GROWTH
Port, city OK cost sharing on waterfront development
Editor’s note: The Port of Bellingham and city of Bellingham have joined forces to redevelop 220 acres of Bellingham’s waterfront. This weekly update is provided by the port.
While work is under way on the environmental impact study for the waterfront redevelopment project, contracts have been approved for the next phase of master planning.
Last week the Port Commission and City Council had a joint meeting where they approved a fourth amendment to their original agreement of 2005.
It authorizes the port and city to share the costs of master planning by Seattle firm Collins/Woerman, creation of development regulations by LMN Architects of Seattle and some expanded work on the environmental study by Blumen Consulting in Seattle. The original environmental study was expanded to include an analysis of some additional transportation and development alternatives.
The agreement also approved the port and city equally sharing the cost for the waterfront redevelopment area’s participation in a national pilot program to create environmental standards known as LEED for entire neighborhoods.
The additional costs approved last week were a total of $393,000 for the Collins/ Woerman work, $164,000 for the LMN work, $127,825 for the additional Blumen work and $20,000 for the LEED program.
The environmental study is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The master plan and development standards should be done by mid- 2008.
DEMAND PROJECTIONS PRESENTED
Also at their joint meeting last week, the commission and council heard an extensive report from Jim Hebert of Hebert Research about local and regional demand for the types of land uses envisioned at the waterfront redevelopment.
The two governments paid for this research as part of their planning and analysis.
Hebert stressed that this development should be viewed for its local and regional opportunities because it is so large and in such a good location.
He showed individual evaluations of the current and future demand for land for industrial, office space, institutional/educational, marina, residential and retail/restaurant use.
Hebert said that some of the key attractions to developers will be the ability for people to “live, work and play” in one location, public access and waterfront views, the proximity of downtown and the commitment to sustainability and environmental development practices.
The meeting was recorded and will be aired on the city’s BTV10 channel. See the schedule at www.cob.org. The streaming video also can be seen on the city’s Web site in the City Council Meeting Agendas section. Copies of the real estate analysis Power Point presentation are on the project Web site, www.newwhatcom.org, and the port’s site, www.portofbellingham.com, in the Waterfront Redevelopment Latest News section.
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