a growing demand for housing with the strong Everett economy led by the aerospace industry. The study was a key reason the City Council signed off on the project, the port says.

The port will serve as the master developer on the Waterfront Place Central development, part of a larger effort to revive and restore 215 acres of property for economic use. The site was the epicenter of Everett’s milltown roots, which has been largely environmentally restored, both on land and in the water, clearing the way for this development. 

Tim Newcomb is Engineering News-Record’s Pacific Northwest contributor. He also writes for Popular Mechanics, Sports Illustrated and more. You can follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb or visit his website here.